"Jinxed" by Amy McCulloch is a thrilling and imaginative YA novel that seamlessly blends technology with adventure. Set in a world where every aspect of life is controlled by personal robotic companions called 'baku,' the story follows protagonist Lacey Chu as she navigates a high-stakes competition and uncovers secrets that could change everything. McCulloch's vivid world-building and fast-paced plot make for an exhilarating read, perfect for fans of sci-fi and action-packed storytelling.

Quick Summary: A sci-fi adventure

My Review: Jinxed by Amy McCullough is middle grade read with imaginative characters and a futuristic feel.

About the Book: Lacey Chu has big dreams. Her goal to become an engineer for a top tech firm is dashed when she receives a rejection indication. Even as she struggles with the rejection, fortune gifts her with a baku. There is more to her personally repaired baku unit than it seems.

My Final Say: Young readers will thoroughly enjoy this series. I definitely recommend it.

Rating: 4/5
Recommend: Yes
Audience: Y

Thanks to the author, to the publisher (SOURCEBOOKS Kids, Sourcebooks Young Readers), and to NetGalley for providing access to this title.

I can see a middle schooler getting into this book. This generation is the generation of technology. The thoughts of robot pets though not perfected can become a reality. And to be a phone or tablet added bonus. The book is full of futuristic things that could become a reality in this century. I recommend this book for your middle schooler.

This story is set in a near future in Toronto, Canada. Phones have become obsolete as people only use them when they are young and when they enter middle school they get a baku (an animal companion with phone/technology capabilities) that charges via a port in the owner. Lucy Chu has always wanted to be a companioneer and create the next generation of bakus. When she finds a damaged baku and restores it, she doesn't realize what she is about to get into and who is going to be after her. A great science fiction read. I can't wait to read the next one!

An amazing midgrade book! Well written and with a world and plot that just keeps you in it!
I totally see myself as a middle grader just having it under my arm all day reading as it's exactly my type of book!
The idea of the pets is so adorable, and I would also love to have one!

Title: Jinxed
Author: Amy McCulloch
Rating: 4 stars

Lacey wants nothing more than to go to Perfectus, a school for smart students where they can advance in life. When she encounters a baku unlike any other her world starts to become very different from what she dreamed.

I really Enjoyed the book the idea of “pet robots” called Bakus was very neat. It reminds me of NexGen with BeyBlade and Pokémon. Jinx and Lacey are a good combo even if they are opposites. Jinx is sassy an he keeps Lacey on her toes. Lacey is smart, sweet, and strong headed. Her relationship with jinx has a bumpy start but becomes strong and powerful. I would definitely recommend for kids into sci-fi.

I received this book in exchange for an honest review from the publisher via netgalley.

#netgalley #netgalleyreview #jinxed #middlegrade #ya #sciencefiction #scifi #middlegradescifi

Especially, But Not Just, for STEM Enthusiasts

Jinx, and all of the bakus, are the stars of this show. How they're designed, how they're made, what they can do. McCulloch has created a fascinating world, with just enough technical detail to make it all plausible and realistic. Descriptions of how people interact with and rely on bakus and other tech feel just as authentic, and add a sly helping of subtle social commentary into the mix.

The characters are fairly stock, but engaging enough. The corporate conspiracy angle is familiar. But that didn't matter because there's enough story, plot and character to make a solid frame for the bakus to play on. I enjoyed this a good deal and would expect it to appeal to any budding scientist/techy.

(Please note that I received a free ecopy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)

Jinxed was an amazing, fun jaunt through a futuristic tech society. Lacey Chu was a talented engineer and wanted to work for the best company, MONCHA. The only thing she would need to get there is to get into the right school to lead to that track. When that doesn't happen, her life is looking to be a lot less glamorous than she wants. That all changes when she finds a new, advanced baku(think electronic pet) that she repairs and brings back to life. Things change quickly for her after she activates JINX, her new baku.

This book is a great mystery full of adventure and a healthy dose of science fiction. You want to keep reading to find out what's really going on in their world. It was an exciting read from start to finish.

A great start to a new middle-grade series that I see myself continuing on with!

I loved the setting of futuristic Toronto, a city that I would love to visit. With great descriptions, I could picture myself there.

I liked the characters, a lot. Lacey comes across and very relatable and I can't wait for the second book to find out what happens with Jinx!

Brilliantly plotted and thrilling throughout, I was hooked from the very first page.

With mysteries aplenty and a cliff hanger to rival all others, Jinxed is a great book that will appeal to many, many readers.

