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Unison Spark
Everyone is obsessed with Unison, the social network that knows you better than you know yourself. Everyone who can afford it, that is. Living beneath the vast ceiling that separates Eastern Seaboard City into rich topside and poor sub-canopy zones, fifteen-year-old Mistletoe can only dream of logging in and has to make do with technological hand-me-downs.
Worlds collide when Ambrose Truax, the privileged heir to the Unison empire, wanders into the dangerous sub-canopy streets and Mistletoe saves him from suspicious, uniformed men. They soon discover that they share eerily similar dreams, hinting at a significant past.
Together, Ambrose and Mistletoe begin to unravel the mystery of their identities and learn that they’re pawns in a bigger game: the Unison 3.0 upgrade, a whole new kind of Friendship.
240 pages, Hardcover
First published November 8, 2011
8 people are currently reading
41 people want to read
About the author
Andy Marino
27books240followersAndy Marino was born in upstate New York, spent half his life in New York City, and now lives in the Hudson Valley. He is the author of seven novels for young readers, most recently THE PLOT TO KILL HITLER trilogy.
THE SEVEN VISITATIONS OF SYDNEY BURGESS is his first novel for adults.
THE SEVEN VISITATIONS OF SYDNEY BURGESS is his first novel for adults.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 49 reviews
December 18, 2011
Originally posted on my blog: ! Check it out for more reviews!
In the futuristic town of Eastern Seaboard City, society is divided into the canopy and sub-canopy zones, separated by a steel barrier that keeps the rich and poor from intermingling. Fifteen-year-old Mistletoe lives in the sub-canopy with her guardian, Jiri, dreaming of what life must be like topside for those who can afford to be a part of Unison. Described as the great-great-grandchild of Facebook or Myspace, Unison is a virtual reality social network that most people living above the canopy spend their lives logged into, their “fleshbound� existence no longer important. Ambrose Truax, the fifteen-year-old son and heir of Unison’s creator, Martin Truax, spends his life helping his father and brother, Len, manage Unison. Mistletoe and Ambrose are about to cross paths, however, when a mysterious message transferred to Ambrose against his will warns him that his life is a lie and that his father cannot be trusted. Longing for the truth, Ambrose leaves his privileged life topside and ventures down into the sub-canopy city of Little Saigon. After saving him from a run-in with police intent on returning him to his father, Mistletoe and Ambrose discover that they have something startling in common: a shared nightmare of a stark lab and grisly wires. What is the connection between Mistletoe and Ambrose, and how will the truths they eventually uncover affect the future of Unison?
This debut novel from author Andy Marino weaves an interesting but often overly complicated tale that, unfortunately, makes for a confusing read. The overall concept and setting of the novel is, by far, Marino’s biggest achievement. The topic of extreme social-networking is something that has been featured more and more in popular culture in recent years, particularly through movies like Gamer and Surrogates. Readers who are familiar with these films will undoubtedly see plot similarities: the idea of people ceasing to exist in their physical lives and instead being only digital projections, the ability to form a new identity online that is completely different from reality. Marino adds new elements to these concepts by including things like status updates, friend requests, event invites, and other Facebook-ish terms that readers, especially teens, will be able to identify with. The society in which Unison exists is also interesting, with the topside/sub-canopy distinction, holo-fashion and atmoscrapers. Where the novel falls flat, however, is in character development. Mistletoe and Ambrose are the two most flushed out personalities in the story, but are still difficult to side with because the reader knows so little about them. Other, more promising characters are introduced but given no opportunity for development. The result is a plot that is full of twists, turns, and complexities but is unable to engage the reader, leaving them, instead, confused. It is clear that author Andy Marino has many interesting ideas, however, and hopefully, in upcoming novels, improvements will lead to more enjoyable and engaging stories.
I really love the concept of the all-consuming social network and so I really wanted to love this novel. Unfortunately, I found it to be too confusing and the characters too under-developed for me to really enjoy it. There were definitely some highpoints in the story (I thought the topside/sub-canopy idea to be interesting and the descriptions of holo-fashion and life in Unison), but I just could not get into the book. One of my biggest problems was that I didn’t like Mistletoe at all, but there was no one else in the story for me to really latch onto as my preferred character. That being said, however, I do think that Andy Marino has some really great ideas that I would love to see flushed out more in future novels. I would definitely be interested in picking up his next book to see what it’s like!
In the futuristic town of Eastern Seaboard City, society is divided into the canopy and sub-canopy zones, separated by a steel barrier that keeps the rich and poor from intermingling. Fifteen-year-old Mistletoe lives in the sub-canopy with her guardian, Jiri, dreaming of what life must be like topside for those who can afford to be a part of Unison. Described as the great-great-grandchild of Facebook or Myspace, Unison is a virtual reality social network that most people living above the canopy spend their lives logged into, their “fleshbound� existence no longer important. Ambrose Truax, the fifteen-year-old son and heir of Unison’s creator, Martin Truax, spends his life helping his father and brother, Len, manage Unison. Mistletoe and Ambrose are about to cross paths, however, when a mysterious message transferred to Ambrose against his will warns him that his life is a lie and that his father cannot be trusted. Longing for the truth, Ambrose leaves his privileged life topside and ventures down into the sub-canopy city of Little Saigon. After saving him from a run-in with police intent on returning him to his father, Mistletoe and Ambrose discover that they have something startling in common: a shared nightmare of a stark lab and grisly wires. What is the connection between Mistletoe and Ambrose, and how will the truths they eventually uncover affect the future of Unison?
This debut novel from author Andy Marino weaves an interesting but often overly complicated tale that, unfortunately, makes for a confusing read. The overall concept and setting of the novel is, by far, Marino’s biggest achievement. The topic of extreme social-networking is something that has been featured more and more in popular culture in recent years, particularly through movies like Gamer and Surrogates. Readers who are familiar with these films will undoubtedly see plot similarities: the idea of people ceasing to exist in their physical lives and instead being only digital projections, the ability to form a new identity online that is completely different from reality. Marino adds new elements to these concepts by including things like status updates, friend requests, event invites, and other Facebook-ish terms that readers, especially teens, will be able to identify with. The society in which Unison exists is also interesting, with the topside/sub-canopy distinction, holo-fashion and atmoscrapers. Where the novel falls flat, however, is in character development. Mistletoe and Ambrose are the two most flushed out personalities in the story, but are still difficult to side with because the reader knows so little about them. Other, more promising characters are introduced but given no opportunity for development. The result is a plot that is full of twists, turns, and complexities but is unable to engage the reader, leaving them, instead, confused. It is clear that author Andy Marino has many interesting ideas, however, and hopefully, in upcoming novels, improvements will lead to more enjoyable and engaging stories.
I really love the concept of the all-consuming social network and so I really wanted to love this novel. Unfortunately, I found it to be too confusing and the characters too under-developed for me to really enjoy it. There were definitely some highpoints in the story (I thought the topside/sub-canopy idea to be interesting and the descriptions of holo-fashion and life in Unison), but I just could not get into the book. One of my biggest problems was that I didn’t like Mistletoe at all, but there was no one else in the story for me to really latch onto as my preferred character. That being said, however, I do think that Andy Marino has some really great ideas that I would love to see flushed out more in future novels. I would definitely be interested in picking up his next book to see what it’s like!
