Review: dotwav - Mike A. Lancaster

dotwav
Mike A. Lancaster
Series: (It seems like it will be a series to me, but it is not listed as a series on Goodreads)
Genre: Young Adult, Mystery, Science Fiction
Publisher: Sky Pony Press
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
Goodreads 

Thanks to Sky Pony Press for the ARC!

I'm not going to lie, this was a strange book - strange being the main word that comes to mind when I think of it. While it was strange, I still ended up enjoying this book.


The main premise of dotwav is that somehow, music is being used for mind control. Now I don't know about you, but this is what came to mind for me:

That's right - the Josie and the Pussycats movie aka one of the best movies ever. Combine the musical mind control with a teenage spy, and then I couldn't stop thinking of Totally Spies aka one of the best shows of all time (although slightly mind numbing).

Ok, I'm going to (mostly) stop with the irrelevant references now since the book is really nothing like Josie and the Pussycats and Totally Spies.

Anyway, dotwav follows teen spy Joe and hacker Ani as they team up to crack the mystery of teen disappearances that seem to be linked to a new type of music. As their investigation continues, things get become stranger than they could have expected.

One thing I really enjoyed about this book was that there were a lot of really interesting ideas in it - I don't want to give too much away, but the author took a concept and spun it in a way that I had never thought about before. While it was kind of out there, it made me think a lot about human expectation and the way we see the world. There was also a lot of ~science-y talk~ which was pretty cool.

As for the characters, I really enjoyed how spunky Ani was. Starting from the very beginning of the book, Ani was a force to be reckoned with, showing her fierce intelligence and ability to think on her feet. Ani is one of those characters that is just really cool because she can just do SO MANY THINGS.

The cool thing about Joe was that he had this sort of microchip embedded into his brain that helped him do ~spy things~. I could try to explain it, but I don't really know where to start with it beside just saying that it helped with memory and his ability to learn skills. I don't know if something like that is actually possible but it was really cool. While Joe is technically an equal partner in the duo, I thought he made a good sidekick for Ani (who is really cool).

Overall, I'd say the main reason this book falls a bit short is that there might be one too many things going on in the book. The author had so many great ideas, but throwing them all into one book can be a bit overwhelming. I kind of felt like this at times:

I also wasn't thrilled by the abrupt ending, but I am interested to see where the plot goes from here if there is another book coming out. I'd definitely recommend this book to science and spy story fans!

Did you watch Totally Spies? Which spy was your favorite?

Let us know in the comments!