Between love and freedom, the minds of two young hackers are pushed to the limit as they go against those who are causing the world and their country to become a police controlled areas. What would you do? In Little Brother, a bomb has gone off in San Francisco, and Marcus and his friends are interrogated by the DHS. The story is in the perspective of Marcus Yallow, a 17 year old student who is a hacker and coder going against the schools security systems. If you are not a “techy”, I do not recommend this book to you. You will become bored by Cory Doctorow’s ways of writing long drawn-out descriptions of the technology involved in Marcus’s rebellion.
The book was clearly written to relate to both male and female readers. This is because of Marcus’s girlfriend Ange, who is just as skilled as Marcus. I will warn you that there are three scenes that may seem inappropriate for some readers. These scenes may include sex in very little detail. Let that be a warning for young readers. This book was intended for mature readers who were around the characters’ age on up (17+, give or take).
The top three things that I loved about Little Brother, is what is expected of every book I read. The plot is not masked by some overreacted love story. The author kept it short and sweet, and let the story unfold perfectly without centering it over love. Secondly, I loved the ongoing action that took place in every chapter. You were hooked from beginning to end. Even if you are not a computer geek you will love the humor and action throughout the book. There will be times you will have to read three chapters at a time just to figure out what happens next. Third, the story flowed beautifully. Chapter after chapter you could follow along, and still understand every word and conflict.
Though this was one of my favorite books, Little Brother still had its downsides. Just because you were on the edge of your seat, doesn’t mean you wanted to stay there. To help new readers understand the book, the author added parts where Marcus would take a break from the action and explain what he was using or doing. Though needed in many parts of the book, this is where I became very disappointed. It seemed as though I was being interrupted by the character I was relating to, and started getting a lecture. If you are not a geek or don’t love video gaming than this is not the book for you when it comes to these descriptions.
Also, this book takes place in a slightly more futuristic setting. There are events that are portrayed in this book that could happen in the next few years. This idea has one problem, the reader gets to think about the coming years in the their life, but a person that reads this ten years from now might not have any interest because of older technology mentioned. This may be a good book now, but not in the near future.
In conclusion, I would rate this book an 8.5 out of 10. That is still a very high rating, and I still recommend that anyone should try to read Little Brother. It may spark an interest in your future. So whether you’re an action lover or a complete romantic, Little Brother is the book for you (unless you’re not a geek!).