Failsafe

Failsafe #1

by Anela Deen

There is only one rule: Never leave the settlement

Nobody remembers when human civilization fell to the living computer known as the Interspace. Trapped within its massive expanse, what remains of humanity struggles to survive. There are no maps to the outer grids, and drones patrol the network. Escape is impossible.

Except seventeen-year-old Sol can access the network's secrets in her dreams. The information comes at a physical cost, but with food and medical shortages threatening her community, it's a small price to pay for survival. The supply runs are also the best way to prove she can still contribute, especially after her recent epilepsy diagnosis took away the role she'd been training for.

When a grave mistake alerts the drones to her trespassing, Sol finds herself running for her life. She never expects to encounter Echo, a stranger who may hold the key to humanity's freedom.

Together, Sol and Echo will attempt to reach the central core of the Interspace and shut down the system. To survive the journey, they will need to evade drones, signal towers, and a dangerous enemy known only as the Override. Even with Sol's access to the network and Echo's incredible abilities, they may still fail. The Interspace is always watching, and if they're discovered, it will mean the final extermination of all mankind.

Genres: Science Fiction, Young Adult, Dystopia, Disability

200 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 20, 2018

About the author

A child of two cultures, this kānaka maoli girl is currently living among the tulips and windmills of the Netherlands. She now fills her days with family and fiction under rainy Dutch skies. With a house full of lovable kids, a three-legged cat, and one handsome Dutchman, she prowls the keyboard late at night while the minions sleep. Coffee? Nah, she prefers tea with a generous spoonful of sarcasm.

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Reviews

[Miranda Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just finished my 2020 Book-Year in Review BookTube Video - Click the link to see my recs!

The Written Review

"We're at a tipping point, Sol. You feel it too, We don't have a lot of time left."

Seventeen-year-old Sol has lived her entire life on the settlement - no one is allowed in or out.

The Interspace, the sentient computer, is in control of their lives and the remaining humans are clinging to life by the skin of their teeth.

Sol is the only one who can take a peek into the network that governs their lives and see what the Interspace is planning behind the scenes.

But that ability comes with a cost - fits of epilepsy occur whenever she connects to the grid.

Despite her disability, she's the best person to do supply runs for her community...but the most recent run quickly goes south.

The drones catch on and Sol is in danger. Serious danger.

And just when things seem bleakest, she meets Echo. He saves her and despite his initial strangeness, she's excited to have someone to go on a run of a lifetime.

"Human cooperation functions much better with mutual understanding, does it not?"
"We call it friendship, Echo."

Together, Sol and Echo plan to turn off the Interspace and save humanity. And maybe fall in love along the way.

"Define the variables."
"There's no equation, Echo. People develop a bond...It's a feeling. You know when you know."

Ahhh. I loved this book so much!

The plot was fast and exciting. It was a fun adventure and I was so curious about the world.

I loved how Adela Deen developed Sol as a main character - she grew so well over such few pages. I also appreciated how Deen didn't "fix" Sol.

So many books introduce a character with a disability and then they're magically cured by the end of the book - Sol was herself through and through. She worked with her disability and didn't allow it to hold her back.

Above all, I adored Echo as a character - he was so robotic and cute.

His introduction to humanity made the book for me and honestly the plot came completely secondary because I had so much fun watching him interact with Sol.

All in all, I loved this book!

A HUGE thank you to Anela Deen for sending this my way!

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[Mel (Epic Reading) · Rating 4 out of 5]

There’s nothing special about this story per say. And yet it feels special. It’s really all about one girl and a man fighting for the impossible. And aren’t we all fighting for the best and maybe the impossible everyday?

Representation
Some amazing representation here. Our lead gal has epilepsy and struggle in her dystopian world. From drones, AI, not-safe areas; this is already a world fraught with danger. Add onto that the possibility of have a seizure at any moment and you definitely have the recipe for: over bearing parents, drive to prove yourself, and fighting just to contribute to daily life.
"I refuse to be useless because you feel better when I do nothing."
Our MC is a strong gal who pushes over and above in every instance. And her epilepsy just might be the reason she has 'access' to certain keys...

Love on the Run
We spent the majority of Failsafe running through unsafe zones with our MC and an android-like man. During their travels they enter a colony, encounter droids, get shot at (a lot), hide, and talk. Through this Anela Deen gives us the beginnings of a love story. It's subtle, and feels realistic. It's not insta-love, it's not 'you saved me so now I must love you' syndrome, or anything that feels false. One of the best things about this story is the budding interest and caring that our two MC's start to have for one another. As someone who usually hates all love stories inserted into sci-fi novels; I gotta say this one really surprised me, in a good way. Our MC really finds herself alongside her android companion.
"I had no control over the actions of others. Why had I chosen to reject myself?"

