Review: Free to Fall by Lauren Miller

Title: Free to Fall
Author: Lauren Miller
Rating: ★★★★ (4/5 Stars)
Hardcover, 469 Pages
Published May 2014
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Summary: What if there was an app that told you what song to listen to, what coffee to order, who to date, even what to do with your life—an app that could ensure your complete and utter happiness? What if you never had to fail or make a wrong choice? What if you never had to fall? Fast-forward to a time when Apple and Google have been replaced by Gnosis, a monolith corporation that has developed the most life-changing technology to ever hit the market: Lux, an app that flawlessly optimizes decision making for the best personal results. Just like everyone else, sixteen-year-old Rory Vaughn knows the key to a happy, healthy life is following what Lux recommends. When she’s accepted to the elite boarding school Theden Academy, her future happiness seems all the more assured. But once on campus, something feels wrong beneath the polished surface of her prestigious dream school. Then she meets North, a handsome townie who doesn’t use Lux, and begins to fall for him and his outsider way of life. Soon, Rory is going against Lux’s recommendations, listening instead to the inner voice that everyone has been taught to ignore — a choice that leads her to uncover a truth neither she nor the world ever saw coming.

I added this book to my TBR shelf mainly because the idea behind this story is so shocking and intriguing--mainly because it's possible. With the way that modern technology is advancing, why wouldn't an app that makes a decision for you be something that would come up?

I hope that Apple and Google read this book, just so they can learn what not to do. Because if something like what happened in this book really happened (which I won't spoil for you--read the book yourself!) and Rory wasn't there with North to figure it out and fix it...we'd be totally doomed.

This book gripped me from start to finish, and I couldn't bring myself to put it down. Like I said, a company like Gnosis in the story (which would pretty much just be Apple in today's society since the Apple Empire controls quite a bit of everything) is just followed blindly by all who like their products. We like them and we put our trust in the company. Free to Fall is a perfect example of how a monopoly like Apple can misuse and abuse the trust of its customers, and how sad it is that we probably would never realize it if they did so.

It's an eye-opening thought. Rory, North and a handful of others cracked the code of the terrible actions that Gnosis was doing, but for the most part, the rest of the world was blind to it. What if I was part of that "rest of the world"? For all I know, Apple found a way to screw with my brain and keep it hush-hush and I have absolutely no idea...but let's hope that isn't the case. 

All in all, Free to Fall was definitely an interesting and eye-opening book that I encourage anyone looking for a read with some interesting theories and shocking plot twists. The story held my attention 'till the end, and I can't wait to read more of Miller's work!