The most annoying thing is the whole absolute world is when you KNOW that you're right, or that what you're saying is true, and people refuse to listen or believe you.

A very close second is when people (usually parents) keep VERY IMPORTANT information away from the people it pertains, which always comes back to bite them in the butt. How hard is it to have those conversations with someone so you can introduce it gradually and make sure they understand??

So our poor Hedda heads out into the world of technology with no knowledge of why her mom dragged her away to an off-the-grid ranch for 10 years, and then is whomped by nobody believe her about the danger they're in.

Harrison does a great job of portraying technology as this kind of omnipresent evil, changing the actions and minds of those who use it. I felt Hedda's revulsion and confusion when she saw how much technology gripped the lives of those around her, but I wish that could have been explored a little more. There could have been some really interesting discussions.

OK, on to the plot: a big part of it is Hedda discovering that her parents are fallible people, with their own strengths and weaknesses. I mean, come one, she was on the Dark Web at age 6! That's so incredibly irresponsible and, yeah, negligent, of her parents to allow that. And then she goes crazy and is taken away from her life, left in the dark about all of it. She manages to transition pretty smoothly back into the "present" world, but discovers the game again, accidentally spreading it amongst her schoolmates. After some shocking suicides/murders, she teams up with a former friend to stop it all. I'm not going to quibble about it too much, because suspension of disbelief, but the idea of a computer code that controls your mind is pretty dumb.

Entertaining and a quick read, but not life-changing. ( )