This was a goodreads First Reads win so I should probably write an actual review but I can't because I'm so bummed out the book ended where it did! I want more, David Shafer. Please!

"For most of the that time, she drafted an email to Dylan. He had a correspondence-return rate of about one in three, but you really have to stay on kid brothers" (18).

"'No one likes drinking.'
'Oh, I don't know. I think I see people who do.'
'They're not doing it right'" (165).

"Boy, I spilled more than you drank,' said Al. 'Just stop now. Forever. It never gets back to easy, it just keeps getting worse. Everything will get worse. Let me save you thirty mother-scrubbing years here. You use alcohol to clean wounds and get chewing gum out of woodwork. It is not for internal use. You drink it, you are inviting pain and dulling the only blad you brung to this fight. You will waste your days and sully your name, and your family will live in dread of you'" (166).

"'I'm going to call it Try Again Tomorrow.' He was so proud of the title.
'See, there's your problem right there,' she said. 'Why wouldn't you call it Try Again Right Now?'" (378).

Despite some built-in silliness of the basic plot, I really enjoyed reading this. Shafer did a great job of getting me into the heads of all three main characters, and even when I didn't really care where the plot was going, I still wanted to read to spend more time with them.

I was pretty interested in this book at the beginning, but towards the middle it got really muddy and I found myself fighting to keep interested. Gave up about 3/5 of the way through. It's too bad, I know a lot of people loved it. Not me.

So this was another buzz book from last year, Laura Miller of Salon gave it a rave review and one of the Tournament of Books promoters described it as one of the best of 2014. The plot follows three main protagonists as a conspiratorial cabal tries to take over everyone's valuable information for future nefarious use. Challenging these evil plotters are the Dear Diary folks, part freedom fighters, part magical hypnotists.

Frankly I was hoping for something more amazing than what I got. The writing is quite strong, especially the chapters that focused on the three main characters as they work through the shitiness that is their life, their insecurities, their regrets. It is the psychological examinations of the book that are the most interesting to read. The whole spy story, however, seems so thin and unbelievable. Not that this is necessary in a thriller of this sort, but it really felt tacked on, that the good elements could have been slotted into any other sort of story, instead of really intertwining them. Like the whole "eye test"...is never really explained nor does it really seem necessary to even be there.

Anyways, it was a fun read at times, but I won't go out of my way to recommend it.

This was quite a fun ride. Snappy dialog and an intriguing, albeit somewhat alarming, plot. My only quibble is the somewhat abrupt and incomplete ending, but I'll mull it over posthaste and perhaps it will feel more satisfying.

My Review:

I LOVED this book. Well until I got to the end and it just ended with no real resolution. I thought maybe it is a series! I checked GoodReads and no it was an ending in the same way as David Foster Wallace. I am not smart enough to make heads or tails of authors such as David Foster Wallace. I had an English Professor attempt to explain postmodernism in college and I told the dude straight up. This stuff is bullshit, why would you write a story and not finish it? Can I write my final halfway and still get an A? Ok I UNDERSTAND it I guess, I just don't like it. BUT I did like this book even though it ends right in a climatic scene. I mean seriously it ends so suddenly that I thought NetGalley had fucked up THEN I checked Goodreads. OK then.

That was the only thing that I did not like. It starts out as three different stories and you wonder how it will all tie in together. Now that I think of it there were a couple of stories that had no resolution but again the plot that does happen makes up for it.

It is a mash-up of several genres. I thought it was brilliantly done. It does require at some points to ignore some  laws of time and space but nothing like enlarging your brain, right? In another way it was spooky. I mean what if it REALLY happened? What if some dude was out there saving all your data then tried to sell it back to you? It looks like the author did know either as that's where the story ends. Ok can you tell that this ending is bugging me?

I will still give it 5 stars for plot and dialogue and creativity. And guts. Extra points for guts. I mean it had to take guts not to finish the story and still publish it. Postmodernism be damned.

Am I the only one who hates books with no real ending?


This review was originally posted on Adventures in Never Never Land

A sprawling and funny novel that speculates chillingly on the future of surveilliance and online life. The slightly bonkers techno-thriller plot is gripping, but the three memorable characters that drive it are really what raise this to the next level. The writing is sharp and witty, finding a good balance between propulsive action and more literary flourishes. A lot of reviewers have complained about the slightly abrupt ending, but it's hard to imagine how Shafer could have finished this off more satisfyingly - still, if you need your plot loose ends all tied up, you're going to be frustrated by this one. There's a definite DeLillo/Pynchon vibe going on here, but Shafer's writing is much more accessible than either and reminded me more of the more gripping bits of [b:Infinite Jest|6759|Infinite Jest|David Foster Wallace|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1437328527s/6759.jpg|3271542]. The ambition is a bit more constrained, but the themes and tone are similar.

I've read reviews that compare this book to both White Noise and Cryptonomicon. I see the comparisons to both and I think the prose was tight and entertaining. The end caught me off guard and felt very abrupt. However, the longer I think about it, the more I like it.

It was such a trip. And then it just ended. But really, was I allowed to expect more?