March 21, 2019
I haven't finished the book Unison Spark by Andy Marino yet but so far. I would rate it a three out of five. I rated Unison Spark a three out of five because in each chapter, the perspective/point of view switches between two characters: Anna (aka Mistletoe) and Ambrose Truax. Both of them have similar interests and it was believed that they knew each other from the past (like the met before and they are just reuniting; Anna saves Ambrose in a street fight in an alleyway whilst he was being attacked by police officers or these suspicious looking people in suits. Anna then learns that Ambrose works with the UniCorp CEO Martin Truax (who is richer than she could've imagined). Later in the book they both discover a 2.0 upgrade on the system and their sole reason for being there and why.
December 20, 2011
Unison Spark is a very unique story and a great debut novel from Andy Marino. I really enjoyed this book and I look forward to reading his future books.
The world of ESC and Unison is unlike any I have read about. Unison is basically the king of social networks and it is scary to think that someday we might come to that point. I really think the world that Andy Marino created is his strongest point. I loved reading about it and how it got to where it was.
The characters, on the other hand, were the weak point in the book. I really liked Ambrose but I did not like Mistletoe. It seemed like she was trying to be something she wasn't and I couldn't connect with her. Sliv was also weak. He seemed like a very interesting character but he was barely there. I would have liked more of his story.
The plot of the book was another of it's redeeming qualities. It was very fast-paced and interesting. It was pretty much non-stop action. I also liked that it was multiple POVs so you could see things through both character's eyes.
Overall, Unison Spark is a great dystopian sci-fi that I think will appeal to a lot of people. Also, it seems like this one will be a standalone. I felt that everything tied up very nicely in the end.
The world of ESC and Unison is unlike any I have read about. Unison is basically the king of social networks and it is scary to think that someday we might come to that point. I really think the world that Andy Marino created is his strongest point. I loved reading about it and how it got to where it was.
The characters, on the other hand, were the weak point in the book. I really liked Ambrose but I did not like Mistletoe. It seemed like she was trying to be something she wasn't and I couldn't connect with her. Sliv was also weak. He seemed like a very interesting character but he was barely there. I would have liked more of his story.
The plot of the book was another of it's redeeming qualities. It was very fast-paced and interesting. It was pretty much non-stop action. I also liked that it was multiple POVs so you could see things through both character's eyes.
Overall, Unison Spark is a great dystopian sci-fi that I think will appeal to a lot of people. Also, it seems like this one will be a standalone. I felt that everything tied up very nicely in the end.
February 7, 2016
La verdad no sé como expresarme sobre este libro, pues el mismo carece de sentido, de claridad... de todo. La historia es débil, la mayoría de personajes son inverosímiles, a excepción de Mistletoe, y el espíritu del libro es débil y carece de emoción. Quizá, y es algo que noté, la traducción no fue muy buena, pero de igual modo el desarrollo del argumento es terrible. Un libro para olvidar.
February 27, 2021
Unison Spark / Andy Marino / 2011
Another in a long list of YA stories on my TBR pile. The cover art was cool and interesting. The jacket blurb promised action and intrigue. The story starts out in the futuristic Eastern Seaboard City. The upper canopy, where the rich and entitled live, is where the great social media company Unison is located. For a fee, it offers users a completely immersive VR experience full of whatever their hearts desire. The lower canopy where the poor live is cut off from the upper city and nobody has access to Unison. I'm not the target audience, so maybe I'm too old to 'get it' but the story didn't really seem to have a clear point. The plot was muddled and confusing. The conclusion felt rushed and had very little foreshadowing to make the surprise twist make any sense. The characters had potential but were not fully developed and the reader would have benefited from better world building for this futuristic society. One small critique of something i found very irritating: The author refers to the protagonist's hair style as a blue 'pig tail' when the book jacket clearly shows a girl with a pony tail. Big difference. A small detail like that really grates on me. I give this a 2/5 star rating.
Another in a long list of YA stories on my TBR pile. The cover art was cool and interesting. The jacket blurb promised action and intrigue. The story starts out in the futuristic Eastern Seaboard City. The upper canopy, where the rich and entitled live, is where the great social media company Unison is located. For a fee, it offers users a completely immersive VR experience full of whatever their hearts desire. The lower canopy where the poor live is cut off from the upper city and nobody has access to Unison. I'm not the target audience, so maybe I'm too old to 'get it' but the story didn't really seem to have a clear point. The plot was muddled and confusing. The conclusion felt rushed and had very little foreshadowing to make the surprise twist make any sense. The characters had potential but were not fully developed and the reader would have benefited from better world building for this futuristic society. One small critique of something i found very irritating: The author refers to the protagonist's hair style as a blue 'pig tail' when the book jacket clearly shows a girl with a pony tail. Big difference. A small detail like that really grates on me. I give this a 2/5 star rating.
June 28, 2018
Unison Spark is a total disappointment for me. The premise of the story sounded promising - a dystopian society where one social network consumes almost everyone's time; so much so that Unison has become the only company in charge of all social networking, but that's where the story gets hazy. Ambrose and Mistletoe live in different parts of the city. Ambrose is the product of a wealthy family that pretty much runs Unison, but Mistletoe lives in a depressed part of the city that doesn't even have good cell coverage. They come together when Mistletoe's guardian is killed trying to save Ambrose from a threat that is never really made clear. Eventually Mistletoe and Ambrose work together to try to solve the mystery of their connection and the growing threat of the Unison network. Throughout the book, it was hard to figure out what was happening with the social network, how they made their money, and how Ambrose and his father were connected to the Unison company. I didn't enjoy the book and had trouble getting through it. A real disappointment.
June 7, 2022
I rate Unison Spark three out of five because in each chapter the perspective/point of view switches between two characters: Anna (aka Mistletoe) and Ambrose Truax. The two have similar interests and it is believed that they have known each other from the past (like having met before and they have just met; Anna saves Ambrose during a street fight in an alley when he is being attacked by the police or suspects Anna then learns that Ambrose is working with UniCorp CEO Martin Truax. I wish it hadn't changed perspectives, and just stayed as one. "The dark figure loomed, staring dead into my eyes. page 97" This quote was chilling.
June 3, 2022
I rate Unison Spark three out of five because in each chapter the perspective/point of view switches between two characters: Anna (aka Mistletoe) and Ambrose Truax. The two have similar interests and it is believed that they have known each other from the past (like having met before and they have just met; Anna saves Ambrose during a street fight in an alley when he is being attacked by police or suspects Anna then learns that Ambrose is working with UniCorp CEO Martin Truax (who is richer than she could have imagined). I wish it hadn't changed perspectives, and just stayed as one. "It was then when I turned that I saw him, lurking in the darkness. page 89" This quote was chilling.
July 21, 2020
Leiturinha rápida da madrugada. Universo interessante, protagonistas legais, só senti que a história foca muito nos 2, por que não uma revolução?
Não achei nada interessante a parte mais pobre do lugar se chamar Saigon, tipo, por que? Não tem cidade pobre dos EUA pra usar não?
