Amped

About time I finally write a blog post!

Amped is a wonderful book written by Daniel H Wilson. I must say I was quite impressed to read in his author bio that he has a PhD in Robotics. I didn't know that was a thing, but I approve.

I have to start off by saying that I wasn't sure what to expect with this story. Amped takes you on a journey through the lives of those with medical implants that completely alter the brain. The main character, Owen, is an Amp. Owen has epilepsy but the implant prevents him from having seizures. Have a kid with ADD? No problem! Give them an implant and they will have improved m

ental focus. The implant can make you smarter, faster, and most of all, an apparent threat to the unaltered people of the world.

I was immediately hooked into this technology thriller. I couldn't wait to find out what happened to Owen. It took me a while to even figure out the main character and his personality which would usually turn me off from a story but this was so intriguing I couldn't wait to get on with the story.

The view we see from Owen's life begins when the Supreme Court has begun to pass laws that basically state that amps don't count as people. The "normal" community can't enter in contracts with the amps, which basically means they are left homeless, jobless and in a whole new class of undesirable status. Why would anyone want to do that? We all know that is going to be a bad idea. Who let them vote that in?!

Joseph Vaughn (the nemesis of the amp communities) and fear let them vote that in. That is the scariest part of this story. I could actually see something awful happening in the book that could be real. Fear and lack of understanding create a lot of the problems we currently have in our world and sometimes it seems as though technology is only hurting us. I love technology but that doesn't mean I don't worry about it running our lives. Hell, it kind of does already.

I can't wait to read others by this author. His writing is fast paced and so refreshingly honest. I loved this.
 

Owl You Need is Another Book Blog

Welcome to Owl You Need is a Good Read, a book blog run by four twenty-something owls who live in the midwest and love books, libraries, movies, and more.

We already have:

1. A shamelessly cheesy title
2. Adorable pictures of us looking our best, so you know who's writing
3. Lots of opinions about the books we read, just waiting to be shared

This is Zelda! Zelda definitely stand out with her bright pink feathers. She loves YA books and has a soft spot for thrillers. She's also a longtime Harry Potter fan.

Sonya is another owl you'd definitely want as your friend. She keeps busy with working and going to school full-time, but she still finds the time to read. She also enjoys YA and middle grade fiction, along with most adult fiction unless it is a bad romance novel or an over-the-top sci-fi novel.

When it comes to books, Nox thinks the darker and more twisted the book, the better. What she reads varies, but if the book has inventive murders or angst (especially of the too-smart-for-her-age teenage girl variety), you're on the right track.

Madeleine is the last of the book owls. Madeleine reads widely and enjoys  literary fiction, classics, global lit, fantasy, and of course, YA.  She's also currently making a rather slow attempt to read all the Newbery Medal winners in order, which is proving to be more difficult than it sounds!


Thank you so much for stopping by. We can't wait to get started. If you want to know more about us, click on Our Parliament or follow us on twitter at @TheBookOwls.