Title: Interface (Volume I)
Author: Lucy Mihajlich
Pages: 234 pages
Release Date: Nov. 23, 2016
Genre: Science Fiction, YA Dystopian
Summary: The future always seemed bright, but it turns out that was just global warming. Meals don’t come in pills, shoes don’t lace themselves, and there are flying cars, but the gas mileage sucks. There is one difference. People have always searched the internet for answers. Now they actually worship it.

Pen Nowen’s father was the founder of Interface, a computer company so big and powerful that people began praying to it. Especially when his death almost tanked the economy. Seven years later, Pen’s just finished her junior year of high school. For their summer vacations, all of her friends are going to Disneyland, Tijuana, or Disneyland Tijuana, but Pen’s going on a pilgrimage to pray for what’s left of her family. She’s on her way to the Interface flagship store when she gets kidnapped. It’s the second time this year. She’s about to begin the ransom negotiations when the kidnapper says that he doesn’t want money. He wants something else from her. Before Pen can text 911, he says something even creepier. He knows the truth about her dad’s death.

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TRB Review – 4/5

This novel is a fantastic and refreshing sci-fi/YA dystopian work! The main character, Pen Nowen, is such a strong willed and quirky female lead and because of the excellent writing skills of the author you wouldn’t even know that she’s just a teen in high school. Her behavior takes some getting used to, the humor is very dry and witty but it rounds out the story once you learn a bit of the background of her somewhat dysfunctional family. Each individual in her family is quickly mapped out on the personality spectrum, and you immediately know where in society they reside which is important as the story develops.

I really loved how much the characters drove the story. Pen is quickly thrown into a situation much against her own will and is forced to work with a group of interesting characters, far off the beaten path. The futuristic world that Mihajlich has created is a bit difficult to get a grasp on in the first couple of chapters, there are a lot of devices that are very similar to our current Apple phones and tablets etc. (iCon, iPaint, iProjector, iPatch, etc.) and quite a bit of technical (although understandable) jargon to go along with it. At times it felt a little overboard, at least the large quantities of the use of “i” products but I believe that was a point because the running theme throughout seemed to be a comical parody on how much our society relies on technology and the use of these devices nowadays, and what kind of effect that will seemingly have on our future. The adventure that Pen (unwillingly) embarks on keeps the reader on their toes and has a few twists and turns that make it all the more entertaining.

The sarcastic tone and occasional reference to inappropriate outlets make this an adult driven book, although I agree with some other reviewers in saying that it reads a bit more like a YA novel. That may be because of the age of the main character, or some underlying themes, I can’t pinpoint it for sure. Don’t let that stop you though because Interface is excellently written and will definitely leave you waiting for the sequel in anticipation!

This was a very quick read, and very different than what I am used to (YA fiction/fantasy being my main focus, apparently sci-fi requires an entirely different approach with which I had to adjust to). I’ve been telling myself that I want to open up my reading box just a little, and this novel did exactly that!

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A complimentary copy of this book was provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.

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About the Author:

Lucy Mihajlich lives and writes in Portland, Oregon. She’s very popular on the internet, or at least on her mother’s Facebook page. Interface is her first novel.

Make sure to check out Lucy’s website. You can also connect with her via Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and Goodreads!

Purchase a copy of this book from your favorite retailer below:
Amazon

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Giveaway Reminder!!

Don’t forget about our January Giveaway happening right now (there are exactly 6 days left to enter) and you have the opportunity to win THREE fantastic books including Interface by Lucy Mihajlich! Click the link above, or the image below to be taken to the original post for all of the rules and details!

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What is your favorite genre of books? 
I think it’s obvious that my first choices will always be fiction/fantasy and more specifically in the YA genre. But, I do like to expand my horizons a bit and I’ve been challenging myself to read genres that I wouldn’t normally look twice at. Do you mix things up?

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