Não achei nada interessante a parte mais pobre do lugar se chamar Saigon, tipo, por que? Não tem cidade pobre dos EUA pra usar não?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 3, 2023
Seit gefühlt 10 Jahren liegt dieses Buch in meinem Regal und ich warte nur auf den Moment es endlich zu lesen. Damals hat mich das Cover gecatched, weil das Mädchen lilane Haare trägt - meine Lieblingsfarbe. Jetzt ist also endlich die Zeit gekommen das Buch zu lesen.
Meine Leseerfahrung:
Bei dem Buch handelt es sich um eine Dystopie, in der man sofort ins Handlungsgeschehen einsteigt. Von dieser wird das ganze Buch getrieben, sodass man nicht wirklich einen Einblick in die Gefühlswelt der Charaktere bekommt. Da schon im ersten Kapitel eine wichtige Bezugsperson für Mistletoe stirbt, wäre es ein Bonus gewesen, wenn man als Leser auch wirklich getroffen ist davon. Doch durch die fehlenden Gefühle und Hintergrundgeschichte, die im Buch nicht mehr als Rückblicke enthaltet, ist das ziemlich irrelevant.
Das Worldbuilding loben viele, doch bei mir hat es einfach nur Kopfschmerzen verursacht. Die Beschreibungen sind sehr komplex, sodass man Probleme mit der Vorstellung haben kann. Auch die Sprache vereinfacht das nicht, sondern stellt eher eine Hürde da.
Hat man beim Lesen einen Moment nicht aufgepasst, gibt es einige Stellen die für Verwirrung sorgen, denn es wird keine klare Trennung zwischen der Realität der Charaktere und dem Einflimmern in Unison gezogen. Wenn wenigstens ein Absatz dazwischen wäre und nicht alles einfach im Fließtext verarbeitet wird, wäre es schon eine große Hilfe.
Das Buch wird aus der Sicht der Protagonisten Misteltoe und Ambrose erzählt, jedoch finden zwei parallele Handlungsstränge statt, da die beiden Protagonisten die meiste Zeit getrennt verbringen. Auch wenn die Verbindung der beiden erklärt wird, ist es schwer nachzuempfinden in welcher Beziehung die beiden letztendlich zueinander stehen.
Aufgrund all dieser Punkte und den Aufbau der Geschichte, verliert der Plottwist am Ende seine Wirkung und schafft es nicht einen von den Socken zu hauen.
Um noch einmal auf die Gestaltung des Covers und den Titel zurückzukehren:
Erstens hat Mistletoe einen blauen Zopf (und nicht lilane kurze Haare) und zweitens wird viel zu wenig auf den Satz "Carpe Somnium" eingegangen um ihn als Titel zu benutzen. "Carpe Somnium" bedeutet soviel wie "Nutze den Schlaf", der eine sehr interessante Ebene im Buch eröffnen würde, jedoch nicht weiter als Begrüßung und in Erwähnungen ausgenutzt wird. Somit bekommt man vom Titel schon falsche Erwartungen an das Buch.
Originell sind die Beleidigungen wie "Twitterkopf" oder "verbloggt", die einen immer wieder zum Schmunzeln bringen.
Aufgrund der fehlenden Gefühlsebene fällt es auch schwer die Charaktere zu beschreiben.
Fazit:
Das Buch hat es nicht geschafft mich emotional zu involvieren und Emotionen zu wecken. Eher verursachte es mir Kofschmerzen und Verwirrung, was sehr schade ist, da die Geschichte doch interessant ist. Wer ein handlungsgetriebenes science fiction Buch, das man schnell durchlesen kann, sucht, ist hier genau richtig.
Meine Leseerfahrung:
Bei dem Buch handelt es sich um eine Dystopie, in der man sofort ins Handlungsgeschehen einsteigt. Von dieser wird das ganze Buch getrieben, sodass man nicht wirklich einen Einblick in die Gefühlswelt der Charaktere bekommt. Da schon im ersten Kapitel eine wichtige Bezugsperson für Mistletoe stirbt, wäre es ein Bonus gewesen, wenn man als Leser auch wirklich getroffen ist davon. Doch durch die fehlenden Gefühle und Hintergrundgeschichte, die im Buch nicht mehr als Rückblicke enthaltet, ist das ziemlich irrelevant.
Das Worldbuilding loben viele, doch bei mir hat es einfach nur Kopfschmerzen verursacht. Die Beschreibungen sind sehr komplex, sodass man Probleme mit der Vorstellung haben kann. Auch die Sprache vereinfacht das nicht, sondern stellt eher eine Hürde da.
Hat man beim Lesen einen Moment nicht aufgepasst, gibt es einige Stellen die für Verwirrung sorgen, denn es wird keine klare Trennung zwischen der Realität der Charaktere und dem Einflimmern in Unison gezogen. Wenn wenigstens ein Absatz dazwischen wäre und nicht alles einfach im Fließtext verarbeitet wird, wäre es schon eine große Hilfe.
Das Buch wird aus der Sicht der Protagonisten Misteltoe und Ambrose erzählt, jedoch finden zwei parallele Handlungsstränge statt, da die beiden Protagonisten die meiste Zeit getrennt verbringen. Auch wenn die Verbindung der beiden erklärt wird, ist es schwer nachzuempfinden in welcher Beziehung die beiden letztendlich zueinander stehen.
Aufgrund all dieser Punkte und den Aufbau der Geschichte, verliert der Plottwist am Ende seine Wirkung und schafft es nicht einen von den Socken zu hauen.
Um noch einmal auf die Gestaltung des Covers und den Titel zurückzukehren:
Erstens hat Mistletoe einen blauen Zopf (und nicht lilane kurze Haare) und zweitens wird viel zu wenig auf den Satz "Carpe Somnium" eingegangen um ihn als Titel zu benutzen. "Carpe Somnium" bedeutet soviel wie "Nutze den Schlaf", der eine sehr interessante Ebene im Buch eröffnen würde, jedoch nicht weiter als Begrüßung und in Erwähnungen ausgenutzt wird. Somit bekommt man vom Titel schon falsche Erwartungen an das Buch.
Originell sind die Beleidigungen wie "Twitterkopf" oder "verbloggt", die einen immer wieder zum Schmunzeln bringen.
Aufgrund der fehlenden Gefühlsebene fällt es auch schwer die Charaktere zu beschreiben.
Fazit:
Das Buch hat es nicht geschafft mich emotional zu involvieren und Emotionen zu wecken. Eher verursachte es mir Kofschmerzen und Verwirrung, was sehr schade ist, da die Geschichte doch interessant ist. Wer ein handlungsgetriebenes science fiction Buch, das man schnell durchlesen kann, sucht, ist hier genau richtig.
April 23, 2025
I thought the characters were nice and the pacing fairly fast, the logic was a little lacking in my opinion, but that's often the case in fast-paced YA
The ending was a little abrupt I think, but other than that it was fine.
The ending was a little abrupt I think, but other than that it was fine.
September 14, 2017
Me gusto mucho pero el final es bastante lio y deja mal sabor de boca. Parece que querçia acabar el libro de prisas y corriendo
May 23, 2020
Ich fand das Ende nicht gerade gut und sehr überstürzt . Als würde ein Teil fehlen...
