Title: The UnidentifiedAuthor: Rae Mariz
Age Group: Teens
# of Pages: 296
My Rating: 2.5/5
Katey (also referred to as Kid) is one of the many students in the Game, a mall which was converted into a "school". As each student levels up, the corporations study them for research in order to create new products.
Kid discovers an underground group that call themselves the Unidentified, which had ideas much different from the corporations sponsoring the Game. What will Kid do when they decide to spice things up?
I have to say, I was disappointed with the novel. I expected some really hardcore conspiracy plot to ensue, but received none. The writing is fine and the setting of the story is definitely different. However, I thought I was going to get a lot more out of the story than I did.
The Unidentified takes place in the future. Although I think it is unique how there are corporations running a school, it is disheartening at the same time. Throughout the novel, kids are just basically playing games or have to do some sort of scavenger hunt around the mall in order to discover the answer to a "school" question. They were learning nothing. I could understand from the corporation's perspective that it was a way to research on a targeted market and it is easier to keep an eye on them. However, to see education be devalued at such a level didn't settle right with me. Also, being a business student, the book made me feel bad because of how it is representing the people in business. This book conflicted with my beliefs, which is one of the few reasons why I had a hard time liking it.
Also, I thought there was something really big that was going to happen in the end. I was thinking something like the Skinned Trilogy by Robin Wasserman, where there is a line that will divide down the middle of certain groups in the book. I was not given this satisfaction and was actually left a little bit puzzled with what actually happened...which was nothing really. It felt like the novel was building up to a big climax but just never reached its peak and ended up rolling backwards.
Overall, I was not a big fan of The Unidentified.
Review copy provided by HarperCollins Canada.
2 comments:
Thanks for the honest review!
I was interested in this but I would have to agree that if that's how they're making business people look, it wouldn't sit well with me either!
the cover is really cool but that's no fun if the conspiracy does not flesh out in the book
Post a Comment