Overall
The writing in Failsafe is really good. Don't be fooled by the Indie publisher here; this is a solid story. The mystery of how the world works and what is really happening at any given time is done very well and drives our story forward. We have good plot and motivation at all times.
While it's not a five-star 'outstanding book' for me; it was excellent and I'd absolutely recommend it to those that enjoy a fast-paced, action sci-fi story. It's also short, at only 200 pages, yet jam-packed with insightful comments from our MC, relationship building, tragedy, and lots of action. You can't go wrong with this story given the small investment it takes to complete. I'll be in the look-out for more of Deen's work in the future; as I think there is real talent here and in a larger, more complex story it could really shine.

Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review.

[Brithanie Faith · Rating 3 out of 5]

3/5 stars ⭐⭐⭐


ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!
Release date: May 20th, 2018


Human civilization is not what it once was. Supplies are running low, and the only rule at the settlement is that you can never leave. At the risk of being caught, and killed by the Interspace drones for trespassing, Sol, a seventeen year old girl with epilepsy risks everything to go on a supply run where she meets Echo, a mysterious stranger who just might hold the answer to shutting down Interspace and freeing mankind from it's captivity.

Pros:

-This was a fairly enjoyable read. I really liked the writing, and the characters! 😊

-There were definitely a couple of moments where I was taken by surprise!

Cons:

-I really didn't feel as though I was reading anything super original. I still had a good time reading this, but overall I was kind of disappointed. Perhaps it just needed to be a bit longer in order for the story to be better developed.

Final Thoughts/Comments:

I would definitely recommend this to Sci-Fi/Dystopian fans if you're looking for a quick, entertaining read!

[Fabi NEEDS Email Notifications · Rating 3 out of 5]

A new dystopian novel.

Using a tried and true trope, Anela Deen spins a wildly original adventure.

An advanced predictive AI coded and loaded with all of the worlds electronic data becomes sentient. Generations after apocalyptic events decimate the human population, the "Interface" holds the remnants of humanity within it's walls with a mutual non-destruction accord.

There are only 40,000 people left in all the world. Prisoners, they are kept separated and secluded in 12 small groups. Provisions to sustain life are delivered at intervals by the Interface's drones. When those deliveries become fewer and less predictable, their meager existence is in dire danger.

On a daring mission to obtain supplies, Sol's life is in danger from drones programmed to kill any human found outside the settlements. It's only thanks to Echo, a stranger she's never met or heard of, that she's able to escape with her life.

Echo insists he is not a machine. However, he is much more than human. He is Failsafe, stronger, faster, quick healing and having weapons no one has ever seen before. Echo raises suspicion in the settlement, especially once he admits he is on a mission to the central processing unit of the controlling AI to shut it down.

Sol has a special ability to see the schematics of the network. A map to navigate and a schedule of policing bots to avoid. Between her ability and Echo's special strength and weapons, they may have a chance to complete the journey. She is anxious to prove that she can still contribute as a member of her society even though she's recently been diagnosed with epilepsy. She's also not entirely surrendered to the fact she must mate with DNA compatible, matched partner. A violent and possesive man that has hurt her in the past.

Initially Sol agrees to accompany Echo a short way and provide him with navigation instructions for the remainder of his journey. But as they get to know each other and circumstances cause them to fight for their lives time and again, Sol ultimately decides to accompany him the entire way.

On their journey, Echo learns how to be more human and Sol learns the true depth of her strength and determination. The two bond in a very special way. This romance part of the story was sweet. It was cute in places, although maybe a little childish.

The story was packed with all the elements of the trope. We get the evolving Echo learning about emotions and feelings. We get an arch enemy, Override, in the form of an evil and invinsible robot. We get the AI becoming more and more determined to stop them using the killer drones. We get Sanctuary, a place safe from both drones and Override, but populated with sketchy scientists. Finally, we get the AI itself in a twisty turny conclusion that, of course, provides our love birds with an HFN.

I enjoyed reading this dystopian adventure. I had questions and concerns at times but all of my questions were answered by the end of the book. The only thing I didn't quite understand is when and how the huge physical network that housed the AI's hardware and the settlements was built and how it was currently powered. How the remaining humans came to be living inside that network. There was a tiny part at the end when a life was granted that didn't make sense to me. But other than those two niggles, I definitely enjoyed the story.

I thought it was so smart of the author to build a world made up of computer hardware and software where humans inhabited small settlements within it. The implied metaphors were perfect! The "Failsafe", "Override","Fragmentation". Also, the hardware like the "heat sink" and "cooling fan" and many others encountered in the journey. Geeky me was thinking this was the coolest thing ever. ;-)


Review ARC graciously provided by the author via NetGalley

[Atlas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Even the best of prisons was still a prison

* * * 
3 / 5

Try to picture this: humanity, inside a massive living computer on the surface of the Earth. I don't know about you, but I couldn't really imagine it, so my mental picture whilst reading Failsafe was mostly blank. But other than that I thought it was super cool and engaging and I even liked the romance!

