Bakers Dozen 2013: 9

Jennifer Government by Max Barry

Almost one year ago I reviewed this book, Jennifer Government by Max Barry and LOVED it.  I gave this book a 5 out of 5 because I loved it so much.  This was one of those suggestions by my former boss at the book store and I bought this book at another discount book store almost eight years ago.  SO I had this book in my collection for about 7 years before I had even picked it up and started to read it.  I remember thinking to myself, "why didn't I read this sooner?  I had it this whole time and never read it!"  I can honestly say I was a little mad at myself for that.

So in case you haven't read my book review (here) I'll do a quick overview of what Jennifer Government was about.  So the book is set some point in the future, exactly when was never stated, but you got the sense that there was a decent amount of time for the world to become like this.  Now in this future, we are essentially owned by corporations.  So if your name is Jane Smith but you work for Barnes and Nobles you would be known as Jane Barnes and Nobles.  The government is also pretty much dictated by the high powered corporations that have the most money.  Jennifer works for the government and and is investigating the murders of a dozen or so kids because the company Nike put at hit out on them to promote the newest shoes.  This story you see corruption with in companies and Jennifer's fight to uphold the law to her best.

This was an incredibly fun book to read, but it also made you think.  The plot didn't seem all that far fetched and that is kind of a scary thing to think about.  Usually books like this don't appeal to me, but the author wrote it just like how I would watch a movie.  No it isn't written like a script, but when reading it I could easily picture what was going on.  I remember so much of this book vividly that it will stay in my mind for a long time.

Book Review: Jennifer Government

Jennifer Government by Max Barry

Imagine living in a society where instead of being an independent person you're essentially owned by a corporation.  Government is non-existent.  While this book isn't set in a time period, meaning it could be now , the soon future, or distant future, it does seem like a plausible scenario if we choose to live life like this.

Jennifer Government is based around an incident involving Jennifer Government (she works for the government now and in the society your last name is the company work for.  Like if you're working at Target you'd be Jane Target or Jane Home Depot).  Jennifer now works for the government as an agent and she's on the case of investigating the murders of a dozen or so kids because Hack Nike put a hit out on them, by going to the police (crazy scenario, I know).  But this goes deeper, because one power hungry maniac John Nike wishes to take over what little government that is left.  Now with this story there is a lot of off shoots that go with the main plot and are all tied to Jennifer one way or another.

Now I have to be honest, I finished this book before the new year, but it has been really hard to write a review for it, not because it was an epic failure, no, just the opposite, IT WAS AWESOME!  Seriously, if you liked future scenarios like Hunger Games (not saying that this book is anything like The Hunger Games I was just trying to find something to help you get an idea of the type of plot), this will blow you out of the freaking water.  Max Barry wrote this in a way where you can see your self living in a society like this and wanting out, but you just don't know how.  In this book there are people who are OK with living like this, people who are uncomfortable, people who take advantage, and people who are setting out to change how things are.

Jennifer Government is a fun read but it is also a thinker.  You get everything you need about the society quickly and you're not loaded down with a bunch of information but it definitely makes you think.  In a good way of course.

I have to say, I thoroughly enjoyed this book.  I couldn't put it down once I started to read and I wasn't really in a reading mood either.  This book will make you laugh, think, feel for the characters, and also question what is happening now.

Again, thanks for another book suggestion Kristi!

Rating:
5 out of 5

On Deck:
Confessions of a Sociopathic Social Climber by Adele Lang