All Rights Reserved (Word$, #1)

by Gregory Scott Katsoulis

‘A chilling, unnerving, and timely debut’ Katharine McGee, New York Times bestselling author of The Thousandth Floor

In a world where every word is copyrighted, one girl would rather remain silent than pay to speak

Speth has been raised to know the consequences of falling into debt, and can't begin to imagine the pain of having her eyes shocked for speaking words that she's unable to afford.

But when Speth's friend Beecher commits suicide rather than work off his family's crippling debt, she can't express her shock and dismay. Backed into a corner, Speth finds a loophole: she closes her mouth and vows never to speak again in protest at the unjust rules of the land.

Speth's unexpected defiance of tradition sparks a media frenzy, inspiring others to follow in her footsteps, and threatens to destroy her, her family and the entire city around them.

Readers love All Rights Reserved!

‘I adored this book… The final speech in the book made me cry.’

‘I loved this fresh new approach to a potential future dilemma.’

‘I love the author’s quick wit, and his characters are much more than one dimensional sci-fy heroes!’

‘This book is an absolutely amazing piece of satiric literature’

• ISBN13: 9781474074520
• Publish Date: 29 August 2017
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
• Imprint: HQ Young Adult
• Format: eBook (EPUB)
• Pages: 304
• Language: English
• URL: http://harpercollins.co.uk

Reviews

[Kim Deister]

This book was everything I want in a dystopian novel. For me, this genre needs to scare the hell out of me with believable implications. All Rights Reserved did that for me. Was it extreme? Absolutely. But it wasn’t so extreme as to make it unbelievable. It was entirely possible to see a future like the one in this books, and that is what made it a perfect dystopian read.

The novel takes place in the future, in a society where literally almost everything is copyrighted, trademarked, or restricted. Words, gestures, ideas, everything. For the simple act of speaking, one must pay an ever changing price per word. Hugging, kissing, shrugging… all chargeable. The only people who are free of it are those under fifteen. But on their birthdays, that ends.

Lawyers rule the world in every practical way, capitalism at its very worst. And those who can’t pay are essentially forced into indentured servitude to the government. Added to that is a series of laws that make citizens legally responsible for the actions of their ancestors.

One of my favorite things was that the author used the copyright, trademark, etc. symbols throughout the book. It was a detail that underscored the reality of the world within. It was mind-boggling how total the capitalist control was over society. And that social commentary has real implications, which is more than a little terrifying. Between consumerism, capitalism, and the ever rising amount of litigation that occurs within our own society, it is impossible not to recognize the warning that this book has created.

My recommendation: If, like me, you love a great dystopian read that will terrify you, this is that book! I highly recommend it!

[tweetybugshouse]

This is a unique dystopian young adult novel where every word and practically every gesture comes at price that is charged by a tracker you wear on your wrist.  Once you turn 15 you start being charged.  Until then you are free to say and gesture as you please.  When you turn 15 your expected to make a speech as a way of signing your Terms of Service agreement.  

This novel is all about what happens when you choice to make the choice not go along with what is socially expected of you and the consequences of those actions.  It echoes of civil right protests that we see today in our own world.  What if you go against what expected of you, how do you handle those choices, and what does the future look like when change happens from those choices?

I think this novel should be a must read in all highschools it one of those great one that will open up thoughtful discussion and may have you thinking twice about how you use your words to influence your world.  Looking forward to the next book Access Restricted out August 28th, 2018.

[Chelsea]

Actual Rating 3.5

I'm not really sure how I feel about this book. I thought the dystopian world that was created was really interesting and VERY different from other dystopia books. I wish we had gotten a little more detail about it though because all we know is that the cities are in theses domes and everything has copyrights. I'm a fan of knowing why. Why did they even need the domes if they were able to live outside it? Or could they live outside? We don't really know.

The plot was pretty typical for a dystopia book. There's a corrupt government and there's a kind of revolt happening. There were areas where I thought the plot could have gone more smoothly because it felt like it jumped around randomly sometimes. Certain scenes were too long and others too short so it didn't have a nice flow to it like it should have. It wasn't a bad plot though, there were just some parts where I got bored.

My biggest issue with this book was the main character. I didn't like her AT ALL and I couldn't connect with her which made the book hard to read. I just found it really annoying how she started this whole revolution and she had no reason for it. The book is about what happens when she decided not to talk but she just kind of does it. There's no reasoning behind why she doesn't want to (either that or it wasn't explained very well why because I totally missed it). All these people start to follow her lead and then look to her for guidance and she does nothing. That's pretty much all she does the whole book, nothing. She just looks stupidly at people when they talk to her and hangs around other people. It just drove me crazy.

Even though I had some issues with the book I think I'd still recommend it. I was getting tired of reading the same dystopian plots over and over but this one was a little different and I really appreciated that.