Title: Those That Wake
Author: Jesse Karp [author page]
Genre: Dystopian, Mystery
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Format: eBook
Source: Publisher (via NetGalley)
Parental Advisory: drugs, alcohol, violence, guns, murder, language, criminal activity
Teachable Moments: survival, ingenuity, trust, individuality, teamwork

Describing Venus (from publisher):
People walk the streets of New York City with their heads down and their eyes averted, withdrawing from each other and into the cold comfort of technology.

Teenagers Mal and laura have grown up in this new reality: Mal in the city, part of the foster care system’ Laura in the suburbs, loved and protected.  They’ve never met.  Seemingly, they never will.

But then their worlds shift.  On the same day Mal learns his estranged brother has disappeared, Laura discovers her parents have inexplicably forgotten her.  Both begin a search for their families that leads them to the same terrifying truth: someone or something has wiped the two teenagers from the memories of every single person they have ever known.  Thrown together, Mal and Laura must find common ground if they are going to reclaim a past that was stolen from them — and create a future no one can take away.

How Mars & Venus Don’t Meet:
I’ll start by saying that this was a fantastically intricate and well written book.  One that takes an in depth view of how today’s society interacts with technology.  In it, Karp created a vivid and terrifying version of New York City for his characters to navigate.  One that felt like it had the potential to happen in real life.  In this way I found Those That Wake was a compelling and successful read.

Where I struggled was that it ended up being so convoluted (in a myriad of ways).  Usually when navigating a story with multiple points of view it’s easy to go back and forth, but here there was just so much going on with the plot that doing so felt extremely disjointed.  I thought it was going to get better when all of the main characters ended up together but then they separated after a couple of chapters and it remained disconcerting.

<spoiler>

From what I saw of the plot this story was very similar to the Matrix.  It was technology based and thought provoking.  Quite interesting to be honest, but it just got so into itself and talky and overwhelming that it was near impossible to continuously follow and enjoy.

</spoiler>

It was at that point that I abandoned the book. When two of the characters visited one of the people who knew more about the circumstances that placed them in their predicament I just gave up.

Karp is a young adult services librarian and he knows his audience better than I but I can’t help wondering if this book is going to be hard for the teen audience.  It has the potential to be educational (lots of SAT words in here folks, LOTS) but at the same time it might be a bit too challenging.  I know I had to put it down after about one-hundred fifty pages because wading through how descriptive and convoluted it was got exhausting.

On a positive note, I will say of all the characters and plots in the story Mal and Laura were the most likable and I was rooting for them to find resolution to their familial issues. They added a softness and emotional element that was much needed.

In the end this book perhaps failed more because of my attention span at the time I attempted to read it than because of the actual story itself.  It definitely requires you to have your concentration on.  So for that reason, even though I was a bit of Mars and Those that Wake was a bit of Venus I do think this is a book worth giving a try if you’re a fan of dystopian and you really want to put some serious brain power behind it.

Maybe your Mars & Venus Align:
My inability to get into this book should not be the only thing you hear.  I’d much prefer you end on a positive note.  Please visit these reviews to get more information and make a more informed choice:

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