I would like to give a huge thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for giving me a chance to read ReWired in exchange for an honest review. 🙂

I thoroughly enjoyed reading ReWired and it is not because of the plot or characters. Instead, it is the mystery and suspense aspects which keep me going. I want to find out the identity of the facility and how the deaths of those people who left the facility link back to the facility and the people in it. I’m also curious about the true identity of the facility other than its ‘surface identity’ of being a rehab facility for teens who are addicted to the virtual world. After going deeper into the plot, I have a constant nagging feeling that there must be something more to the facility than what meets the eye. Well, I’m glad that my suspicion and questions are answered throughout the course of the novel.

The mystery and suspense are really well written in ReWired. However, as for the friendships, character development, and romance aspects, they didn’t live up to my expectations.

I love Ada’s character. She isn’t the typical senator daughter most people would’ve thought she would be. A ‘stereotypical image’ of a senator daughter could be spoiled and probably naive. However, Ada is completely opposite of that. Instead, her character feels so real and lifelike that I’m able to relate to her thoughts and feelings. Being torn up after the death of her best friend, she is a fraction of who she used to be. That is until she entered the facility and found out her best friend’s suicide might not merely be a suicide and could be something else. At times, I feel that Ada is too naive. She trusts and believes people too easily and didn’t suspect things which should’ve triggered an alarm.

In my opinion, the story goes downhill after Ada finds out the cause of Simone’s death. The story thereafter feels like a bunch of puzzle pieces scattered around. I couldn’t really follow the events which are occurring then. Nonetheless, ReWired is an enjoyable read.

~SPOILERS~

The romance between Ada and Fisher in ReWired feel too forced and unrealistic. There isn’t much chemistry between the two of them, to begin with, and suddenly, they become a thing. I feel like the romance aspect in ReWired is not really required. A simple friendship would be more than sufficient. I couldn’t feel the chemistry between the two parties…

I'm sort of a tech nerd, so when I read the blurb for this book, I knew I had to read it.
I was sucked in from the start and I will definitely be looking forward to more books by the author.
Overall, it was a good read. Fast-paced, but not 'keeping me on the edge of my seat' fast. The plot was easy to follow, though I must admit most of the drama was in the second-half of the book. (Some of the stuff the FBI gets away with seems a bit shady, but it is just a book after all). I love the way the author develops the characters as the story progresses, especially Ada, it nice to be able to delve into their minds and behavior to uncover their thoughts.
The book ends on a cliffhanger, *sigh*, so I expect that this book will be a series.
I give ReWired 4.5 stars out of 5 and I recommend that anyone who loves YA and mild thrillers read this

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a fun, fast-paced mystery/thriller. It was a unique story that was well told. I liked the characters and the backstories. The book is full of action and keeps you interested. I mean, some of it was a little far-fetched, but that’s the fun of books. If they’re well written, they can get away with it (I mean, there’s no way the FBI would let an agent do some of the stuff Mitnick seems to get away with!).

This book does leave you with a little cliffhanger, though I’m not quite sure the point of it. This book appears to be a standalone, so I’m not sure if the character that survives is meant to be a cliffhanger, or really meant to tie up a lose end and mention the character’s involvement in the big scheme of things (though it seemed a little like “oh, and by the way...”). I don’t even know if this paragraph makes sense, I’m trying to explain myself without spoiling anything. If you read the book, you’ll understand what I’m getting at.

This is a strange book to review, because there's so much contained between those few hundred pages. Where to start? The characters? The intrigue? The clash between the cyber world and the natural world? The romance or the friendship? There is just so much crammed in there that it's hard to focus my review on a particular aspect, so I will simply resume what I liked and didn't like.

What I enjoyed: this book reads like a Nancy Drew novel aimed at an older (see: teenager) audience. You know the tropes: witty young girl becomes involved in a mystery that she has to solve, gets herself in these terribly dangerous situations, always comes back relatively unscathed, etc. One moment, she is safe, and then the next she's falling through the floor or being shot with strange objects... All to solve the mystery along with her sidekicks, but definitely always working better on her own. Luckily, I absolutely adored the Nancy Drew books as a tween, and therefore, I did really enjoy the intrigue behind ReWired.

I also loved how funny this book was; I genuinely laughed out loud a few times! There is a really good balance between serious topics and light-hearted intercessions, and the book never felt overwhelming in a specific kind of tropes.

Which brings me to what I liked a little less: the pacing - that was overwhelming. I love past-paced books as much as any other reader, but I honestly think this novel could have been a trilogy. It goes from everyone hating themselves to being super close all at once, which left me feeling rather indifferent about anyone but the protagonist.

Also, I think I received an ARC; I hope the cut-off sentences and missing words and grammatical errors were fixed before the release, because it sucks when you get to the end of the paragraph and your sentence doesn't end.

