Genera: Sci-fi Thriller
Subjects: computer games, technology, hackers,
cyber-terrorism, Austin, Texas
Age/Grade Level: Teen
Length: 470 pgs.
HC/PB: Hardcover
List Price: $17.99
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Summary/ product description: “Pandora’s just your
average teen, glued to her cell phone and laptop, surfing Facebook and e-mailing
with her friends, until the day her long-lost father sends her a link to a
mysterious site featuring twelve photos of her as a child. Unable to contain
her curiosity, Pandora enters the site, where she is prompted to play her
favorite virtual-reality game, Zero Day. This unleashes a global computer virus
that plunges the whole world into panic: suddenly, there is no Internet. No
cell phones. No utilities, traffic lights, hospitals, law enforcement. Pandora
teams up with handsome stepbrothers Eli and Theo to enter the virtual world of
Zero Day. Simultaneously, she continues to follow the photographs from her
childhood in an attempt to beat the game and track down her father, her one key
to saving the world as we know it. Part The Matrix, part retelling of the
Pandora myth, Doomed has something for gaming fans, dystopian fans, and romance
fans alike.”
My Rating: êêê
My Review: Reading a long, heavy book can really
affect the experience. I loved Tracy Deebs’ mermaid books, and was hoping that
this dystopia-like thriller would be just as good. It definitely was not what I
expected. There was no virtual reality. It was just a computer game. And the
game was really all about saving the world from climate change. Pandora is
definitely a madman’s daughter.
My favorite thing about this book was the adventurous
thrill ride. Theo must have hotwired like 6 different cars along the way. Also
I could decide who I liked better, Eli or Theo. Eli I liked at 1st,
but Theo really showed how much he cared about helping Pandora. They both went
along with this cross-country scavenger hunt that was also connected to beating
the Pandora’s Box game. They started out in Austin, Texas, and went to New
Mexico, Colorado, Kansas, and Wyoming. Pandora had to remember the times she
spent with her father to find out where to go.
A big part of the Pandora’s Box game was mythology.
The creatures and being fought in the game were things like Cyclopes and giants
and even gods and titans. The story itself is a retelling of the Pandora’s Box
myth. And it was constructed that was by her father.
The issues I had with this book was the over-the-top
reactions at the beginning and some of the inaccuracies related to survival and
technological stuff. The author may have done her research for the most part,
but not everything it correct. (For example: Pandora asks Theo when’s the last
time he got a Tetanus shot after he’s bitten by a dog because she’s afraid it
may be rabid. Rabies shots are what she should have said. Tetanus is for bacteria
found on rust.)
The book was enjoyable for the most part, with some
small issues. I recommend it to people who enjoyed Don’t Turn Around by
Michelle Gagnon. This book is pretty
unique, so I can’t think of other specific book similar to it.
Cover Art Review: Don’t like this cover other than the
colors. I hate the use of a bevel emboss on the title when it’s in really
embossed. It looks poorly designed. I liked the original green cover with the
girl and 2 guys on it.
~Haley G
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