Book Review: The Circle

                                                                                   BOOK INFORMATION:                                                                  

Title: The Circle
Author: Dave Eggers
Publisher: Knopf
Source: Library
Publisher Date: October 8th 2013
Pages: 493 pages

Rating: 2 out of 5 Stars

When Mae is hired to work for the Circle, the world's most powerful internet company, she feels she's been given the opportunity of a lifetime. Run out of a sprawling California campus, the Circle links users' personal emails, social media, and finances with their universal operating system, resulting in one online identity and a new age of transparency. Mae can't believe her great fortune to work for them - even as life beyond the campus grows distant, even as a strange encounter with a colleague leaves her shaken, even as her role at the Circle becomes increasingly public

                                                                        MY THOUGHTS ON THE BOOK                                                              

I really wanted to love this novel. I loved the idea of a dystopian novel that is centered around the perils of the Internet. It is kind of more about the companies or company behind the control of the internet. This is a super relevant theme and is currently such an appealing concept. I found parts of this book to be super creepy and messed up at times.  

Another problem with the book is the tone. It was extremely condescending and patronizing. It was supposed to be voicing consequences of internet powerhouses but it just came off like a joke. The tone was ridiculous and poorly conceived. 

The biggest problem I see with The Circle is that the main character Mae is completely flat and boring. She has no depth or development throughout the novel. I, to be honest, couldn't understand her. I didn't get her decisions, her connection to others, or her motivations to do things. The last problem I had with this book was the lack of character development. All of the characters are weak or shallow. 

The whole book was overly predictable, mostly the ending. It was boring and unemotional. I expected this book to be a modern version of 1984 but it really left me wanting more. I stopped the audiobook and was like wow, that was it? I wanted suspense, I wanted something to be engaging, I wanted something really hard hitting about the internet and unfortunately, this book missed the mark.