Ready to discover another great book for this 2022? Take a look…
Fake by Ele Fountain
Genre: Dystopian, Fiction, Children’s Book
Publisher: Pushkin Children’s Books
Rating: 4’5/5
Amazon, Hive, Waterstones
About The Book
Imagine a world where your only friends are virtual, and big tech companies control access to food, healthcare and leisure. This is Jess’s world.
But when she turns fourteen, Jess can go to school with other children for the first time. Most of them hate the ‘real’ world, but Jess begins to question whether the digital world is ‘perfect’ after all.
Back home, her sister Chloe’s life-saving medication is getting ever more expensive. Determined to help, Jess risks everything by using skills forbidden in the cyber-world, only to stumble on something explosive. Something that will turn her whole world upside down.
It’s up to Jess to figure out exactly what is real, and what is fake – Chloe’s survival depends on it.
My Thoughts
What a surprising and original dystopian book! I have to say that I was intrigued by the plot of this book, a world where children can’t go to real school because of antibiotics resistance. They have all their world online: school, friends, shopping… but now, Jess has the chance to go to the real world and meet real people. How will this go? She has a little sister, Chloe, that needs an expensive treatment, and it seems that the price is getting higher as days pass.
I loved this book; the story, the characters and the parallels with real life. A way to show the younger readers the power of antibiotics and vaccines, also a world where no one can have interaction with real people… Sounds a little familiar, yes, but I think that’s what made this book so special, it shows a little the world we lived during the pandemic but as something permanent. I really can’t imagine how difficult it must be not being able to have real friends, laughing with them, playing with them… so weird and sad at the same time.
Also, we can’t forget about the pharmaceutical power that has in the story; making money while people are suffering… too real!
This is an amazing book; interesting and real it will be impossible to not love it no matter what your age is.
Are you ready to discover the “Fake”?
About The Author
Ele Fountain worked as an editor in children’s publishing where she was responsible for launching and nurturing the careers of many prize-winning and bestselling authors.
She lived in Addis Ababa for several years, where she was inspired to write Boy 87, her debut novel. Ele lives in what she describes as a “not quite falling down house” in Hampshire with her husband, two young daughters and lots of spiders.
Varietats 