Thank you to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for granting me access to this title in exchange for an honest review.

Unplugged in the story of Jett, a 12-year-old spoiled rich kid whose father is a billionaire tech mogul. After getting in trouble one too many times, Jett is sent to spend his summer at the Oasis, under the watchful eye of one of his father's employees, Matt, and to Jett's utter dismay the Oasis is a hippy-like commune of mindfulness, lots of yoga, a vegan diet, and absolutely no personal electronics. It's also in the middle of swampland, Arkansas. While at Oasis, Jett butts heads with the other kids in attendance, who've all acclimated to the atmosphere of the place and find his rebellious attitude disruptive. Until they rescue a small lizard in need of non-vegan sustenance, that is. For most of the book, this is the story of unlikely friends bonding over shared responsibility for a contraband pet.

In a vacuum, I like this concept of this novel. Spoiled tech brat thrown into a tech-free situation and forced to socialize in person. The idea has a lot of potential, and while I haven't personally read other titles by this author, I recognize many of his titles from seeing them in the homes of friends with younger siblings in my teenage years. That, combined with the very attractive cover art and curiosity over the experimental pre-production synethetic voice audio ARCs now being offered are what made me request this title to review.

In execution, this book fell short of my expectations. It has far too many POV characters who have such similar voices that I was rarely sure which character I was reading. We've got a whiny spoiled brat, a kid who's way too into the Oasis mentality, a kid who's allergic to everything but not too bothered by it, somebody's sister, some bully, Matt the programmer-turned-baby sister, and I think the surprise reveal girl is yet a different character and not one of the previously mentioned kids? My opinions on the POV characters ranged from neutral detatchment to annoyance to hatred. (Jett is insufferable.) None of the characters made me care, and some made no meaningful impact on the story. This book could have been written with half the POVs (and likely half the pages) and still tell the story it set out to tell. Since I was listening to an audio ARC, I increased the playback speed and powered through, but had I been reading the text for myself this would have been a DNF for me.

I would like to give my compliments to the cover artist, as the cover caught my eye and made me want to read the book no matter what it was about. Featuring the "lizard" Needles (why did none of the kids call it a baby gator for 99% of the book? It's clearly a baby gator...) was a great choice, as he ended up being my favourite character.

This book is 2 stars for me because I could not get past my dislike of all the POV characters. Perhaps someone younger would connect better with the characters. I'm 32, a mother, and the daughter and sister of teachers. These kids are our nightmares. Perhaps teenage readers who haven't had experience working with spoiled brats would be more forgiving.

A lot of this book, I didn't really know what the plot was. It was just about a spoiled rich kid being sent to a camp where all the electronics are taken away, they eat healthy and meditate. When we finally figured out where the book was going, I really did enjoy it, but up until then it was very average.
Jett was quite annoying, but that was his character, being spoiled and rich. The other characters were kind of bland to me. I think it may have been the audiobook narrator though. I didn't really enjoy the narrator. He used the exact same voice for all of the characters and the way he talked and put emphasis on some words was just weird and made it hard to listen to at some points. So I really had no idea who's POV we were listening to unless someone said the name.
I loved Needles and how the kids took care of it (him?). What Needles actually ended up being and how he tied into the "big reveal" at the end was really fun and something I completely wasn't expecting. The ending was super fast paced and exciting.
I think I would have enjoyed this more when I was younger, but overall it was a really cute and fun book!

Thank you Netgallery for the free audiobook in exchange of a honest review.

I actually chose the book off the cover alone and didn't even read the description when I started reading , which just shows how awesome the cover is.

The story is about Jett, a disruptive 12 year boy son of a tech genius, who is tricked into going to a no phone/internet camp to become whole (change his reckless behavior). He is accompanied by Matt, an employee of his father's, the retreat leaders ,Magmus and Ivy ,and a various assortment of children. While there he does things his way and uncovers secrets.

The book is cute with it being silly enough to be interesting with just enough realism for it to make some sense. Especially having the kids come together to take care of the lizard and how that all gets out of hand. The twist comes fairly late but tides up nicely. I finished the book in one day.

An issue I had was the changing perspectives. There are at least 7 different povs which are unnecessary considering it always goes back to Jett. So while the characters are mildly interesting it just feels tedious. Matt and Brandon's(?) sections were not needed at all. It would have been a much shorter book had it just been in Jett's 1st person the whole time. Though considering he's a brat, that might have made it an insufferable read.

Overall I enjoyed the book and would read from this author again.

I enjoyed going on this adventure with Jett. Unplugged by Gordon Korman was a quick, fun, exciting, adventurous listen.

Jett is the son of a tech billionaire and is sent to a retreat with no technology. He also decides to help take care of a reptile. The issue is the camp is 100% vegetarian. They go on lots of epic outings and adventures to help care for this animal and because it is a story about discovery and learning.

I would highly recommend this book to middle schoolers on up. I fully enjoyed this as an adult. I think the message of unplugging for a bit is a valuable one. This is my first book by Gordon Korman, and I am eager to read more.

While the voice I listened to was a robot, I never would have known. I found the audio fantastic.

I received an advanced audiobook copy from Harper Audio and Balzer + Bray through NetGalley. All opinions are 100% my own.

Another hit for kids who already love Korman’s books. Jett is the son of a tech billionaire and is always pulling pranks, starving for his parent’s approval. His dad is fed up with cleaning up Jett’s messes. Jett is sent to a “wellness” retreat center where he has to survive without electronics. A tiny lizard, Needles, is found and several of the children hide him because pets aren’t allowed at the center. Jett wants to help the carnivorous animal survive, but the camp is fully vegetarian! They “borrow “ a boat and head to town in search of meat. On the way they discover a huge mansion that is out of place in the backwoods of Arkansas. Jett is determined to find out more about the owner. He is also curious about the “private” meditation classes the adults take. Friendships evolve, riddles are solved and Jett becomes a better individual.

A story that will excite , engage and appeal to middle grade readers. Gordon Korman has done it again.
Korman's story has adventure, mystery a little intrigue...everything you want in a great story.