Still, it wasn't a bad book; I'd be curious to see what the final version looks like. I'd like to thank Coleman and Stott for the free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I voluntarily received this book on Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
I went into this book with super high expectations and I was immensely underwhelmed. The biggest problem of this book was that it had no plot whatsoever. Imagine a thin threadbare patchwork quilt that is sloppily put together…that is how I would describe this book.
The characters were so one dimensional, the friendships and the relationship blossomed out of nowhere and seemed to be forced on to the reader. Emphasis on instal-love the relationship made no sense, we did not get that much insight to either of the character’s personalities and it just popped out of bland characters.
The conflict was practically nonexistent because the resolve of it was so predictable and anticlimactic.
There was no plot, it was just occasion after occasion with some lukewarm characters sprinkled in.
Also, not that big of a deal, but I code a lot and have done some recreational hacking (obviously the legal kind) and the terminology is a little off and I understand it doesn’t have to be right but it could be a little more accurate as it is the central focus of this novel.
All in all I did not enjoy this book and I do not see myself reading it again.

Fantastic book! Perfect for this day and age! Would recommend it.

In the world of ReWired Ada Lovelace's best friend commits suicide without reason, and Ada is desperate to know why. Ada along with her now deceased best friend, Simone, are teenage hackers who hack along side a group of people they've never really met. After Ada is busted for hacking she is sent to Reboot, a rehab for teens addicted to technology.

During the entire book I was a little confused about when this story was taking place. The world seemed to have every quality of the present, but there were some things that seemed a little unrealistic or too futuristic for the present day that threw me off. Another issue I had with this book (not the story, the book) was that the author dropped brand names constantly. I highlighted every brand name she dropped and got a grand total of sixteen. Whenever something like a brand of Soda was mentioned or the brand of clothing a character was wearing was mentioned I lost all focus on the story and was stuck back to reality. One odd thing I happened to notice was actually a mathematical error. When Ada is reading information about people who have died after leaving Reboot she claims they all die one week after they leave, one full week. But on the very next page the files each show that they died between two and four days after leaving. This really as a whole bothered me because I figured someone would have noticed this earlier, but I guess it was just me.

One of the biggest flaws in this story was the romance. About halfway into the book Ada almost kisses Fisher, but up until this moment their had been no romantic chemistry between the two characters. Throughout the rest of the novel the relationship develops, but the characters do not spend much time together or get to know one another very well.

The best part of this book had to be it's characters. Every character was very distinct with their own personality and story. Johannes successfully wrote unique individuals. When book character's get mixed up in my head it can completely ruin a story, so having side characters that were well developed was so enjoyable to read about. Ada, Becca, Fisher, Raven, Andrew, and Crash all had their own personalities and quirks.

The author has a natural gift for descriptions. I could picture all of the locations clearly, and I could almost feel the physical and emotional experiences Ada went through.

In the end their were some things I'm still left questioning and confused about. In the story we learn Becca severely cyber bullied someone, but we never got an explanation or closure over this topic. Raven goes missing and is never pronounced dead or alive, which really bothered me. Ada only seems mildly affected by the many deaths that occur during the novel, honestly I don't remember her crying over any of them.

The story's idea was very unique but the story overall was a bit flawed. If you can look over some of the issues I had with this book then you could defiantly enjoy this YA read. ReWired was not the book for me, but I did enjoy some of my time reading it.

To conclude this review I would like to thank NetGalley for providing me with an ebook of ReWired for review.

Some things I loved right off the bat were the techno-culture, the video game references, and the spunk and personalities of each of the characters. This book explores issues of privacy and the power of technology when it is in nefarious hands. I am constantly fascinated by the way that the internet can give us the freedom to re-imagine ourselves, but also such potential for danger. I adored how Johannes subtly tackles the sexism within cyber culture. Each of the characters felt so quirky (even if their talents conveniently helped propel the plot along).

What I really didn’t like, or couldn’t buy at all (and would have returned if I could) was the romance in the book. It felt forced and I didn’t really buy the authenticity of their interactions. I also disliked the ending a lot. It felt too neat and wrapped up. Also I couldn’t tell if there would be a sequel, it kind of leaves it on a very iffy note.

The plot of this book was awesome! The book was fresh, and about relevant material that teens are interested in today's world. The story line was great, and the development of characters was great. However, I really had a hard time getting over the number of typos that were present in this book.
If the book could be "cleaned up grammatically", it would be an outstanding story, and possibly could even become part of a series, with this group of four students, or even the Orwellian group!

I don't normally read cyber thrillers but from the first page, I was sucked in. The protagonist, Ada Lovelace, is a hacker whose father is a prominent Senator. Charged by the FBI for hacking where she shouldn't, Ada is sent to ReBoot. A rehab centre for kids who need to be taught a lesson. Except someone is killing them off. Ada is determined to find out who. It's a contemporary novel with plenty of action and youth culture. You don't need to be a computer nerd to enjoy the content. Especially recommended for teens.