April 28, 2012
Rating: 2.5/5
And I thought the social networking craze of today was crazy. Mistletoe’s (aka Anna) world is even more insane. Marino creates a very interesting world with characters that propel forward into the midst of the ultimate social networking place. As I read through the novel, there are moments were I can relate to the book because of its references to the social networking world. But near the end the story jumbles and losing its grip on a firm reality. The web becomes real and reality becomes the interweb and soon I suddenly realize: I am lost.
The characters had a lot of potential. I understood them as a reader, but I didn’t quite feel them. There are very close moments (i.e. where Ambrose wanted to live in the memory of him chasing his brother after he threw a marble off the building) where I thought, “Wow, that was kind of a rich emotional experience.� I felt the longing and solitude at that moment and also felt the weight of Ambrose’s trouble with that simple memory. But for the most part the novel skims over the deep emotional aspect. Don’t misunderstand. I knew when they were happy, scared, and even when their feelings were being manipulated. It was told very well. There’s just wasn't enough of an emotional punch for a reader to fall in love with the characters or like the characters (or think them to be friends). Mistletoe could have been a great strong hero but she wasn’t pushed hard enough to be that badass chick. Even though she was the lead her connection to me fell below of that of Ambrose. I knew nothing of her. Besides that fact that Jiri may have been a father figure to her. Aside that I knew nothing of her personality aside the facts that she trying to survive in a tough world.
The tough world was hard to picture. This is where majority of the points is lost. While the idea comes across well the execution was a little shabby. I kept trying to imagine picture their world and I couldn’t. There wasn’t enough to go on and I felt like the gaps in my head were too bothersome. They live in skyscrapers. Large massive skyscrapers with holodecks (my borrowed word from Star Trek, Marino doesn’t use this word)? People live on different sectioned levels. At first I imagines something like the beginnings of The Fifth Element (the movie)� where there are hover cars and tall buildings. But then there are walk ways�. and then there are pastures on/in building. At one point I had to stop reading and digest what I just read and had a mini debate on what Marino was trying to tell me. Then there’s the bottom� you know the earth, very bottom…and beyond. Nothing describes what happened here. There was one scene where Mistletoe questions (with sarcasm) the fact that Ambrose has never been to THE bottom. Yes, he’s been to the bottom floor of his high society but the actual bottom of the building they live in. Supposedly these building reach past the clouds. They surpass the skyscrapers of todays world. They must be massive. One whole city turned into a giant skyscraper (this thought just occurred to me as I typed this review)� and if it was so then it would make much more sense, but this idea (of a city being built into one gigantic skyscraper) was never said in the novel.
The plot. It was the driving force of the story. Unfortunately, near the end it become so confusing and mixed I didn’t quite understand what I was going through anymore. I had to sit back and think about the most logical point and go from there. By the end, if you’re like me, you’ll wonder what part was reality and what parts were Unison’s (the social network world) world, or whether the real world has yet to be introduced at all. I’m betting those who enjoyed the book immensely enjoyed Ambrose and Mistletoe’s general storyline. They have to save the world(s). That point came across easily enough. But then throw in a virtual world and then some other world and then the possibility of dreams and then the real world and then the maybe real world?� and then the world outside of the dream of the dream world� mix all that together and what do we get? You get my point? It get’s confusing. O.o�. > . < �. ?(o.O)? X.X �. yes that was a simplistic emotes to describe what I thought the plot (the story under the general storyline of “save the world(s)�) was like.
Overall, this was an ambitious novel. The general idea and storyline was easy to understand, but the intimate story � what makes this book uniquely this book � came off confusing and scattered.
Verdict: Library check out.
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And I thought the social networking craze of today was crazy. Mistletoe’s (aka Anna) world is even more insane. Marino creates a very interesting world with characters that propel forward into the midst of the ultimate social networking place. As I read through the novel, there are moments were I can relate to the book because of its references to the social networking world. But near the end the story jumbles and losing its grip on a firm reality. The web becomes real and reality becomes the interweb and soon I suddenly realize: I am lost.
The characters had a lot of potential. I understood them as a reader, but I didn’t quite feel them. There are very close moments (i.e. where Ambrose wanted to live in the memory of him chasing his brother after he threw a marble off the building) where I thought, “Wow, that was kind of a rich emotional experience.� I felt the longing and solitude at that moment and also felt the weight of Ambrose’s trouble with that simple memory. But for the most part the novel skims over the deep emotional aspect. Don’t misunderstand. I knew when they were happy, scared, and even when their feelings were being manipulated. It was told very well. There’s just wasn't enough of an emotional punch for a reader to fall in love with the characters or like the characters (or think them to be friends). Mistletoe could have been a great strong hero but she wasn’t pushed hard enough to be that badass chick. Even though she was the lead her connection to me fell below of that of Ambrose. I knew nothing of her. Besides that fact that Jiri may have been a father figure to her. Aside that I knew nothing of her personality aside the facts that she trying to survive in a tough world.
The tough world was hard to picture. This is where majority of the points is lost. While the idea comes across well the execution was a little shabby. I kept trying to imagine picture their world and I couldn’t. There wasn’t enough to go on and I felt like the gaps in my head were too bothersome. They live in skyscrapers. Large massive skyscrapers with holodecks (my borrowed word from Star Trek, Marino doesn’t use this word)? People live on different sectioned levels. At first I imagines something like the beginnings of The Fifth Element (the movie)� where there are hover cars and tall buildings. But then there are walk ways�. and then there are pastures on/in building. At one point I had to stop reading and digest what I just read and had a mini debate on what Marino was trying to tell me. Then there’s the bottom� you know the earth, very bottom…and beyond. Nothing describes what happened here. There was one scene where Mistletoe questions (with sarcasm) the fact that Ambrose has never been to THE bottom. Yes, he’s been to the bottom floor of his high society but the actual bottom of the building they live in. Supposedly these building reach past the clouds. They surpass the skyscrapers of todays world. They must be massive. One whole city turned into a giant skyscraper (this thought just occurred to me as I typed this review)� and if it was so then it would make much more sense, but this idea (of a city being built into one gigantic skyscraper) was never said in the novel.
The plot. It was the driving force of the story. Unfortunately, near the end it become so confusing and mixed I didn’t quite understand what I was going through anymore. I had to sit back and think about the most logical point and go from there. By the end, if you’re like me, you’ll wonder what part was reality and what parts were Unison’s (the social network world) world, or whether the real world has yet to be introduced at all. I’m betting those who enjoyed the book immensely enjoyed Ambrose and Mistletoe’s general storyline. They have to save the world(s). That point came across easily enough. But then throw in a virtual world and then some other world and then the possibility of dreams and then the real world and then the maybe real world?� and then the world outside of the dream of the dream world� mix all that together and what do we get? You get my point? It get’s confusing. O.o�. > . < �. ?(o.O)? X.X �. yes that was a simplistic emotes to describe what I thought the plot (the story under the general storyline of “save the world(s)�) was like.
Overall, this was an ambitious novel. The general idea and storyline was easy to understand, but the intimate story � what makes this book uniquely this book � came off confusing and scattered.
