Book Review: Doomed by Tracy Deebs (no spoilers)

Book: Doomed
Author: Tracy Deebs
Series: Standalone
Publication: January 8th, 2013
Source: Borrowed from a friend
Rating: 5/5 stars












Summary (from book jacket) The summary from Goodreads has several errors. 

Beat the game. Save the world.

Pandora has always believed herself to be a pretty normal teen - glued to her cell phone and laptop and constantly surfing Facebook for the latest gossip. But when her long-lost father sends her a birthday greeting with a link to twelve childhood photographs, Pandora unwittingly unleashes a computer virus that shuts down the global power grid, instantly plunging the world into panic.

No Internet. No cell phones. No lights, traffic signals, 911, or first responders. Only Pandora's Box, a virtual-reality game created by Pandora's father, remains up and running. Together with her neighbors, gorgeous stepbrothers Eli and Theo, Pandora realizes that her childhood memories are the key to cracking her father's computer code in time to same the from complete annihilation.

In this masterful technological thriller, author Tracy Deebs leaves readers question their own potential action in the face of an instant global catastrophe. 

Background thanks to feed me books now. 

My Thoughts:
Hooray for the first book published in 2013 that I read. I actually didn't know this was a 2013 book until I was about 100 pages in. My sister borrowed this book from a friend after he said it was good. Then my sister also said it was good and I had to read it. This book is not my normal read, but as I have said before I'm willing to try anything when it comes to new books. Doomed is set in the Dystopian U.S. where Pandora's dad has set off this horrific worm that has wiped out all technology. Pandora is the only one who knows all the secrets to beat the game and save the world. This book really made me think What would we do if all our technology stopped working? What did people use to do without technology? Would our world goes as crazy as this world did without technology? Those are answers I do not know. I personally know I couldn't live without technology, but I could live without it for a few days. The simple things in the life that we take advantage of. They were gone. You couldn't go to gas station and just swipe your credit card. The credit card machines aren't working. So few people carry around cash anymore that this just makes people go crazy. Pandora finds out that her next door neighbors are these really cute guys Theo and Eli. They are step brothers that hate each other. Probably my only complaint about the book is that the author mentioned that these two don't get along, but they rarely fought throughout the book. Then it begs the question in me Who would you be willing to team up with if your life was at stake? Theo is a computer genius and he starts to help Pandora crack the game as they drive all over the United States to find secrets from Pandora's childhood. On the way they suffer every horrific obstacle that a human can enduring. It makes me wonder if things are really as bad as they were in this novel What would I be willing to do to save my own life and the lives of other? What illegal acts would I be willing to commit in order to safe the world? Obviously I don't want to be in Pandora's shoes, but I spent a lot of time during this book thinking about What if this really happened? What are some choices I would making given these horrific circumstances?

There was also a sense of mystery to this book. Is the world going to end? Are they going to find Pandora's father. Another thing I liked about this book is the hint of romance the author puts in the end. The authors talks a lot in this book about how you can't change the past, you can only move forward. Pandora, Theo, and Eli had to do some horrible things in this book that I never hope to have to do, but they did it under extreme circumstances that I hope this world will never have to endure.

In the end I really enjoyed this book. It made me think a lot and I enjoyed the action, the adventure, the mystery, and the touch of romance. This was a great book and I hope you will read it. I have to admit I'm just in love with the cover. I love the simplisty and I think of how we press power buttons every day, but What if that power button didn't lead to a phone turning on or a computer?


Thanks for reading.


Rachael