Ada Lovelace is the 16 year old daughter of a high profile senator.

She is also a master hacker and member of the notorious hacking group, the Orwellians.

After the death of her fellow hacker friend, Simone, Ada dares to find out just what happened, but finds herself in too deep when the FBI discovers Ada hacking into the popular teen site, SocialNet.

To appease the authorities, Ada is sent to a hacking rehab facility - where her friend Simone was sent just before her death - ReBoot, where she finds things aren't what they seem.



I wanted to like this book but it was so underwhelming.

There was enough tech speak to keep the story going, but not nearly enough to make the plot believable. I could be biased because i work in the tech field?? but there was something clearly lacking.

Also, AGAIN with the unnecessary, bland, IN YOUR FACE romances. The romance between Ada and Fisher in the book is so unneeded (it does not advance the plot at all) and so cold? The reader knows next to nothing about Fisher (or any of the other characters for that matter) to even care about this relationship.

This book left a bad taste in my mouth after that.

Rating:

Cover: 9/10

Characters: 4/10

Overall. 3.5/10

I received a free ARC of this novel from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Offline, Ada Lovelace is labeled as detached, depressed and withdrawn by her school counselor and peers. Online she becomes the Dark Angel, cyber hacker virtuoso, with some major cyber credibility. After Ada gets busted for hacking SocialNet she is sent to ReBoot a teen tech addiction rehabilitation center. The same center her best friend Simone was released from right before she committed suicide. Ada soon learns that Simone is not the only teen who has died after leaving ReBoot and she might just be next.
This exciting cyber thriller will take you on a mysterious adventure as Ada uncovers the secrets of ReBoot and the residents of ReBoot. Not everyone is who they say they are and they all have secrets. I recommend this novel for anyone who loves cyber thrillers.

This book felt like a let down to me I’m afraid - I was hoping for a good thriller with a technology slant. The hacking was good, but the reasons behind it were contrived and didn’t work well for me. The writing wasn’t as strong as I’d have liked either. And the thriller element didn’t leave me on the edge of my seat, it just didn’t quite work.
Not a bad read just not quite what I wanted it to be.
It didn’t help that as an ARC, this had a couple of minor typos etc but also I spotted a glaring error that jarred me out of my reading - the main character is scared of heights in the ropes course and near the end a chapter starts with the fact she’d never been scared of heights! Hopefully that will be fixed by the final version though.

This is a fast-paced, fun story set in a world of cyber-crime and hacking - a timely and relevant story for our modern world.

It's been awhile since I read a YA novel that was actually good, kept my interest and made me think my son would enjoy it. Teens hacking into companies and government agencies just for a challenge have stumbled upon a serious problem. Once they get in trouble they are sent to a rehab facility, Reboot, where something is amiss. The teens are smart, and witty with a mix of personal problems. I received an early copy through Netgalley and my review was written voluntarily without bias. This is a book suitable for preteens and older, especially those familiar with technology.

ReWired is a YA thriller about Ada, a 16-year-old hacker who is part of an online hacking community known for some of the recent big cyber crimes and security-breaches. When Ada gets busted by the FBI for hacking into the world's biggest teen-only social networking site, she is offered a chance at rehabilitation. Ada is shipped off to Reboot, a tech rehab centre where her best friend lived prior to committing suicide. Ada doesn't just want to clear her name for this cyber crime, she also wants answers as to why her best friend who had never seemed suicidal, took her own life.

ReWired was a gripping book that kept me interested throughout and I sped through it, enjoying the reading. However, parts of it were very predictable, there were a lot of hints dropped throughout that just seemed really obvious, so I took note of them and they turned out to be plot points later in the book. That was slightly disappointing and took away from the 'thriller' aspect in my mind, since I like to be surprised by the twists and turns of a thriller novel. Other than that, the book was a good read and I enjoyed Ada's character a lot despite her flaws, she's the type of girl I would choose to be friends with. I would recommend reading this book if you're into hacking/tech/suspense type books.

ReWired

by S. R. Johannes

Victory Editing NetGalley Co-Op

Coleman and Stott
General Fiction (Adult) , Teens & YA

Pub Date 28 Aug 2017

I am reviewing a copy of ReWired through Coleman and Stott and Netgalley:

Ada Lovelace is a sixteen year old hacker. She feels most alive when she is hacking into a secure network as her alter ego Dark Angel. But in the real world Ada is broken from the suicide of her best friend Simone. Online the reclusive daughter of Senator Lovelace is one of the top female white hat hackers.

Ada is eventually caught and sent to reboot, a tech rehab facility for teens the same one Simone had attended before committing suicide. Ada quickly discovers that Simone’s suicide may not have been a suicide at all. She wants to get to the bottom of Simone’s death.

Will Ada get to the bottom of what truly happened?

Find out in ReWired!

Five out of five stars!

Happy Reading!