Verdict: Library check out.
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March 15, 2017
Unison es un libro del que no habia oido hablar, pero cuando lo vi y lei la sinopsis no pude evitar querer leerlo. Al principio me parecia muy sencillo la manera de escribir o expresar los sentimientos, y es algo que si falla a lo largo de la historia, lo cual puede llegar a ser molesto y confuso. pero aun asi cuando la accion empieza y te adentras mas en la historia es genial. Este libro es bastante corto, lo cual no es comun en libros de ciencia ficcion, pero ame parecio una historia buena y entretenida.
November 12, 2015
--Full, non-spoiler review courtesy at --
Unison Spark 2.0 is a new update from Facebook and the old Twitter that has never before been seen. A program that makes you feel like you're actually physically part of a huge digital world. Once you are plugged in you are in it as if you are in real life. People there have popularity stats in a way to allow ranking. Ambrose Truax is the heir to the empire of Unison Spark and son of Martin Truax, so his ranking is the highest and most popular as far as stats go. Ambrose seems to like his life. He's in charge of keeping everyone happy in this digital world and coming back for more of the products of BetterLife connected to Unison Spark. Though Ambrose is contacted one day though by an anonymous source mentioning to him he's only Martin's experiment. Not his son at all. That he's being lied to. Ambrose isn't entirely sure if this is a lie, so he escapes all he's known to go below where BetterLife hook-ups into Unison Spark aren't a way of life. He's quickly wanted by (sort of security) by who it is assumed to be watching him back.
Into which soon enough Mistletoe comes in. She is the girl with the blue pigtail. She happens to help him escape but in the process the person who has always been her caretaker , Jiri, dies.
"There in the middle of the road , was Jiri, standing with his back to her, pointing his black pre-Unison handgun at a stocky ESC police officer with a gleaming metallic arm thst narrowed to a glowing tip, which was in turn pointed at a boy of about her age who was dressed better than anyone she'd ever see. His outfit was holo-fashion, an elegant projection of a sharp new suit in the manner of big-time businessman from up above. His wispy blond hair sparkled, even in the subcanopy shade. He was clearly a long way from home, and his wide eyes from Jiri to the cop."
While she despises Ambrose at first for seeming to be somewhat weak she feels she has to help him. Just as they are trying to discover what Ambrose is involved in they also have a connection to each other thanks to Unison Spark that in turn is for a bigger plan set into motion by Unison Spark.
" Ambrose recognized the scheme: they were orchestrating chaos to cover a risky in-Unison conversation. A battle like the one raging around them could scramble UniCorp scans for a precious moments.
"Martin Truax," Sonia said finally.
" The creator. He who giveth and taketh away"
"What about him?"
" Chatter among freelancers like me is mostly speculation. Half of it's idle, half of it's strategic, designed to throw everybody off, make room for your own ideas, beat other homebrew types to the punch. But lately it's been off-the-charts twitter-brained. Like Martin's gone rogue and even his own advisers don't know what he's up to, because he's planning to spring version 3.0 on everybody unannounced, wipe everything that came before. Logins reset across the board. Profiles erased. People are saying there won't be any warning. No ramp up. Just ZAP- he unveils the upgrade, and in the end nobody even cares that it's this big ambush because the opportunities are unimaginably game changing.
" Unison 3.0 will be, like, Humanity 2.0" Takeshi said sagely, repeating some overhead catchphrase. "Might wanna duck...."
Unison Spark is something of a fun science fiction book through the exploration of the social network beyond what it is now and what could maybe potentially be. That with that with our societal economic structure how it could eventually affect how wealthy we can be in information through technology. Which is a pretty interesting premise! Since we can see it today richer persons may today have an easier access to new technological gadgets. Now moving onto the characters within, Unison Spark, for all intentions found had a good enough cast of characters. Although this has to be noted isn't overtly developed in character development but more in its story events (plot).
Overall: Amazing read!
Genre: Science Fiction, Young Adult, Romance
Unison Spark 2.0 is a new update from Facebook and the old Twitter that has never before been seen. A program that makes you feel like you're actually physically part of a huge digital world. Once you are plugged in you are in it as if you are in real life. People there have popularity stats in a way to allow ranking. Ambrose Truax is the heir to the empire of Unison Spark and son of Martin Truax, so his ranking is the highest and most popular as far as stats go. Ambrose seems to like his life. He's in charge of keeping everyone happy in this digital world and coming back for more of the products of BetterLife connected to Unison Spark. Though Ambrose is contacted one day though by an anonymous source mentioning to him he's only Martin's experiment. Not his son at all. That he's being lied to. Ambrose isn't entirely sure if this is a lie, so he escapes all he's known to go below where BetterLife hook-ups into Unison Spark aren't a way of life. He's quickly wanted by (sort of security) by who it is assumed to be watching him back.
Into which soon enough Mistletoe comes in. She is the girl with the blue pigtail. She happens to help him escape but in the process the person who has always been her caretaker , Jiri, dies.
"There in the middle of the road , was Jiri, standing with his back to her, pointing his black pre-Unison handgun at a stocky ESC police officer with a gleaming metallic arm thst narrowed to a glowing tip, which was in turn pointed at a boy of about her age who was dressed better than anyone she'd ever see. His outfit was holo-fashion, an elegant projection of a sharp new suit in the manner of big-time businessman from up above. His wispy blond hair sparkled, even in the subcanopy shade. He was clearly a long way from home, and his wide eyes from Jiri to the cop."
While she despises Ambrose at first for seeming to be somewhat weak she feels she has to help him. Just as they are trying to discover what Ambrose is involved in they also have a connection to each other thanks to Unison Spark that in turn is for a bigger plan set into motion by Unison Spark.
" Ambrose recognized the scheme: they were orchestrating chaos to cover a risky in-Unison conversation. A battle like the one raging around them could scramble UniCorp scans for a precious moments.
"Martin Truax," Sonia said finally.
" The creator. He who giveth and taketh away"
"What about him?"
" Chatter among freelancers like me is mostly speculation. Half of it's idle, half of it's strategic, designed to throw everybody off, make room for your own ideas, beat other homebrew types to the punch. But lately it's been off-the-charts twitter-brained. Like Martin's gone rogue and even his own advisers don't know what he's up to, because he's planning to spring version 3.0 on everybody unannounced, wipe everything that came before. Logins reset across the board. Profiles erased. People are saying there won't be any warning. No ramp up. Just ZAP- he unveils the upgrade, and in the end nobody even cares that it's this big ambush because the opportunities are unimaginably game changing.
" Unison 3.0 will be, like, Humanity 2.0" Takeshi said sagely, repeating some overhead catchphrase. "Might wanna duck...."
Unison Spark is something of a fun science fiction book through the exploration of the social network beyond what it is now and what could maybe potentially be. That with that with our societal economic structure how it could eventually affect how wealthy we can be in information through technology. Which is a pretty interesting premise! Since we can see it today richer persons may today have an easier access to new technological gadgets. Now moving onto the characters within, Unison Spark, for all intentions found had a good enough cast of characters. Although this has to be noted isn't overtly developed in character development but more in its story events (plot).