"You keep thinking if I sit still it'll make the seizures go away for good. That's not how it is, and I refuse to be useless because you feel better when I do nothing"

Sol lives in one of the last refuges of humanity inside the massive physical network system known as the Interspace. The Interspace is also sentient and overthrew the government many years ago. It was very confusing. Drones, minions of the Interspace, used to deliver food to each of the small dozen settlements but they have now stopped and Sol is the only one who dares venture out to get food. It's out there in the grid that she meets Echo, a weirdly cold man who is trying to reach the central grid to shut down the Interspace.

I really liked Sol. She's a brave spunky girl who is also epileptic. Her life is a fight between her parents whose fear is trying to overrule her life and the violent and possessive man she is promised to once she turns eighteen. Sol sees Echo and his mission as a way to escape her restrictive life and to help the future of humanity; with the blessing of her settlement mayor, Sol guides Echo with the help of her strange dreams that help her to see the inner workings of the Interspace.

"We yearned, but we didn't know for what"

Echo is also great. His origins are a mystery and he and Sol have such opposite personalities and their interactions are sometimes sweet and sometimes hilarious. The characters are such a focal point of Failsafe.  They are up against the Interspace itself and her main minion: a dark and seriously creepy robot called the Override.

On the downside, there's the confusing setting that I have already touched on. Failsafe has a bunch of futuristic elements thrown in that don't really make all that much sense: a cyber setting, cloning, dystopian humanity. Some of the writing was also a little choppy.

In conclusion: Failsafe had me totally torn.

My thanks to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for an ARC of Failsafe.

Read this review and more on my blog:https://atlasrisingbooks.wordpress.co...

[✨faith✨trust✨pixiedust✨ Dead Account; Not Coming Back · Rating 3 out of 5]

Actual rating: 3.5

I received this eARC on Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of this book in any way.

"I am the Failsafe."

#RollCredits

The Writing and Worldbuilding

The writing style was really hard to get used to at first, I gotta admit. It is first person and very much stream of consciousness, which was difficult to adjust to. For instance, the word "craptastic" is used. And besides that, the first chapter was extremely rushed. I thought there'd be an introduction to Sol's life and family, but no, that was all done in exposition, with the first chapter consisting of things I thought would happen in the third or fourth chapter. Besides that, there were so many typos. It was really hard to ignore them, being a grammar nazi and all. Also, sometimes, scenes were just completely skipped, like Deen wanted them in the plot but didn't want to bother writing them. It was very jarring sometimes. Also, it was never explained how Sol got into the other settlements when she did supply runs; like, wouldn't they have thought she was just a Wraith and never let her in?

He was different in ways I didn't fully understand, but different didn't mean less. It was just another way to be. You'd think after all I'd been through in the last year I'd have the concept down.

Once I got used to it all and the story really picked up, I found myself totally loving it!!! Echo was so wonderful and his and Sol's banter was just so cute! I loved the themes as well, and I thought they were well executed for the most part. Choice and humanity were two of the biggest themes. I loved the world too. The atmosphere was great and very tangible. And despite the rushed plot at the beginning, the love story was thankfully slow-burn, and I really loved it. It warmed my cold dead heart I'd thought incapable of love.

I'd rate the writing 2 stars, but the plot and characters 4 stars.

Inaction was as much a choice as one made by conviction.

Also, the heck is a "heat cylinder"??

The Characters

First, I gotta say, what the heck is the deal with these "unique" YA names?? They're driving me crazy! Centhea, Margrit, Devid, and don't get me started on Mykel. It's just Michael! Spell it like a normal person, for goodness sake! The world ended, but they still had language and knew how to spell! *reins in frustration* Okay, let's begin.

"I have no need of constellations with you as my guiding star."

Soleil: She was pretty annoying at first but once I got used to her, I really liked her. She is pretty introspective (being mostly alone in a dark, grey cyberscape definitely encourages that) but sometimes wasn't asking questions I thought obvious to ask (like where her schematic dreams come from, for instance). Also, her painting was thrust upon my suddenly as if I already knew, which with the rushed first chapter, really made me feel like I'd missed some vital prologue chapters. I liked how she had epilepsy.

"You are my guiding star...I go who where you lead."

Echo: MY HEART! I'm dead. I love this adorable android man so much, you don't understand. He really saved this book and made me even keep reading past chapter 2, because he had so much potential and really delivered on it. I loved his caring personality and found his dialogue so adorably stilted and awkward.

"You are a separate entity," he said softly, "independent of me in every respect, yet I have come to see you as an integral part of myself. Vital to my core functions. I will not leave you. I cannot."

