ReInception felt incredibly nostalgic to me. It brought back that Science Fiction dystopia mood which I’ve been craving. If you’re like me and want to read a book that examines ethics and technology, keep reading this book review.
Summary
A corporation’s immensely popular technology can rewire your brain to rid you of any bad habits or unwanted impulses in 2126 New York City. The government is using ReInception in a supposed attempt to rid society of criminal behavior one brain at a time. But when a college student and a government-labeled terrorist discover the truth behind what’s happening in people’s head, they are ready to risk their lives to preserve their free will and the future of society.
Review
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the author. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
ReInception examines, at its core, the danger of changing our brains and impulses. The ways in can just create ‘picture perfect clones’ of each other all the way to the insidious oppressive. Because something that always has dangerous possibilities and power dynamics will inevitably be brought to the maximum. In this way, ReInception doesn’t feel like a step too far away from our own society. It’s easy to see the ways in which things could be taken that far if this technology was available.
But it’s also a story about awakening. About seeing the inequalities and injustices around us. What would it take for us to say something? The ways a ‘fix’ or ‘cure’ turn into a punishment, a mode of oppression. ReInception examines bodily control and choice. It’s a complex world and throughout we really see the ways our main character’s struggle with rebellion and our past. To have someone challenge what we think and how it can have ripples and effects.
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In some ways it feels like a continuation of the conversations you might see in Divergent. So it felt nostalgic to me. ReInception has rebellion, action and chase scenes, all with technological ramifications. All of it combines to ask us what it means to be our own person in this world and what we will do to fight for it. Find ReInception on Goodreads, Storygraph, Amazon, Bookshop.org, & Blackwells.