Version Zero by David Yoon

David is just one of those auto-buy authors for me. I was beyond thrilled to spend a weekend on the water reading his newest adult debut coming out this week! 

Thank you GP Putnam’s Sons for my gifted copy in exchange for my honest review.

Synopsis: Max, a data whiz at the Facebook-like social media company Wren, has gotten a firsthand glimpse of the dark side of big tech. When he starts asking questions about what his company is doing with the data they collect, he finds himself fired…and then blackballed across all of Silicon Valley. With time on his hands and inside knowledge about the biggest tech companies, Max and his longtime friend—and sometime crush—Akiko, decide to get even by…essentially, rebooting the internet. After all, in order to fix things, sometimes you have to break them. But when Max and Akiko join forces with a reclusive tech baron, they learn that breaking things can have unintended—and disastrous—consequences. And those consequences will ripple across the world, effecting every level of society in ways no one could have imagined. 

If you have read and loved his young adult novels, this may set you back a bit. It was definitely very different than his other novels, and I’m not sure how I feel about it. This fits the adult fiction genre well, but was a bit hard for me to get into. I’m not sure if it’s the style it was written (the chapters are written as versions of software systems), or if it’s how the novel started (we are introduced to a lot of characters at once), but I wasn’t as hooked as I have been in David’s previous novels. The silicon valley style satire throughout the novel was entertaining for sure. It really is the middle of the line for me. It reads a little like a roller coaster, fast paced in some parts and slow around the corners in others. It really makes you think twice about all the things you’ve given to social media without really knowing. Not a bad read, I think this will be talked about a lot this summer. A great book club book!

3/5 Stars

Frankly in Love by David Yoon

It’s no surprise that I love Young Adult Books. I JUMPED for JOY when Book of the Month started a young adult box! I have ALWAYS loved that you can get a brand new book (sometimes even before they are released in stores) for WAY less than what they cost in stores new. Plus, they come hardcover 🙂

I’m ESPECIALLY OVER THE MOON EXCITED that my most highly anticipated read this year is one of their September books. I have read both David’s wife Nicola Yoon’s books as soon as they came out (see my past reviews on them!), so it was no surprise that I was THRILLED that he has written his first book.

Synopsis: High school senior Frank Li is a Limbo–his term for Korean-American kids who find themselves caught between their parents’ traditional expectations and their own Southern California upbringing. His parents have one rule when it comes to romance–“Date Korean”–which proves complicated when Frank falls for Brit Means, who is smart, beautiful–and white. Fellow Limbo Joy Song is in a similar predicament, and so they make a pact: they’ll pretend to date each other in order to gain their freedom. Frank thinks it’s the perfect plan, but in the end, Frank and Joy’s fake-dating maneuver leaves him wondering if he ever really understood love–or himself–at all.

It’s AMAZING and looks like there will even be a sequel! You can get your copy TODAY for only $5 using the code “YALIT” through this link here. They ship super fast too so you won’t have to miss out on reading this soon. Let me know what you think of it!