Review: Remote by Lisa Acerbo

Genre: Science Fiction
Published: November 20, 2014
Publisher: Etopia Press
Pages: 207
Source: Red Moon Book Tours

Synopsis:

When technology fulfills every dream, reality becomes a nightmare.

Below the streets of New State, the undergrounders fight to remain free of the technological control of the world above. Every night, Yara risks her life fighting New State’s deadliest weapons, the drones. Half human and half machine, their living half tortured until everything human is gone, the drones have only one objective. Kill. And they do it with exacting precision.

Yara is good at her job and committed to her raids on New State. Until one of those raids brings her face-to-face with Joshua, a New State citizen who doesn’t quite fit her preconceived expectations. After a couple of awkward encounters, he shows her the meaning of hooking up—a computer simulation that allows people to live out their fantasies—without the complication of emotional entanglements or physical reality. But what Yara feels for Joshua is very real. And it’s punishable by law.

As she and Joshua grow closer, she convinces him to leave New State for her underground cause. But as the unrest between New State and the underground escalates, and the drones move in to destroy her world, nothing goes as planned. Families are arrested, loyalties are strained, and Yara’s forced to choose between her people and her feelings. The wrong choice could mean the end of her people, and reality could slip away—forever...

Buy Links:

Etopia Press │Amazon │BN

About the Author:

Lisa Acerbo is a high school teacher and holds an EdD in Educational Leadership. She lives in Connecticut with her husband, daughters, three cats, and horse. She is the author of Apocalipstick and has contributed to local newspapers, news and travel blogs including The Patch and Hollywood Scriptwriter.

Lisa Acerbo is a high school teacher and holds an EdD in Educational Leadership. She lives in Connecticut with her husband, daughters, three cats, and horse. She is the author of Apocalipstick and has contributed to local newspapers, news and travel blogs including The Patch and Hollywood Scriptwriter.

Author Links:

Twitter │Facebook Author Page │Remote Facebook Page │Website

My Rating:

★★★★☆

Review:

I received this book from Red Moon Book Tours for the book tour, all reviews and opinions are my own.  If you would like to check out the rest of the blog tour click here for the official schedule.

I loved the concept of this book and the virtual reality part that people would do at night instead of dreaming. Though I think in order to keep your mind healthy it would have to be a mixture of the two but it really got me thinking. It brought up an in depth conversation between me and my boyfriend. Originally how the conversation started was about a CSI episode that we were watching and a old discussion that both me and him listened to (somewhere on the internet)  that was about people who liked little children but didn't want to act on those urges because they knew it was wrong but could not go get help anywhere for it basically without be turned in to be put on a list. The CSI episode that we were watching was about a Sub and Dom place that one of the girls that worked there ended up dead. Anyway we started an in depth conversation about how if we did have this kind of virtual reality thing that is talked about in this book would people still want to physically take out their urges or would the virtual reality be enough for most, or at least a safe way of dealing with it. So of course we went round and round with the debate talking about problems even beyond the two I just mentioned. I mean when I use a book to debate real problems I know it is a great book. I could see something like this happening, it already has basically we are all plugged into the internet and some children if they don't have it act like they will die without it. I am glad to say I grew up in a house hold that didn't really have video games I didn't even really get into them till my older teens even then it wasn't anything like my boyfriend who when I met him was obsessed with games. Anyway this is a review not a debate... though I would love it if anyone does want to discuss things with me, I might have to put up another blog post just on this discussion.

The pacing of the book was fast I liked that about this book since it kept things moving forward but I would have liked to know a little bit more about the world both the undergrounder one and the normal day to day life for Josh in the normal and virtual realities he lived in. I also liked in this one both the main characters got along with their parents. I don't find many books that follows that because usually everyone has problems with their parents in some way shape or form, but it is nice to read about when the parents get along with the kids and try to help rather than hinder.

Other than wanting to know more about the technology that is use like in one room when Yara was doing a recon mission she found people plugged into computers. I would like to know more about the why of that and what else goes on in this place. I loved this book and hope to see more within this world. Now here is an excerpt of how Yara and Josh first meet.

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Excerpt:
 

“Hi,” he called out.

Yara’s heart hammered, and adrenaline coursed through her limbs. She turned to run.       

“Wait,” the stranger whispered. “I won’t turn you in. I’m out here too.” He obviously didn’t realize that Yara was a rebel. He might not know it yet, but he would soon. Still, he didn’t sound dangerous. Maybe Yara could take care of him. She had never had to kill anyone totally human, but she had trained to do so. At this point, she didn’t think she would need to. The skinny boy didn’t look like a real threat, either.

She turned back toward him and attempted what she hoped was a look of death and destruction.

Instead of being scared, he smiled at her and brushed the hair out of his eyes. Even in the shadowy street, Yara could see the color was a beautiful emerald green. She had a hard time looking away, until his voice jarred her back to reality.

“I’m Joshua15111,” he said robotically. “What are you doing out here?”

“I could ask you the same thing.”

“Enjoying the night sky,” he replied, each word clipped and succinct. Unable to make prolonged eye contact, he looked toward the stars.

“Aren’t you supposed to be hooked up to an alternate universe, enjoying battle, boobs, or whatever perverted fantasy you want to conquer tonight?” Yara asked, and then instantly regretted her words.

“Hey, it’s not like that. You know how it is.” For the first time, his voice took on a more humanistic quality. He sounded peeved.

She grunted in response. She didn’t know anything of the sort.

Joshua15111 looked at her briefly, quizzically. “Wait, do you know that? Are you one of them? The rebels?”

Oh no. “What rebels?”

“Are you for real? Everyone knows about the rebels. You must be one. Are you a rebel? That’s so cool.”

Me and my big mouth. Fear finally overtook her. Vague ideas about running away from or fighting the stranger flitted by, but Yara’s feet felt like concrete blocks. She wasn’t even sure she’d be able to form a coherent sentence if he asked her something about the underground.

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