Review: The Unidentified by Rae Mariz

Snopsis (from Goodreads.com): Kid knows her school’s corporate sponsors not-so-secretly monitor her friendships and activities for market research. It’s all a part of the Game; the alternative education system designed to use the addictive kick from video games to encourage academic learning. Everyday, a captive audience of students ages 13-17 enter the nationwide chain store-like Game locations to play.

When a group calling themselves The Unidentified simulates a suicide to protest the power structure of their school, Kid’s investigation into their pranks attracts unwanted attention from the sponsors. As Kid finds out she doesn't have rights to her ideas, her privacy, or identity, she and her friends look for a way to revolt in a place where all acts of rebellion are just spun into the next new ad campaign.

Book Details:
Publisher: Balzer + Bray (HarperCollins Publishers)
Pub. Date: Oct. 5 2010
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 336

My Review: The Unidentified is about Katey, kid, who discovers a secret group that call themselves the Unidentified. As she investigates to find out who the individuals are in this mysterious group Kid gets the spotlight in the school (game). I'm going to leave my summarization of the novel there. I'll leave the rest to you to decide. The premise of the book sounded new, clever, and unique. Only The Unidentified fell flat to me. A lot of people have raved and loved this book. I guess I'm the minority. The beginning was extremely confusing. Still after finishing the book, I can't really picture this world and what the characters were doing. Most of the characters were not well developed. They just seemed so bland. At times I did sympathize for Kid and some of the other characters. Even in the future they deal with external conflicts. I know you're probably saying well duh! =) Aside from the problems I had with The Unidentified, it was a quick read. Rae Mariz also comes up the neat thought of kids doing what they love in school whether its fashion, video gaming, music, socializing, etc. No more boring lecture classes! I also liked how she brings into focus how consumed people are with social networks. Everyone in this book, well almost everyone, got twitter like updates ever few seconds. They would even get updates from sponsors of the game. Each student would also have their own profile page like Myspace and Facebook. The Authority figures in The Unidentified seem controlling. Every student must log in, with a card, to each room they enter. So people know where you are at all times. You even have to have permission to activate a car to drive! Its crazy! I am left with mixed feelings for this book. Maybe if I were to go back and reread it I would appreciate and like it a lot more. Oh, and I'll add that the ending seemed abrupt. Hopefully there is another book coming out to continue this book. If not you're left to your imagination. Kid's adventure was fun to read. I like how fast of a read it is too. I would recommend The Unidentified; just because I'd love to see what many others thought about it. Plus it gives the readers something to think about. 3 Stars!