The Override: He was pretty creepy.

Conclusion

Survival was indeed a human being's primary directive but we had our own overrides. The heart was one of them.

I really liked this book. I've already gushed about to my family and now I'm gushing about it to you. It's great. Go read it.

[- ̗̀ DANY ̖́- (danyreads) · Rating 3 out of 5]

. : ☾⋆ — 3 ★
arc provided from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review (thank you Anela Deen and Xpresso Book Tours !!) 


GOD this is probably the most torn i’ve ever been about a book EVER.

Failsafe: A Novel follows our main character Soleil, Sol for short, who is a young epileptic girl living in a futuristic dystopian society where an AI called the ‘Interspace’ has taken over the government and basically the entire world. a lot of people have died for it (like, billions of people), so the world has been divided in small settlements where the few survivors left can live in a relative sort of ‘peace’. Sol stumbles upon Echo, a cyborg/android of sorts whose primary directive is to kill the Interspace.

the plot, in theory, sounds awesome!! but the book itself left me feeling a little irresolute.

on the one hand there are some parts of Failsafe: A Novel that i absolutely loved: everybody in this book is laugh-out-loud hilarious and relatable. Echo and Sol, as far as their characterization goes, are opposites to the very marrow of their bones, but the interactions between them are delivered in such a natural way that the dialogue becomes instantly relatable and in-synch with the feel of the novel. Echo in particular was a FANTASTIC character who made me wish the book was longer, just so we could get to see more of him. and like? not gonna lie, i also thoroughly enjoyed myself while reading this.

HOWEVER, there were some aspects of Failsafe: A Novel that i couldn’t ignore, no matter how hard i tried.
- first and foremost, world building: we go into Failsafe: A Novel knowing only one thing: that some sort of AI has taken over the world, and that a vast majority of the planet’s population has perished because of it. that’s about all the world building we get, and that’s already going into the book. it doesn’t get any less ambiguous. we’re clueless as to why the world ended up the way it did, how the Interspace became as powerful as it did, whoinvented the Interspace, why Echo and Sol mean to destroy it, considering the fact that most of the world (or however little of it is left) lives in considerably comfortable peace as long as they don’t leave their settlements. Echo and Sol also do a lot of traveling on foot, which begs the question, how are they doing all of this?? Echo is fine, but Sol doesn’t really have superhuman strength and prowess like he does. the settlements are also??? suspiciously close to one another for no reason other than to make Sol’s travels faster. and Sol knows the leaders of said settlements??? even though they’re not allowed to leave their own settlement???? anyway, lots of questions. don’t even want to get into the Interspace itself because we actually know literally NOTHING about it.

- some of the writing: although Anela Deen is a clear master of dialogue, the actual writing part of Failsafe: A Novel was truthfully a little bit wonky. some scenes skipped out of nowhere and cut to a completely different setting, which destroyed the aesthetic of the book somewhat, because you can’t really tell where Echo and Sol are or what they’re doing or how they got there. this is more towards the publisher, and it’s safe to say that i received an uncorrected proof of the book, but the grammar was a little inconsistent at times. i found MANY typos, some even in characters’ names.

- lack of plot development: listen, i really did enjoy this book. Echo and Sol are amazing and i’d give anything for a second book about just the two of them. that’s a problem, though. i didn’t really care about the plot, because there was no plot. things just…… happened without much of an explanation or consequence. nothing really deterred these characters from reaching their goal, at all. considering the fact that an all-seeing, sentient being is watching over the world and controlling every little aspect of it, Echo and Sol had a surprisingly easy time. in my opinion, the plot was more of an excuse to write a romance between Echo and Sol than it was anything else. (doesn’t mean i didn’t enjoy the romance between Echo and Sol lmao)

i mean, this book could absolutely be lovable to somebody who wants to turn a blind eye to some of this stuff, but i just couldn’t. it bothered me too much despite how genuinely i was enjoying my reading experience. doesn’t take away from the fact that i loved it, but…… yeah. torn, torn, torn!!

[D. B. Grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story summary sounds dangerously derivative: a rebellious teenage girl sets out to topple the monstrous Skynet overlord her society has lived under for generations, and finds love along the way.

Happily, the reading experience doesn't feel like that at all. This book was good!

Sol has a voice that feels real: just the right amount of sarcasm to be interesting and distinct and seem like an actual person, without crossing over into being annoying and off-putting. Echo is a fairly standard Castiel-type good-hearted guy with powers who acts like a robot and has no idea how to be human. But like... am I a sucker for this? Maybe so.

