read for OWLs Magical Readathon 2019: Divination, set in the future

Perhaps one day YA authors will learn that sarcasm is not a personality.

I'm really disappointed I didn't like this. This book is so well loved, the majority of my friends/follows on here have rated it 5 stars. The concept is really interesting! Storytelling via a dossier is a really cool and new way to get a look at a story. The plot is so fast-paced and engaging; I really wanted to know what would happen next.

Yet... these characters are so insanely boring and underdeveloped. Kady is just your standard YA badass heroine who is, of course, a gifted computer hacker prodigy who is the ~only person who can save us all.~ I truly know nothing about her as a person except that she's sarcastic. THAT'S IT. I'm sorry but I can't just root for a completely reckless teenager who never quite seems to grasp the gravity of the situation without knowing who she is. Ezra was even less developed!! All I know about him is he's obsessed with Kady and threatens to have sex with his friend's sisters. And reading their exchanges... oh my god it was so painful. Why the fuck is Ezra making dumb jokes and putting ":P" at the end when THOUSANDS OF PEOPLES LIVES ARE AT STAKE. Like these stakes are extremely high and the teens didn't seem to get it? It's just really sad because I LOVE romances in novels - I rarely if ever think they're necessary. But oh boy did this romance make me so glad I'm not 17 anymore.

The only character with personality is the analyst who describes various footage so we don't get to know him really and the artificial intelligence. Which I'll admit was really dope, but by the time we get a look into Aidan, too much of the book had passed for me to care.

and of course he's obsessed with Kady. Cause she's so ~perfect.~ Excuse me while I go vomit. Also... does he basically become a creepier Janet from the Good Place in the next few books? Because that would be fantastic

Apparently the audiobooks of this series are really well loved, and I think that could have changed my opinion. Having actors perform these characters would probably give a depth that is nonexistent in this novel. But a text can't rely solely on performance - unless it's a play of course. Which this isn't.

I looked up spoilers for the next too books because i want to know what happens. Like I said, the plot is really engaging. Too bad the characters can't match it.