Overall: Amazing read!
Genre: Science Fiction, Young Adult, Romance
January 14, 2016
Unison Spark opens with a fifteen year old girl named Anna announcing to her caretaker Jiri that her new name is Mistletoe. The book goes on to describe, or rather briefly go over, Mistletoe’s history and how her and Jiri met. After that it jumps right into some confusing technological lingo and plot that can have the reader stumped until the third or fourth chapter. Overall I found Unison Spark to be confusing and lacking in important details, but containing a rather strong concept.
I really wanted to love this book, I really did. I loved the concept of social media being taken so far so that the user is actually removed from their real body and put into the virtual world. I enjoyed seeing the contrast between topside and the subcanopy sort of relate to America’s current contrast between the wealthy and those in poverty. I even sort of enjoyed figuring out some of the technological lingo. The disappointing part was the sporadic plot points and completely uncalledfor ending. I wish the action sequences related to each other better, rather than being their own entities or individual events that don’t connect well at all. I am cutting Andy Marino some slack. This being his first novel and sometimes it is hard to get such complex ideas onto paper. Regardless Unison Spark needed work in more places than one.
The main characters within Unison Spark are, sadly, underdeveloped. The first chapter gives more information about Mistletoe’s scoot, than about Mistletoe herself in terms of description and personality traits. By the end of the first chapter the reader has a sense of Mistletoe’s history and some sense of her personality, but the reader is left hoping for more information that they never seem to get. Meanwhile the second chapter is devoted to ‘learning� about the second main character, Ambrose, and unfortunately the reader doesn’t learn that much about him either. In addition to the lack of character definition, words like ‘scoot� and ‘process flow� also lack definitions in the beginning and end up taking away from the story.
A major issue in Unison Spark is that the minute the reader thinks they are going to find out who the main characters are and get to know them and relate to them the information gets pulled away and replaced with some random event that typically doesn't add much to the story. If more time was taken in the beginning of the book to explain and get to know the characters, not just the major ones, but the minor ones too, the storyline could have made more sense and therefore making the book more enjoyable. It just takes a few more chapters of characters interacting with each other and going about their daily lives to make the characters more relatable. Then the reader can say to themselves “I do something similar to that� or “I know someone like them� or “I have the same issue or opinion with (insert topic here)�. Adding in these little pieces of information can make a great idea into a great book. Unision Spark is a great idea, not so much the book part, unfortunately. Believe me I really wanted to love this book, but it just wasn’t relatable.
Despite the strong ideas and concepts within this novel, the characters and plot line were lacking key details that could have made Unison Spark a much better read. With a combination of confusing terms, characters and plot it is hard to make sense of a book. I may be interested in seeing how Andy Marino develops as a writer and reading some of his future novels. Overall Unison Spark had the potential to grasp a reader quickly, but just couldn’t keep a strong enough plot with developed characters to keep hold of the reader for more than a few chapters.
I really wanted to love this book, I really did. I loved the concept of social media being taken so far so that the user is actually removed from their real body and put into the virtual world. I enjoyed seeing the contrast between topside and the subcanopy sort of relate to America’s current contrast between the wealthy and those in poverty. I even sort of enjoyed figuring out some of the technological lingo. The disappointing part was the sporadic plot points and completely uncalledfor ending. I wish the action sequences related to each other better, rather than being their own entities or individual events that don’t connect well at all. I am cutting Andy Marino some slack. This being his first novel and sometimes it is hard to get such complex ideas onto paper. Regardless Unison Spark needed work in more places than one.
The main characters within Unison Spark are, sadly, underdeveloped. The first chapter gives more information about Mistletoe’s scoot, than about Mistletoe herself in terms of description and personality traits. By the end of the first chapter the reader has a sense of Mistletoe’s history and some sense of her personality, but the reader is left hoping for more information that they never seem to get. Meanwhile the second chapter is devoted to ‘learning� about the second main character, Ambrose, and unfortunately the reader doesn’t learn that much about him either. In addition to the lack of character definition, words like ‘scoot� and ‘process flow� also lack definitions in the beginning and end up taking away from the story.
A major issue in Unison Spark is that the minute the reader thinks they are going to find out who the main characters are and get to know them and relate to them the information gets pulled away and replaced with some random event that typically doesn't add much to the story. If more time was taken in the beginning of the book to explain and get to know the characters, not just the major ones, but the minor ones too, the storyline could have made more sense and therefore making the book more enjoyable. It just takes a few more chapters of characters interacting with each other and going about their daily lives to make the characters more relatable. Then the reader can say to themselves “I do something similar to that� or “I know someone like them� or “I have the same issue or opinion with (insert topic here)�. Adding in these little pieces of information can make a great idea into a great book. Unision Spark is a great idea, not so much the book part, unfortunately. Believe me I really wanted to love this book, but it just wasn’t relatable.
Despite the strong ideas and concepts within this novel, the characters and plot line were lacking key details that could have made Unison Spark a much better read. With a combination of confusing terms, characters and plot it is hard to make sense of a book. I may be interested in seeing how Andy Marino develops as a writer and reading some of his future novels. Overall Unison Spark had the potential to grasp a reader quickly, but just couldn’t keep a strong enough plot with developed characters to keep hold of the reader for more than a few chapters.
April 4, 2023
Juro que no le tenía tantas expectativas.
Le di una segunda oportunidad, porque ya lo había intentado leer y como que la ciencia ficcion no es muy de mi agrado, me aburrí y lo dejé, aparte de que no entendía. Un dia de estos se me da por agarrarlo y volverlo a intentar Y WOWW. Menos mal porque me estaba perdiendo uno de los mejor libros de ciencia ficción que leí en toda mi historia.
Los personajes son tan..tan ellos, inocentes pero al mismo tiempo no. Cada uno tiene su esencia. Mistletoe es muy aventurera y curiosa y me encanta. Ambrose es el amor de mi vida.
Son, literalmente, de mundos completamente diferentes, pero eso no les impide hacerse amigos y complices para resolver su misterio en común.
Tiene bastantes giros QUE AY, si que no me los esperaba, algunos me dejaron shockeada.
Pasan tantas cosas que yo no sabía ni en que día estaba, de tan sumergida que estaba en la historia. No quería soltar el libro en ningun momento.
Me encanta, amo amo amo la amistad que se creó entre los protas.
El final me dejó un sabor agridulce en la boca.
BUENISIMO EL LIBRO.
Le di una segunda oportunidad, porque ya lo había intentado leer y como que la ciencia ficcion no es muy de mi agrado, me aburrí y lo dejé, aparte de que no entendía. Un dia de estos se me da por agarrarlo y volverlo a intentar Y WOWW. Menos mal porque me estaba perdiendo uno de los mejor libros de ciencia ficción que leí en toda mi historia.
Los personajes son tan..tan ellos, inocentes pero al mismo tiempo no. Cada uno tiene su esencia. Mistletoe es muy aventurera y curiosa y me encanta. Ambrose es el amor de mi vida.
Son, literalmente, de mundos completamente diferentes, pero eso no les impide hacerse amigos y complices para resolver su misterio en común.