The plot, to be fair, is a little quick and wobbly. It's never truly explained why Sol is able to dream the network, and receive the messages transmitted by the creepy scientists. It never really makes sense why, after wiping out nearly all of humanity, the Interspace chose to cover the entire world in what is essentially an Earth-sized computer chassis. Why does the Interspace need to trap humanity inside a giant computer box, so they're essentially living like little tiny cockroaches crawling over the enormous wires and computer chips? Wouldn't that be useless and counterproductive for everyone involved? The final confrontation with the Interspace herself is also just kind of: what?

Do I care about these things, though? Not really. I mean it would be nice to have all this make a little more sense, but the main thrust of the story is carried by Sol and Echo's relationship. I don't even like romance, and would vote to cut it out from nine out of ten books -- especially YA dystopias, which are constantly shoving needlessly melodramatic, bloated, emotionally vacant attempts at romance subplots down readers' throats.

Sol and Echo, though, I can get behind. There is no love triangle, there is no cheap miscommunication gag; they just genuinely come to understand and like each other. They talk about things. And yes, okay, I find the *cocks head* I do not understand your human ways, please clarify thing very endearing. I was engrossed the whole time reading about their journey through the Network, and the creepy scientists were so viscerally repulsive and terrifying that it pretty much makes up for the somewhat less-than-climactic confrontation with the Interspace.

[Tashy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m not gonna lie, I was mesmerized by this book from the first page. I’m a sucker for dystopian novel plots. The world building was great, I felt like I was in the Matrix for a little bit. I love how the author made the main character so strong and defiant. Especially in a world where no one has ever felt the air or seen a sunset. She asked questions when no one else did.

Our main character is named Soleil. Sol for short. She is almost 18 years old and lives in one of 12 settlements that are still on earth. Apparently there are only about forty thousand humans left after a ambiguous event they called the End War. It seems that the “machines took over”. I thought of the Terminator while I read this also. Sorry; 80’s child here. We all know what happens when the machines take over. They think they’re doing right but us when they aren’t. That’s kinda the plot here. Sol eventually meets Echo, who saves her life at he very beginning of this book. Echo is strong and he heals fast. He also seems like a machine himself in some ways. Their interactions had me giggling like a school girl all morning as I read this. I really enjoyed the intrigue. Echo is mysterious. And the story only gets better when you find out why. The action is amazing. Well paced as well. I was not bored for one moment. There was a little political intrigue and a happy ending. What more could I ask for? I am hoping that there may be a sequel. I’d like to know how Sol’s final decision changed the world. Or if it did at all. I’ll give this book five stars. I just loved all of it. The author did a wonderful job and I cannot wait to read more from her.

[Nicholas Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

*Spoiler-free*
Failsafe is so much fun to read. Our FMC, Sol establishes herself strong right from the start of the book. She's charming, funny and is proactive throughout the story. Her budding friendship with the male lead, Echo also offers tons of laughs and warms your heart. Their relationship is my favorite part of Failsafe and kept me engaged throughout. I felt connected to both of them at the end.
The plot is also very enjoyable. It's fast paced and the pages turn very easily from the very beginning, but it's not too fast paced so the stakes and conflicts can be savored and enjoyed. Sol and Echo are very good drivers of the plot and are satisfying to read.
The setting is placed in a computer-based world, it's fleshed out and nuanced, creating a fascinating portrayal of what it'd be like to live here.
Overall, I think Failsafe has a great range for target audience and honestly anyone can enjoy it. Adults and YA will both find something for them.

[Raven · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received an ARC from Netgalley for a honest review. Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for providing me the free copy of the book.

Failsafe is a post-acopalypstic novel revolving around our protagonists, Echo and Sol, who embark on a journey to shut down the machine which controls humans, The Interspace.
Sol is a normal human, who's scavenging resources in order to feed her settlement and fighting against Interspace. She gets dreams which map the whole place inside Interspace for her. However, her life gets changed when she comes across Echo, who claims he's human but is more robot-like, and who saves her life against drones. In exchange of saving her life, he asks her help to navigate inside the Interspace, in order to shut it down.
Sol is a unique character, who despite having no strength to directly oppose the system, tries to fight against it in her own way, to keep her home alive. She's not physically strong, and she's not really smart either, but she has a strong will. The portrayal of how her epilepsy at times hinders her journey, is really great.
However, Echo is not really a special character, as he ends up being victim to stereotypes. He's cold, he's distant, but he's shown to grow emotions through Sol. Other than that, he doesn't really make a strong impact on the story. One of the best minor characters was The Override, even if he didn't get much spotlight. His thirst to kill Failsafes, his irrational hate towards every living thing and ultimate devotion towards Interspace, makes him a perfect antagonist. This leads us to another complaint- The extremely limited cast of characters. The story mostly consisted of Echo and Sol, and there were barely any characters beyond them. The adults in the novel didn't try to interfere with the missions of these two kids, even when one among them obviously feels like a robot. The Interspace and The Override barely got few pages in the book, which was a bit unsatisfying. There was rarely any mention of the human settlements, so it was difficult to imagine how exactly the human world inside Interspace works.
Another point is the lack of explanation of the setting and world-building. It's difficult to imagine where exactly the story takes place and how exactly the world is divided, so it's almost impossible to navigate where the characters go. The whole world is a mess, and in the end, we are left to guess where is the Interspace and other locations existing.
However, the story had lots of potential, and though it was cliche, it was exciting in its own way. The character development was excellent, as Echo slowly becomes more human, and Sol opens up more to him. The romance was sweet and well-executed, but it ended up occupying almost 3/4 of the book. Also instead of info dump towards the end, it would have been better if the author would have shown how exactly humans fell under the control of Interspace. It felt hurried.
In short, Failsafe would have been excellent novel, had it not fallen victim to incomplete world building and cast of characters. It is still a likable book, nonetheless. I recommend it to those who are trying to get into sci-fi and love having a cute romance.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was surprisingly amazing! As with many dystopian novels, I figured it would be an adventure, dappled with violence and a smattering of gore, with a sprinkle of forced romance...but this book far exceeded my low expectations!

