Book Review- 0.4 by Mike Lancaster

Title: 0.4

 Author: Mike Lancaster

Series:  None, but there is a book coming up called 1.4 which I think may be related.

Published:  3 January 2011 by Egmont

Length: 272 pages

Warnings: Clean, 11 +

Source: School library

Other info: This is also known as Human.4. according to Goodreads, Mike is writing another book called 1.4, which I am assuming runs on from this, or is at least in the same universe. But I’m not sure.

Summary : Kyle Straker volunteered to be hypnotized at the annual community talent show, expecting the same old lame amateur acts. But when he wakes up, his world will never be the same. Televisions and computers no longer work, but a strange language streams across their screens. Everyone’s behaving oddly. It’s as if Kyle doesn’t exit. Is this nightmare a result of the hypnosis? Will Kyle wake up with a snap of fingers to roars of laughter? Or is this something much more sinister? Narrated on a set of found cassette tapes at an unspecified point in the future, Human.4 is an absolutely chilling look at technology gone too far.

Review: Kyle Straker is being hypnotised by his best friend when something happens. Exactly what, we don't know. But everyone bar him and three others is acting weirdly-totally ignoring them, and seeming just a little bit different. He doesn't know how, or why, this has happened. All he knows is... well, nothing. And it's up to him, Lilly, and two other adults to find out what has happened, and if anything can be done about the whole situation.

Intriguing premises, definitely. Even more intriguing when you see the blurb to the UK edition, which mentions almost nothing of this, and simply gives us a few things to think about.

From the start, I was hooked, to see what was going to happen, and to find out what the reason for it was.

The suspense, the mystery and  the ever-wanting-to-know-more meant this was a quick read. Very quick. I just couldn't stop reading it, it was that interesting.

Shame about the fact that not much happens. Well, quite a major thing has happened, obviously. But when we finally learn, it seems a little anti-climatic. And the conclusion wasn't epic. It was good, but not to the height it could have been.

I was also disappointed with the character depth. This is (nearly) three hundred pages long, and there are (essentially) only four characters. But we get so wrapped up in seeing what it's about, that we don't get close to any of them. And therefore I didn't care at all for them when they were running away from x (I won't tell you because that would spoil it. I don't think the runny away bit is a spoiler because it happens quite a lot in YA in general).

The narration was good. It wasn't the most natural of narrations considering this is meant to be a transcript of audio tapes, but it kept the story going. The notes that come in boxes are really sweet and very funny -explanations of things we take for granted, but from an outsider's POV.

Overall:  Strength 3 tea to a real page turner that makes you think, but falls short in other areas.

Links: | Goodreads | Author website |