This is a good book with a unique premise. I liked the concept of the bakus, Profectus school, and the baku battles. The author does a good job with the world building.

I wish that some of the side characters had more development. A lot of them were thrown, conveniently, into the story when they were needed without any real knowledge of them besides basic information. I think this was especially true with Jake (Jacob?). It's said that him and Lacey are friends but we only saw him when he was betting on the battles.

I also hated the romance. I don't think middle grade stories really need that romance element. It felt forced and sometimes too mature.

Some of the things the kids did read like an adult writing a kid (which, to be fair, is the reality). Kids don't shake hands or invite people to sit down. They're awkward.

Overall, an enjoyable read.

This was a fun adventure where technology has taken the world in a new direction. There was a little bit of everything, humor, budding romance, suspense. I really liked the idea of our phones being transitioned to our pets. The best of both worlds. Two drawbacks of the book were the essence of animal cruelty and the very abrupt ending. All in all I did enjoy the book. 3.5 ⭐️

It`s deffinitley a children/ young teenagers book. Non the less, I`ve still enjoied it and can`t wait for book two. But it has a cute story about following your dreams, friendship and technology. Would deffinitlly recomend if you like adventure and technology and pets. :)

I really loved this. Jinxed was such an enjoyable read. A great book and you 'll find tat once you pick this up you’ll find it hard to put down. I loved the character of Lacey so much, and of course Jinx! A really well written fast paced read, highly recommended!

Content Warning: simulated animal cruelty

Billed as “The Golden Compass for the digital age,” Jinxed is a suspenseful, heartbreaking, and timely middle grade thriller. It doesn’t focus on religion like its inspiration; rather, it explores the ubiquity of technology and the privacy concerns that come from living in a world where most people are literally leashed to their phones.

In the late 21st century, most people have bakus, or digital pets that work much like our smart phones do. People get implants so that they can physically leash the bakus to themselves for charging. The bakus are the brainchild of Monica Chan, creator of tech giant MONCHA and personal hero of protagonist Lacey Chu. Lacey is a talented engineer, and when she runs across a damaged baku, she takes it home to fix it and discovers that it has some unusual properties. Once she leashes the baku, she starts to realize just how unusual it is, and together they go down a dangerous path of technological and corporate intrigue.

The bakus are similar to the dæmons from His Dark Materials (Philip Pullman’s trilogy that begins with The Golden Compass, or Northern Lights, as it is called outside North America) in that they are simultaneously a part of their “owner” and a separate creature. Jinxed adds a stomach-churning element to this dynamic by depicting baku battles, wherein bakus physically fight and occasionally destroy one another. The bakus are made out of metal and cables, but they are designed to mimic “real” animals as much as possible, so the fight scenes can be very difficult to read, especially since the human owners bond so closely with their bakus and usually view them as cherished pets.

The question of where the line is between “real” and simulated animals is deliberately left unanswered, as is the resolution to the book’s intertwining plot threads. Jinxed ends on a massive cliffhanger (don’t worry, there is a second book in the series: Unleashed) that underscores just how little privacy and control individuals have when corporations infiltrate our daily lives.

Though its themes are heavy, there is fun and humor in the book as well: Lacey’s unpredictable baku Jinx is always ready with a sassy comeback, and it’s a joy to see Lacey revel in her own technological wizardry and be recognized by others as a rising STEM star. The plot moves quickly, and though I didn’t love it like I do His Dark Materials, I’m eager to read the next book to find out what happens with Lacey and Jinx.

Imagine living in a high-tech world where your family pet also doubles as a smart device. Twelve-year-old Lacey’s world is just that. She lives with her mother in a corporate mini-town within Toronto, sponsored by Tech giant MONCHA. Ten years ago, MONCHA created robotic animal companions called bakus to provide people with companionship to help alleviate their smartphone-caused anxiety.

Lacey’s whipsmart and she’s long hoped of getting into Profectus, an elite tech school where she’d be well on her way to realizing her dream of being a companioneer for MONCHA like her father was. (Lacey’s father is missing.) But Lacey is rejected by Profectus, and even worse, she has to buy a baku before she starts seventh grade at St.Agnes, because all the “textbooks are stored in baku-encrypted software, and homework assignments are sent” straight to bakus. She can only afford the cheapest baku, a level one scarab beetle. (Bakus are graded from level one to level five and get progressively more complex and powerful.) Had she been accepted to Profectus, Lacey would have needed a level 3 baku.

