read for Popsugar 2017 challenge: a book that's becoming a movie in 2017

This is technically a dnf because I got 70% through and could not push myself to listen to anymore. I looked up how it ends, and a friend who had finished it told me about it (she also did not like this book).

I've read a decent amount of dystopia due to its YA boom and my junior seminar for the English major was Utopia/dystopia themed. The first time I heard about this book was from that class. I got this on audiobook, and I did like the narrator, although his voice reminded me of the man who does the advertisements on NPR's podcasts.

This book fell so flat. Nothing about it was new or inventive. It was 1984 for the modern age, but it really just felt like a retelling, which frankly, we don't need. Mae was the DULLEST character ever who did not have a single original thought in her body. She literally never questioned anyone. I'm not saying she needed to be leading the revolution, but she just so blandly accepted everything. I read another review that so much of Mae's dialogue was responding to questions from others, and these questions were all essentially leading questions; frankly, I could not agree more.

Maybe I just can't imagine a world where privacy is so undervalued (this could be influenced by listening to a podcast interview with Edward Snowden over the weekend, so I think there will always be a fight to maintain privacy). This morning, I listened to Bailey's conversation with Mae and how he believe's access to everyone's personal experiences is a basic human right. I literally yelled, "healthcare isn't even a basic right yet!" This book didn't even touch at all on other inequalities we face in regards to race, gender, sexuality, religion, class, etc. There's was no depth to this novel for me.

I was also deeply uncomfortable by

the sex scenes. Perhaps I'm spoiled by reading so much romance in the past couple years all by female authors. Something felt off about Eggers' writing. I couldn't stop cringing. I have listened to sex scenes before in audio format, so I know it was the writing and not the format. Also Kalden being Ty was SO PREDICTABLE.

I typically try to power through books just to finish them, but in this case it wasn't going to happen. The movie adaptation is getting horrible reviews, which is a shame because it had a great cast of actors. Oh well.