Sol is a special young lady, living in a post-apocalyptic settlement, but unsatisfied with the cards she has been dealt. She has been diagnosed with epilepsy and struggles to find her purpose in her community and within her own skin. In her daily life, she tries to remain unfettered by the restraints her disability puts upon her, and the overprotective nature of her family and the other members of her settlement, and therefore feels it necessary to prove her value and worth. She has self-assigned herself to bringing supplies to her settlement and others, a considerable risk with society as it is in this time period. On one such mission, she happens upon someone that will change her life in more ways than one.

What transpires throughout this book will keep you on the edge of your seat, rooting for the "underdog" that is Sol, and wondering if her naivete will be a redeeming factor or a fatal one. I really enjoyed this story, the characters, and the strange world in which they live. Anela Deen writes lyrically and has fleshed out this universe in a way that makes you want to know more.

I received this book as an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

[Danielle · Rating 5 out of 5]

To be honest, it was more like 4.5, which I'll elaborate on in a bit.

Disclaimers: I was given a free ARC of Failsafe through Netgalley in exchange for an honest, unbiased review. Spoilers ahead!

Okay. How do I properly express my love for Failsafe without becoming a gushy mess? I don't think it's possible. First of all, the character development...

I started out not loving the main character, Sol, because she, like many other disabled characters in books I've read, thought she was less of a person due to her illness. However, as the story progressed and Sol found herself away from the ableist environment she grew up in, she finally came to the realization that she has not gotten so far in spite of her illness. Epilepsy is simply a part of her and yes, she had to make some adjustments in her life to accommodate it, but she is still worthy and entitled to everything an abled person is.

The character development displayed here is so incredibly important to me as a disabled, chronically ill person. When I was her age, I thought similar things about myself. I thought I was less of a person due to the ableist society we live in. It was depressing and discouraging and I really felt for Sol in those scenes. When she finally learned that the opposite was true, I cried, I was so happy for her!

Sol wasn't the only one who grew as a character. Echo grew to become one of my favourite fictional characters of all time. I won't spoil it for you, as it's too cute not to experience yourself.

Second of all, Sol and Echo. Sol! And! Echo! Their chemistry was intoxicating. My cheeks hurt from smiling so much. Sometimes I scan paragraphs in books like this where there's a long adventure to get to their end goal, but I didn't have to do that at all in Failsafe. Every scene was written in such a way that I was hanging on every word, empowered by every sarcastic retort. I stayed up all night reading just so I wouldn't have to leave Sol's and Echo's world.

Of course, the book wasn't perfect. I have yet to find one that is. I would've liked to see how everything turned out: the settlements' reactions, Sol reuniting with her parents and Leithan, that sort of thing. On that subject, I really felt like her settlement was going to play a bigger role in the story than it did. Sure, they were her motivation, her reminder of why she's risking her life for Echo's mission, but after she leaves the settlement they never show up again. Sol did check in with them over radio once or twice, though we were told so in afterthoughts, not firsthand. This doesn't bother me enough to knock my rating down a full star, though, because the story as a whole was detailed and well developed.

Do I recommend this book? Yes! Go pre-order it right now!

[Francesca · Rating 4 out of 5]

*Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a free copy for an honest review*

This is more of a 3.5 stars.

I loved the post-apocalyptic setting and the sentient machines taking over and controlling the humans; the MC having epilepsy is treated with care and attention, the writing high-lights how the treatment from her parents and her community is stifling and controlling, without the author sounding preachy.
The overall idea is great and very well done, I would have preferred it to be more fleshed out and developed, giving more background info on how much time they have passed in this environment, how they are organized, etc. I loved the details that everyone has dark hair and eyes, pointing to a multiracial community.
I would love to read more about this author!