While recovering her best friend Zora’s baku from a ravine into which it had fallen, Lacey also discovers another badly damaged baku, a level three cat. Lacey soon gets an email saying she was accepted to Profectus, after all. An expert tinkerer, Lacey spends all summer repairing the rescued baku cat, Jinx. It soon becomes clear that Jinx is more than your average baku. And mysterious, dangerous things are also afoot at Profectus.

Jinxed is a highly readable series starter. McCulloch has created a smart, likeable character in Lacey and given her a strong voice. Time and care is taken with characters and relationships, and readers are given a good look inside the school and all the ramifications of technology. The baku battles the students have at the school are riveting. Kids compete in teams with their bakus in a high-stakes battle (an internship is on the line) in which nothing seems out-of-bounds. In between rounds, the students have a limited amount of time to make repairs to their baku. Though not life or death for the humans involved, these mini-wars are reminiscent of the Hunger Games.

With a mix of adventure, mystery, tech, and just a dash of romance, Jinxed has elements that combine to make a great book for the in-between tween. It sits at the sweet spot between middle grade and young adult. Thematically, the story takes an intelligent look at science and technology, including its responsible, ethical design, marketing, and use, while also exploring the meaning of friendship. With its crazy cliff-hanger ending, readers of Jinxed are guaranteed to finish clamoring for more!

Verdict: 4.5 of 5 Hearts: A high-wired series starter with a crafty heroine and her robotic feline sidekick!

So what happens when you mix The Golden Compass with robots? You get Jinxed and it’s AWESOME.

Jinxed follows the story of young Lacey, who dreams of becoming a companioneer for Moncha Corp. A companioneer is like an engineer that builds companions,called bakus, which is what smart phones evolved into in this fictional near-future of North America. Basically, someone made daemons from The Golden Compass, but they’re smartphones and also your best friends. I loved this idea from the get-go.

Lacey wants to get into Profectus, an elite academy with direct ties to Moncha, but she doesn’t have the funds to do so. She works her butt off every day to get into Profectus and when she gets her decision letter, she’s heartbroken.

Then one day, she finds an abandoned baku after being chased by some bullies and works the entire summer to fix it. This baku, Jinx, is state-of-the-art and cutting edge, and he’s got the sarcastic tongue to prove it. He and Lacey become hesitant friends, since bakus aren’t supposed to talk, and she finds out the school’s decision has been reversed.

But Profectus isn’t what it seems, and the people Lacey has idolized for years suddenly lose their gleam when the cameras are off. Lacey soon finds herself in a heap of trouble, all thanks to Jinx.

That may have been my least favorite part of the book. Every plot point was made not by our main character, but by Jinx. And I can understand why, in the long run, and seeing Lacey figure her way out of the problems was great, but I wanted more agency from her. Lacey just ends up running frantically after Jinx for most of the plot, instead of Lacey getting herself into trouble.

Still, Jinxed was a fantastic read and I loved its imaginitive take on robotic companions.

I found this to be a very fun and interesting book. I can definitely see this being some young teenage boys favorite book. Great read.

I honestly thought this would be a middle grade book for young children but after the first few pages it became clear that this was (probably) meant for kids older than 12. Besides that, this book was really awesome. It hope this one gets translated because my kid is always looking for more books, and he's really into fantasy lately. This book is easy to read, but not too easy, and has a nice storyline with enough suspicion to keep reading.

Lacey dreams of going to the Profectus Academy, an elitist school specializing in technology, where each student has a baku, a customizable robotic animal. The only problem is that Lacey was refused there… But that was before she discovered on her window Jinx, a baku that she never bought, accompanied by an admission email to the famous academy… This is how the young girl made her debut in this school full of mysteries, just like her strange companion, who seems almost real ...
I like the story: we felt from the start that there was something not very clear with Jinx. I liked the reversal of the situation at the end, which suggests a hectic sequel for the next volume.

All of the students in the school seem slightly upset, and potentially dangerous to Lacey ... even her "friends."
I didn't particularly hang on the characters, and I even often looked up to the sky: between the romance, the arguments for nothing and the kid "I'm too mean but in reality, I will end up falling in love with you"… Afterward, we are faced with children, so…
On the other hand, I liked the link between Lacey and Jinx, which I find very interesting: in general, the bakus were good characters, which make all the originality of the series.

In short, a nice and original reading which I hope to discover more! ^^

This was a very nice young adult book that I would be happy for one of my kids to read. I liked the story and the characters very much. I thought the material was appropriate for the age group. Will definitely look into more books from this author.