Tiene bastantes giros QUE AY, si que no me los esperaba, algunos me dejaron shockeada.
Pasan tantas cosas que yo no sabía ni en que día estaba, de tan sumergida que estaba en la historia. No quería soltar el libro en ningun momento.
Me encanta, amo amo amo la amistad que se creó entre los protas.
El final me dejó un sabor agridulce en la boca.
BUENISIMO EL LIBRO.
July 8, 2012
Unison 3.0 is a fast paced and interesting sci-fi which I enjoyed and left me with lots of think about.
The reason why I think this book will appeal to Young Adults is because it is really fast paced and plays around with a lot of ideas about social network and the place it will evolve to in the future which in all honesty is quite a scary idea. It follows the story of two characters, Ambrose and Mistletoe two teenagers. Ambrose comes from the upper-level and has spent his life and career involved with social networking and developing its use even further while working for his father. Mistletoe comes from the lower level and has litle to no experience of all these things but circumstance bring the unlikely pair together and ends up with them fighting for their own existence and identities against a social network which is all seeing and all knowing controlling the ever waking thoughts and feelings of the masses.
I really enjoyed this book because it was fast paced and got you straight into the action. You also felt like you really bonded with the characters from the first page and I founf it very easy to imagine their worlds as the writing was brilliantly descriptive. I didn't have the time to get get bored or fed up with it which was awesome.
The only thing I would say about this book is I do think I might need to give it a second read as the ideas thrown about towards the end were so insane that I think going over it again would get it a bit more clear in might head about what actually went down in the end because it was a little bit confusing to my tiny brain (although that also might be because I read so fast!)
all in all a book that was very different and good fun to read
The reason why I think this book will appeal to Young Adults is because it is really fast paced and plays around with a lot of ideas about social network and the place it will evolve to in the future which in all honesty is quite a scary idea. It follows the story of two characters, Ambrose and Mistletoe two teenagers. Ambrose comes from the upper-level and has spent his life and career involved with social networking and developing its use even further while working for his father. Mistletoe comes from the lower level and has litle to no experience of all these things but circumstance bring the unlikely pair together and ends up with them fighting for their own existence and identities against a social network which is all seeing and all knowing controlling the ever waking thoughts and feelings of the masses.
I really enjoyed this book because it was fast paced and got you straight into the action. You also felt like you really bonded with the characters from the first page and I founf it very easy to imagine their worlds as the writing was brilliantly descriptive. I didn't have the time to get get bored or fed up with it which was awesome.
The only thing I would say about this book is I do think I might need to give it a second read as the ideas thrown about towards the end were so insane that I think going over it again would get it a bit more clear in might head about what actually went down in the end because it was a little bit confusing to my tiny brain (although that also might be because I read so fast!)
all in all a book that was very different and good fun to read
May 12, 2014
Argh. I was not interested in that. I am sorry but that was slow, dull and boring. I kept falling asleep whilst reading it this afternoon. I found it uninteresting and unengaging right until the end. I’m glad I’ve finished it, it took me long enough.
image
Mistletoe can only wish to be have a BetterLife log in, the social network that knows the user better than themselves. Ambrose, heir to BetterLife, can’t ask for anything more. But when their paths collide they learn that they have more than they’d ever thought in common and that the BetterLife upgrades have more than meet the eye.
It started off pretty slow, hence my bored post earlier in the week. When I picked up the book the storyline seemed interesting and I was intrigued on where it was going to take me. However, I did not feel it was well executed in any shape or form and felt there was a lack of structure.
Nothing felt solid which made it hard to me to get involved with the story. I only just grasped what was going on in places. Their world was hard to get a grip on and that lack of clarity found it harder for me to read.
The ending followed the rest of the translucent narrative and was very watery. It felt a bit rushed and deflated.
Additionally, the names were incredibly annoying to read; I mean, Mistletoe. Come on! And there were so many of them I could not keep track of them and understand who each person was, meant to be or what side they were one. Too confusing for my liking.
I thought this book may have had potential but it was not what I wanted in a book at all. Too slow, dull and uninteresting.
image
Mistletoe can only wish to be have a BetterLife log in, the social network that knows the user better than themselves. Ambrose, heir to BetterLife, can’t ask for anything more. But when their paths collide they learn that they have more than they’d ever thought in common and that the BetterLife upgrades have more than meet the eye.
It started off pretty slow, hence my bored post earlier in the week. When I picked up the book the storyline seemed interesting and I was intrigued on where it was going to take me. However, I did not feel it was well executed in any shape or form and felt there was a lack of structure.
Nothing felt solid which made it hard to me to get involved with the story. I only just grasped what was going on in places. Their world was hard to get a grip on and that lack of clarity found it harder for me to read.
The ending followed the rest of the translucent narrative and was very watery. It felt a bit rushed and deflated.
Additionally, the names were incredibly annoying to read; I mean, Mistletoe. Come on! And there were so many of them I could not keep track of them and understand who each person was, meant to be or what side they were one. Too confusing for my liking.
I thought this book may have had potential but it was not what I wanted in a book at all. Too slow, dull and uninteresting.
March 14, 2016
Mistletoe (formerly known as Anna), has lived sub-canopy her whole life, with her guardian Jiri. Their technology is scavenged and ancient, and she's lucky to have a scooter of her own that she uses to ride around the steeply sloping streets. She has a blue, scented braid, and can pretty much take care of herself. She has recurring nightmares about Jiri carrying her from a lab, with tubes and wires coming out of her body, and people chasing them.
Meanwhile, in Eastern Seaboard City, the rich people's world up above, nearly everyone is linked in to a virtual reality game known as Unison. Ambrose Truax is the son of Unison's creator, and already works full-time making the game responsive to the players' wishes--spoken and unspoken. In fact, he's ready for a personal upgrade--the one where they cut out the need for sleep...at all. This is good, actually, because if he doesn't sleep then he can't have those nightmares anymore. Then a stranger hijacks his login and sends him a message: the dreams are real.
These two don't know it, but their worlds are about to come together in unpredictable and dangerous ways.
I liked this world, although it wasn't fleshed out as much as I would have preferred. There's flying cars, and the Unison game and flip-palm connectivity to the network, but we're not given much background on how this all came to be. A short explanation about the whole canopy business, and one or two about the virtual reality network, but not much more than that. This is no Brandon Sanderson novel! It was still enjoyable, it just left me with a lot of questions.
Content: Mostly clean. :) A bit of violence, but no language or sex scenes.
Meanwhile, in Eastern Seaboard City, the rich people's world up above, nearly everyone is linked in to a virtual reality game known as Unison. Ambrose Truax is the son of Unison's creator, and already works full-time making the game responsive to the players' wishes--spoken and unspoken. In fact, he's ready for a personal upgrade--the one where they cut out the need for sleep...at all. This is good, actually, because if he doesn't sleep then he can't have those nightmares anymore. Then a stranger hijacks his login and sends him a message: the dreams are real.
These two don't know it, but their worlds are about to come together in unpredictable and dangerous ways.