[Jackie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Another great synopsis that can’t hold the weight of the actual source material.

“Failsafe” takes place in a dystopian future where the human population is on its last leg thanks to technology called The Interspace, once created to be a tool now controls everything with deadly force and the only way to stop it is to upload the codes granted to the failsafe, a quiet and slightly robotic man named Echo with the help of Sol, a survivor living in the settlements with the gift of seeing the mechanics of the killer drones and holds the key to getting Echo where he needs to go and shutting down the machine once and for all.

There’s a lot going on here and one of my biggest critiques is the world building. I was with it during the beginning when we are in the ruins of what is left of humanity but the second we jumped into the action everything I looked for to give me some sort of reference point to what not even the world but the location of certain scenes was forgotten that I had the characters running their lines in front of white space. There’s very little setting elements for a good portion of this journey that really made me loose interest, I appreciate the attempts at making this character driven since that’s a plot point but there needed to be a better balance there.

On to the characters, I feel like everything that wasn’t the main duo was underdeveloped and almost character trope stand ins for what was needed to move the plot forward. You have a guy from home you’re supposed to be with but he’s controlling and physically abusive? Let’s introduce a new guy who is the exact opposite if not robotic as a replacement without ever addressing the abuse and the lack of response from the adults in the situation other than a shrug. If abuse wasn’t enough there’s also strong support for artificial insemination from the good guys (?) because the only way to save humanity is to take an unwilling girl and force her into whatever scenario they deem best to destroy the machine except for using the guy that was actually created to do so.

This was just a mess, I try very hard to always finish a book but I wanted to quit so many times because it kept getting worse. There are simpler ways to convey the message that humans have their problems but humanity and the emotions that quality elicits can be a great strength.

**thanks to the publishers and netgalley for providing an arc in exchange for a fair and honest review**

[Marianne Van Gelder · Rating 5 out of 5]

Failsafe is what science fiction should be! If Matrix met Hunger Games, this would be their brain child.

[Marzie · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.75ish

I am bumping this rating up to 3 because of the protagonist with a disability and the unusual relationship.

Failsafe is a book with an interesting premise. Set in a post-apocalyptic world in which an artificial intelligence named the Interspace, along with her minion in terror, The Override, have become sentient and seized control by overthrowing the government. The resulting chaos has wiped out large segments of the world's population. Food shortages abound and in her small community, Soleil (Sol) has dreams in which she sees sector maps that allow her to gauge where she can find food and supplies for her community. It is on just such a run that she is saved, while being attacked by drones, by a mysterious man/augmented humanoid/android who calls himself Echo. The dynamic between Sol and Echo, who eventually depart her community together on a mission to shut down the Interspace server, is one of the best aspects of this book. Though portrayed as a dystopian sci-fi novel in its blurb, the thing that works best here is the quirky romantic angle between an unconventional pair.

One positive thing that I want to mention is that I loved the fact that Soleil is a character with a disability. She has epilepsy but is still portrayed as a character who is brave, has adventures and is successful in her goals. She's a positive example of a character with a disability and for that, Deen deserves praise.

Mildly spoilerish content below.

That said, the worldbuilding in this book is disappointing, and the writing lacks sophistication. Her descriptive/narrative writing flags significantly in comparison to her writing of dialogue and her dialogue is not always great. (Romantic resolution banter: "If you think I do not love you in return, then you're a dummy." Really?) As I worked my way through the early portions of this book, due to the lack of information, I imagined that these characters trapped in a game and that they were seeking to shut down the server and escape the boundaries. But that's my imagining. Where was Deen's? Some aspects roughly sketched out in the world Deen gives us are seriously creepy, like forced pairings (for lack of a better word) between genetically appropriate individuals in order to procreate. (How this genetic testing is accomplished in this crumbling world is undiscussed.) You can only have children with a pre-identified partner who is far enough removed from you genetically. It doesn't matter if that person is aggressive, violent or totally unsuitable. That's it. That's who you get. Sol's identified partner Mykel makes Echo look like Prince Charming. Her mother blithely informs her that after she kicks out a few offspring she can try to apply for separate housing from her prospective abuser. (Dys-Tō-Pia! Shout it with me!)

A further issue is the novel's plot, which is rather poorly defined. Sol and Echo have a goal. They go from point A to point B. There were few significant challenges and there is little character evolution other than the revelation/understanding of who Echo really is. At 200 dialogue-heavy pages, I think this novel would have been improved with better narrative writing and worldbuilding, broadening it out to a longer book. Deen has some interesting ideas for a story here but a better editor would have pushed her to develop this story more fully. Deen is not a novice author and anyone who has written more than one book obviously really wants to write. She has good ideas here that needed to be built with better craft.

I received an ARC edition of this book from a friend of the author in exchange for an honest review.

