(Website, , , Goodreads)Series: Configured #1
on October 20th 2016
Genres: Dystopian, Love & Romance, Young Adult, Young Adult Fiction
Format: eARC
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In the future love will make you a traitor.
120 years after a virus decimated earth’s population the survivors thrive in safety, away from the death and destruction of the Outerbounds. Divided into three levels of intellect, Citizens focus solely on duty.
Due to her advanced intelligence, seventeen-year-old Avlyn Lark is separated from her twin brother at birth and raised by adoptive parents. She gains privilege, the ideal future. He dies. Avlyn barely knows him yet remains linked to his memory.
But following a string of rebel intrusions on the city, Avlyn receives a cryptic message and begins seeing visions of her dead twin. The mysterious radical who urges Avlyn to join their fight becomes her link to answers. Freedom.
Opportunity awaits, but if she says yes will she lose it all?
Configured is the first novel in a trilogy YA dystopian/light romance that poses the question: does humanity need love for survival? Fans of Divergent, Matched, and the Maze Runner will love this world of dark secrets, intrigue and desire for a better tomorrow.
Avlyn Lark’s world was designed for maximum efficiency. Her whole life was planned out for her based on where she fit in society. I loved the class system that Penner created. There was a noticeable divide between each class, and it didn’t cross bloodlines. Just because your biological parents were a one, didn’t mean you didn’t belong in a world of twos. Dystopian fiction is such a precarious a topic to tread upon, but Penner didn’t hesitate in creating a new world to dive into.
First, the rebellion kept me on my toes. Since Avlyn had to learn all this information from scratch, so did I. I had no trouble getting caught up in the mayhem and mystique that followed Meyer around the city, Direction, or the doubt accompanied with everyone Avlyn passed on the street. Were they going to be okay? What was the next step? What happens if they get caught? It all had me on the edge of my seat and dying to know more. Also, I loved the technology. Affinity, the name coined by the rebels, had different tech than presented in other dystopian novels. The tech she coined felt like a possibility for our future, not just the future of Direction.
Next: the romance. Meyer definitely had his appeal. He was a mystery, and the chemistry between him and Avlyn was undeniable. Their romance had a slow burn. They started in the “who the heck do you think you are?” stage and stepped into the just friends stage. They didn’t overstep their boundaries and weren’t kissing while bombs destroyed the level one sector or giving each other puppy dog eyes when Affinity was planning their next attack. It felt realistic, even in a dystopian world, and captured the arc of many relationships during the teenage years. Although, shockingly, another character caught my eye: Aron. At first, Aron was a means to an end, but the more I got to know him, the more I liked him. I didn’t expect to like him, and he constantly surprised me. I sense a love triangle brewing, and I love it!
Some of my favorite side characters were Lena and Jayson. Lena entered the story and didn’t let on to her importance in the story until I needed to know why she had a role to play. Jayson acted as Meyer’s father figure and was impossible not to love. Both of these characters hold a special place in my heart, and Penner knows how to write main characters that matter, as well as side characters that you’ll end up loving.
Configured is the perfect book to dive into if you’re looking for your next dystopian read. Full of adventure, wonder, and technology of the future, it has everything you could ever need in a world like Direction. I can’t wait to dive into the next book and continue Avlyn Lark’s story and see where the path she’s chosen takes her.
to read a YA Dystopian/Light Romance that will leave you wanting more!
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About Jenetta Penner
I’m Jenetta and a lifetime lover of Sci-Fi (thx Dad). I had a weird LONG stint (declaring HOW long would give away too many age secrets… and eh hem… a girl never tells) where I read almost no books for pleasure (the horror!). Near the end of 2014 I picked up Hunger Games, and I was off like a rocket.
That next year I read about 40 YA books (mostly Sci-Fi/dystopian) and a couple months into it got the idea to write a book (with no prior experience or even desire) about children who were not allowed to be raised by their biological parents. You see, I am an adoptive mama of two lovely daughters from foster care. That story grew into what Configured is today.
It has been a HUGE journey with a lot of ups and downs and it took WAY longer than I anticipated. But it is finally here.
Newsletter
Lola
I hadn’t heard of this one before, but your review made me curious about this one. It sounds like a good dystopia read with well done romance. I always like a slow burn romance and not kissing in dangerous situations is a plus as well. Great review!
Moriah
Thanks, Lola! I think you’d really enjoy it. 🙂
Jenetta Penner
Thanks Moriah!!! You are amazing!
Moriah
You’re most welcome, Jenetta! I’m so excited to see where this series goes. 🙂