Customer Reviews

Leaving Simplicity

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"Leaving Simplicity" was not a particularly sophisticated read, and it is not that well written. That said, the ideas it proposed about the direction our society is headed in relation to advertising, and the amount of detail the author included to illustrate the crazy "chattering" that is haunting in its possibility was enough to make this a good read. It dragged in some places, because neither narrating character really felt like a realistic portrayal of the teenage psyche, but again it was an enthralling idea that kept the story moving forward. It was very fast paced, and ended a little too quickly, not to mention too neatly, but I would recommend it.

Pretty great YA book!
Set in a near future where corporations work with the Ads-4-Life Council to ensure that every citzen is a productive consumer, Barrett is a freak- he was raised on an isolated compound by a 'cult' who rejected consumer society for a life of almost Amish spareness. When his uncle there dies, he must leave Simplicity for the Chattering World, where his condition as an advertising virgin makes him incredibly valuable to the marketers who study the psychology of persuasion- including his aunt, who heads the Ads-4-Life Council and is hoping for a major presidential appointment.
Taylor, Barrett's cousin has always had everything- but is she who she thinks she is?
An exciting story that leaves the reader with a heightened sense of awareness of how close we really are to this dystopia, and how far away simplicity truly is.