100 Pages A Day...Stephanie's Book Reviews

In the 23rd century, the Sovereign Regime rules.  In what was once Los Angeles, Davio sits in his impenetrable fortress making everyone else's life difficult.  On the third day of their life every human is implanted with a chip into their wrist.  The chip allows the Regime to see your every movement, everything you have bought, everyone you have interacted with and at any time, you may be monitored for what you say.  Eighteen year old Goro and his friends are mounting a rebellion, beginning with a way to outsmart the chip readers that track everything they do. After a successful test run, the teens are on the SR's radar and well as the underground resistance movement.  The underground luckily gets to them first and they begin training with the resistance army to bring down Davio and the SR. Goro's role, however, is different, the resistance needs something from him personally to bring down the SR and Goro's revenge is now personal. 

 

This is a different type of Young Adult Dystopian that follows the same patterns that dystopian readers are used to,but with some new elements.  Goro is very family oriented and is determined to make their lives better by fighting the regime. However, he is also very hotheaded and reckless. I am always interested in the dystopian world in which the story takes place and how it got there.  This dystopian world is all political, the Sovereign Regime rules the planet in one New World Order.  As for how we got there, no one has all the details, but there was a lot of warfare with very technologically advanced weapons.  I do wish a little more backstory was given into how the world ended up this way. One of the things that Sovereignty does highlight really well are the pros and cons of the advances in technology.  Everything is very convenient in their world, but nothing is private.  The government is easily able to abuse anyone with their information.  One thing that did bother me the entire way through the story was the language; this book is definitely for a high school audience with an 18 year old protagonist and violent fighting scenes, however, the insults the characters throw around are 'derp,' 'fuddy-duddy,' and 'whoopsay (sic).' Also, for being in the 23rd century, there sure are a lot of references to things today and historically that I'm not sure kids 200 years from now would even know about.  Modern language such as 'bae,' 'containing my feels' and 'butt-ton' are used, there are also references to contemporary technology that just make the story feel a little out of place with the time.  I do applaud the use of multi-cultural characters throughout the story.  Goro is of Arab origin, his friends are Latino and some mix of European countries.  Although, all these nationalities are mentioned, they don't really have a purpose other than to diversify the cast.  Race doesn't seem to matter much in the world-building.  People are separated by wealth.  The ending was very exciting, I enjoyed reading about all the training for overtaking the SR.  It seemed like the resistance movement was very well organized and ready to strike.  Goro's necessary item within the resistance was also very interesting. The story intensified as they were attacking Davio's lair and things ended with a positive outlook for the people once under the SR. 

 

This book was received for free in return for an honest review.