Bianca
Written on Feb 17, 2016
Was it worth it to avoid heartache if you also avoided its opposite, the feeling that your heart might burst with joy?
"In a near-future world where everyone is controlled by their smartphones, sixteen-year-old Rory Vaughn suddenly begins listening to the voice within--which kids are taught to ignore--and discovers a terrible plot at the heart of the corporation that makes the devices"--
In a future where everyone is controlled by smartphones, Rory consults her decision-making app to gain entry into a boarding school where she discovers sinister activities. The plot contains profanity and sexual references.
- ISBN10 0062199803
- ISBN13 9780062199805
- Publish Date 13 May 2014
- Publish Status Out of Stock
- Publish Country US
- Publisher HarperCollins Publishers
- Imprint Collins
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 480
- Language English
Reviews
catiebug
Written on Feb 25, 2015
Joséphine
Written on Nov 8, 2014
Initial thoughts: The premise was relevant and held my interest from the beginning to the end. The influence of smartphones on society is one that surely occupies the minds of many, including mine. I like that Miller took that idea and spun a story out of it, set in the early 2030s. The science behind the book does carry some plausibility and the consequences are terrifying. Mixed together with an air of mystery, Free to Fall is a good book to read. I just had some reservations with some of the finer plot points and I didn't really feel like the book gripped me as much as I had hoped it would.
Ashley
Written on May 21, 2014
Holy mother conspiracy! Free to Fall was riddled with secrets, societies, plots, world domination! It was INSANE! Every time we uncovered one layer of the plot, we learned about something else—a totally new layer. It just kept building and building and building until it was this crazy, gigantic, epic web of lies and conspiracies! O_O
On a random note, Free to Fall made me really wish I was the kind of girl who hung out at a coffee shop every day. I feel like that's the kind of thing I see in movies and books and I WANT TO BE ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE! I'm pretty close in the sense that the ladies at Starbucks have my order memorized, but I always take my coffee to go. I want to be one of those girls who sits in her regular coffee shop chair, sipping her regular drink, and hanging out with other coffee shop people.
...ANYWAY!
I loved the romance in Free to Fall! It was paced out really well. It was intense and there were some "I love you's", but it wasn't insta-love. North and Rory were so cute together! Also, a huge reason why I adored the romance was because of what North was... He's a hacker! Of course I loved him. Some of his quirks were oh-so-awesome. Like how he read the whole Lux terms of service and had pristine first editions of books and had a secret hacker man cave.. loooove!
My one slight gripe with this book was the ending. It was intense and I liked the message the book sent, but I feel like I wanted more. I wanted karma. I wanted revenge. But I don't feel like we got that. Yes, people lost their trust for Lux/technology, but the book REALLY made me hate the secret society and the people behind the brainwashing. I wanted them to suffer and pay.. but it sounds like they got off without even prison time since their names were "off the books" or whatever. That was disappointing. I wanted the world to know who was responsible and stone them to death or something.
Also, I kind of wish that Griffin never died. I thought he was a cool character, and I would have liked him to properly team up with Rory.
But other than that, Free to Fall was A LOT of fun. It's the kind of book that will really grip you! You'll always want to turn the next page to reveal the next layer of the plot, and I love that!!
Angie
Written on May 17, 2014
Free To Fall was quite great! I love the idea of an app that makes decisions for you, but what I loved more was that it didn't go over into cheesy mind control territory. You still had to consciously decide to ask Lux for advice, and then still decide whether to follow it or not. I'll admit, that I probably would use Lux a lot. It's so much easier to just have someone who knows more than you tell you want to do, while knowing they have your best interests in mind (or so you think). And it's all too easy to imagine something like this actually happening. We're all so plugged in all the time, constantly checking our phones and using apps for everything.
The plot of Free To Fall is very National Treasure meets the Garden of Eden. There's a lot of talk about free will and making decisions for yourself but also their effects on those around you. Plus there's a great conspiracy surrounding a school, technology, and pharmaceuticals! And a secret society! And a murder mystery! And solar flares! Yeah. There's a lot going on, maybe a bit too much, but it all fits together nicely so I thought it worked for the most part. I can definitely say I was never bored.
There are a few inconsistencies and lingering questions that bothered me in Free To Fall. The two inconsistencies aren't huge, but once I notice these things I can't unread them! The first was that Rory's shoes change between scenes without her ever changing them, and the second was that a major character is introduced as having "deep-set green eyes" and then having black eyes every other time she's mentioned. And her eyes are mentioned a lot. As for the lingering questions, Rory learns something about the circumstances surrounding her birth and I just couldn't wrap my head around it. The reason for it made sense, until later in the book when that reason is completely void, which brought me back to how this circumstance was even possible or why it was done. I know this is incredibly vague, but this information was a kind of turning point in the story. It really nagged at me!
I really enjoyed Free To Fall despite those few issues. It's thought provoking, has a good amount of action, and a bit of romance. All things that I love. I do wish things hadn't become quite so convoluted, since I thought it was going pretty well without all of the twists thrown in.
Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.