Spiderman meets the WWW Trilogy in Kevin Brook's fantastic YA novel, iBoy. Intriguing premise, approachable writing style, and characters you really care about - all that makes this book a truly fascinating, quick read. The movie-like action scenes will blow your mind and you definitely won't be able to put it down! Are you ready for this awesomely nerdalicious ride?
Tom Harvey was on his way back home from school on a Friday afternoon when his skull was shattered by an iPhone. The 32GB iPhone 3GS was thrown from the top floor of a tower block. Tom was lucky enough to survive the accident, but he'll never be the same again. The doctors haven't been able to remove all the phone pieces from his brain. Some of them have lodged themselves very deep - too deep to risk pulling them out.
When Tom wakes up from a coma, he learns from his Grandmother that his close friend, Lucy, has been attacked and raped by a local gang. It happened around the time of his accident and is most likely related to it in some way. He also discovers that his brain has the ability to connect to the world wide web and basically do anything a smart phone can do. He can even send electric shocks, like some wicked cool version of a living taser! Electromagnetic force field, the ability to hack into just about any website or online database, unlimited access to the WWW resources - all that turns our "just-an-avarage-boy" into "insanely-cool-iBoy-hero". But like in any other hero story, with great power comes great responsibility. Can Tom handle all that? Will he manage to take revenge on Lucy's attackers without making matters worse for her?
I thought this book was really great. The premise itself was enough to lure me in - I couldn't wait to pick it up! It reminded me in a way of Robert J. Sawyer's "WWW Trilogy" (Wake, Watch, Wonder), which I reviewed a few months before and even dedicated a whole week to it (yeah, it was pretty awesome!). The main protagonist from the WWW Trilogy had the ability to literally see the World Wide Web and, well, communicate with it. iBoy is, of course, different in many ways, but the premise is similarly cool and fascinating. Plus I totally loved the superhero feeling this story had. I am a total nerd in that sense. I just love all the superhero movies, no matter how cheesy they might be! iBoy felt a lot like Spiderman - we have a shy teenager who doesn't have enough self-confidence to ask the girl out. He can't protect himself nor anyone around him. He's neither super smart, super sexy nor super strong. Just an average Peter Parker. And then something extraordinary happens to him. There's an accident and his life is flipped inside out. He turns his iSkin on and all of a sudden he's the cool, strong, gorgeous hero. Unstoppable, confident, brave. I really, really loved that! I genuinely liked Tom, he was a great, believable, likeable character. I was constantly cheering for him!
The thing I liked the most about this book was Tom's narrative voice. It was so smooth and natural, so easy to relate to! I felt like I was reading a Young Adult book written by a teenager. The way Tom spoke and the thoughts he shared with us.. it didn't feel forced or pretended at all. I was really impressed with Brook's ability to write from a teenager's POV in such a fab, genuine way!
I also liked the overall atmosphere of this story. Despite the tragic accidents at the beginning and the unfairness of it all, this book is a very positive read. It gives you hope. It makes you believe, even if it's just for a second, that good always triumphs over the evil, and in the end justice is served. I found it very uplifting and comforting. It's a great change after all the depressing dystopian and post-apocalyptic novels. We all need a hero sometimes.