I liked this world, although it wasn't fleshed out as much as I would have preferred. There's flying cars, and the Unison game and flip-palm connectivity to the network, but we're not given much background on how this all came to be. A short explanation about the whole canopy business, and one or two about the virtual reality network, but not much more than that. This is no Brandon Sanderson novel! It was still enjoyable, it just left me with a lot of questions.
Content: Mostly clean. :) A bit of violence, but no language or sex scenes.
January 17, 2012
I really liked this book.
It was fun, futuristic, science-y, filled with villains you can't tell apart from family.
Unison is a social network that knows you better than you do and everyone who can afford it uses it. Our heroine, Mistletoe, lives in a world under the canopy, it reminds me of descriptions of the slums in Brazil, only bigger, building one on top of the other, hidden under the city of the wealthy. The poor live under a ceiling that the wealthy have built on top of, no electricity, no electronics. One day, the heir to Unison ends up in this subcanopy world and Mistletoe saves him from uniformed men who are there to take him back to the life he's not sure he still wants to be a part of.
As the two of them run from these men, they begin to realize they have more in common than two people like this should have. Where do their dreams come from and why do they share them?
I thought the description of Unison was really cool and so realistic! I can see it coming! This isn't a dystopian fiction book, it's science fiction, and I really appreciate a story that lays out how and why a certain history happens. It was good, and I am happy to see that it is part of a series. I'd like to know more.
It was fun, futuristic, science-y, filled with villains you can't tell apart from family.
Unison is a social network that knows you better than you do and everyone who can afford it uses it. Our heroine, Mistletoe, lives in a world under the canopy, it reminds me of descriptions of the slums in Brazil, only bigger, building one on top of the other, hidden under the city of the wealthy. The poor live under a ceiling that the wealthy have built on top of, no electricity, no electronics. One day, the heir to Unison ends up in this subcanopy world and Mistletoe saves him from uniformed men who are there to take him back to the life he's not sure he still wants to be a part of.
As the two of them run from these men, they begin to realize they have more in common than two people like this should have. Where do their dreams come from and why do they share them?
I thought the description of Unison was really cool and so realistic! I can see it coming! This isn't a dystopian fiction book, it's science fiction, and I really appreciate a story that lays out how and why a certain history happens. It was good, and I am happy to see that it is part of a series. I'd like to know more.
August 18, 2013
I am pretty sure that I liked this book. The premise was very interesting; a future with the main dividing point between the haves and the have nots is the ability (meaning the money) to log into the most fantastic social network every created. The story follows two teenagers, one from each side of the canopy, as they try to discover themselves (literally).
As I said before, the premise of the book is intriguing, as was the summary. However, I got lost in a lot of the descriptions. They seemed lengthy for the object described and were often bogged down in author-created slang or cyber-geek speak. I found myself having a difficult time visualizing a lot of the narrative, although the storyline itself was easy to follow (I knew what was happening, I just couldn't picture it). The characters all seemed well-thought out, although none of them were developed very well.
I see a lot of potential in author Andy Marino, as this book was highly creative. I look forward to seeing how he develops as a writer.
As I said before, the premise of the book is intriguing, as was the summary. However, I got lost in a lot of the descriptions. They seemed lengthy for the object described and were often bogged down in author-created slang or cyber-geek speak. I found myself having a difficult time visualizing a lot of the narrative, although the storyline itself was easy to follow (I knew what was happening, I just couldn't picture it). The characters all seemed well-thought out, although none of them were developed very well.
I see a lot of potential in author Andy Marino, as this book was highly creative. I look forward to seeing how he develops as a writer.
May 4, 2012
The idea of this book is great and I had pretty high hopes before I started but it just didn't hook me the way I expected it too. Terms like process flow and thought stream were too confusing to figure out and I wasn't invested enough in the plot or characters to spend the mental energy to work it all out in my brain. It was an overall frustrating book to read and it took me over two weeks to get through it. I would imagine many students feeling the same frustration. It could have been a great book for discussion had the story and details been developed more. Developing the story over a series would have been a better way to approach it.
April 6, 2012
Entry 1-
Ambrose and Mistletoe aka.Anna are the main characters and protagonists.Aunt Dita and anyone else for their cause is bad. Martin Truaxand his gang are very bad and are antagonists.
Entry 2-
The setting is on Nelson and in Unison.The point of view switches bet Ambose and Mistletoe.
Entry 3-
These people created Ambrose and Mistletoe from a tube and since they are getting too old the police and Martin Truax, the most prominent person are after them, but Ambrose and Mistletoe defeat Martin.
Ambrose and Mistletoe aka.Anna are the main characters and protagonists.Aunt Dita and anyone else for their cause is bad. Martin Truaxand his gang are very bad and are antagonists.
Entry 2-
The setting is on Nelson and in Unison.The point of view switches bet Ambose and Mistletoe.
Entry 3-
These people created Ambrose and Mistletoe from a tube and since they are getting too old the police and Martin Truax, the most prominent person are after them, but Ambrose and Mistletoe defeat Martin.
June 17, 2020
El autor propone una idea bastante original pero le faltaron muchos elementos y explicación para crear un universo fantastico.
El problema que tuve con este libro es que no sabia donde se situaban las escenas y cuando pasaban de un lugar a otro, era confuso. Los personajes principales podían estar mejor desarrollados, sin embargo, la protagonista es super singular e inteligente.
El final me pareció adecuado, esperaba quizás algo mejor pero estoy satisfecho con esta lectura, aunque como dije, podría haber sido mucho mejor.
El problema que tuve con este libro es que no sabia donde se situaban las escenas y cuando pasaban de un lugar a otro, era confuso. Los personajes principales podían estar mejor desarrollados, sin embargo, la protagonista es super singular e inteligente.
El final me pareció adecuado, esperaba quizás algo mejor pero estoy satisfecho con esta lectura, aunque como dije, podría haber sido mucho mejor.
September 16, 2012
Unison Spark - the social network that knows you better than you know yourself, if you're wealthy enough that is. Solid science fiction about a social network virtual reality world, a girl who lives in the sub-canopy of this futuristic world who has never used Unison Spark, and her encounter with the heir of the social network throne who is discovering secrets he didn't want to know. Fast-paced, exciting, but not my favorite dystopian/sci fi for teens.
July 16, 2017
RATING: 2.5 stars.
I'm not sure about this book. I think it would have been great if the author had developed the story a lot more. As it was it was little more than a short story and I felt we didn't get to know Ambrose and Mistletoe much.
It was very "Uglies" in a way and also a mesh between 'The Matrix' and 'The Social Network'.
Full review to come.
I'm not sure about this book. I think it would have been great if the author had developed the story a lot more. As it was it was little more than a short story and I felt we didn't get to know Ambrose and Mistletoe much.
It was very "Uglies" in a way and also a mesh between 'The Matrix' and 'The Social Network'.
Full review to come.
April 5, 2012
I just couldn't get into this somewhat clunkily written young adult book. The premise seemed to fall somewhere between the Matrix (people in machines) and Avatar (Long blue hair - optic fibres etc.)
Don't get me wrong, it wasn't awful as such - I'd just rather spend my time reading something I don't have to mentally scoff at.
Don't get me wrong, it wasn't awful as such - I'd just rather spend my time reading something I don't have to mentally scoff at.
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