[Lauren loves llamas · Rating 4 out of 5]

After a war between the Interspace AI and humans, the Armistice allowed human settlements inside the Interspace, but they’re forbidden from leaving their small part of the network. When the food deliveries abruptly stop, however, Sol (short for Soleil) feels she has no choice but to go searching for the missing shipments. She has an eidetic memory and has been having strange dreams where she can see the network’s schematics, so she’s able to anticipate where the Interspace’s enforces, the drones, will be. When a run goes bad, she’s saved by a strange man with technology she’s never seen before who immediately asks her for directions to the Interspace’s control center. He’s suspicious that Sol seemed to have knowledge of the drones’ routes, and, well, Echo – as the stranger calls himself – is just plain suspicious in general. Sol, caged by her parents’ worries about her epilepsy and what they see as her needless risktaking, makes a bargain with Echo to get him closer to the control center. But as she finds out more about the Interspace and Echo, will her choices lead her back to the world she’s always known or forward to an uncertain future?

“The truth was they had trouble accepting my condition. It wasn’t about my safety, it was about their fear. Fear took away the Custodian position I’d been training years for. I wouldn’t let it ruin our chances at survival. I was more than my illness. Why didn’t they see that? Why weren’t they…proud of me for what I’ve accomplished?
Why don’t you see me? I wanted to ask, but I never did.”

I haven’t read a YA dystopian book in a while, so this was a delightful treat. I especially liked that the human settlements are actually inside the Interspace – a giant computer – so the areas they have to traverse are filled with circuit towers and other computer innards. I loved how character-focused it was, as well. The majority of it is a road trip sort of story with Sol and Echo trying to find the Interspace’s control center, so they both have a lot of time to get to know each other and bond. Since Echo isn’t initially very talkative, it also gives Sol a lot of time to ruminate over her epilepsy and how it’s changed how she’s viewed in the settlement, especially by her parents, and how she’s changed in reaction. One of my favorite parts about YA is watching characters struggle to figure out who they are, and while I think Echo has the most obvious growth, Sol grows a lot as well. There’s also a slow burn romance between the two, which was adorably sweet.

“Not a machine. He’d said that a few times. I hadn’t known him long but he didn’t seem the type to repeat himself. The differentiation mattered deeply to him then. With regret, I thought of how many times I’d called him a robot. His impassive manner made it seem like nothing bothered him, but maybe that was wrong. He was different in ways I didn’t fully understand, but different didn’t mean less. It was just another way to be. You’d think after all I’d been through in the last year I’d have the concept down.”

As for cons, the pacing was a bit uneven, and there’s a plot element towards the end (involving the source of Sol’s dreams) that was ridiculously deus ex machina. Basically, there’s a lab full of clones of the original scientists who created the Interspace who save them from the big bad guy after they’re pretty much all the way dead. The scientists also have a magical teleportation thingamajig that can send Echo and Sol directly to the Interspace’s control center. It just seemed to be a way to wrap up some unanswered questions quickly before the end of the book.

Overall, though, I very much enjoyed this book, and I’ve already found something else in Ms. Deen’s backlist to read!

I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

[Kristy Halseth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received this as an Advanced Reading Copy. I was a bit nervous about it. I've not been happy with most of the YA books for which I've signed up or the Science Fiction novels for which I've signed up. I got into this one very quickly and loved it. Not to say it was perfect. But compared to the other I have to give it 5 stars.

I found the characters interesting. I thought Sol was well developed as an older teen with a disability that people seem to use to try to control her or limit her. She buys into their views to a certain extent. But it ends up just becoming something that is a part of her just as I am short and wear glasses. These things don't define who we are. How we life and the decisions we make are what defines us.

Echo is great. He is a created human who is more than human and less than human at the same time. The bionic man who didn't 'grow up' and therefore doesn't have complete understanding of things. He comes across almost like a robot rather than human. In fact, one of the few things that bothers him when we first meet him is that people react to him as if he isn't human. And as he spends more time with Sol, he learns more about emotions and becomes more human.

There are weak points. Some of the dialogue seems slightly off. YA dialogue is my biggest complaint in most modern YA books. Most of the time, the case is where the author has high school to college age characters sounding like they are in middle school. These characters sound pretty much how I think they should. A few spots seem a little awkward, but not too much in comparison. The dialogue at Sanctuary also doesn't seem to completely work. I think that is a case where the author should have spent more time there, more character development for the people there. This would have helped the overall feel of not only the dialogue but the entire segment of the book.

I skimmed a few reviews and saw one reader who had mentioned never getting a feel for where they were or the nature of the environment. This view confused me as I had a very good feel for this. But then, I grew up reading short stories and novels from the 60's and 70's set in futuristic, domed cities, that might be connected with series of domes or tunneled connectors in cities affected by pollution or radiation. But I will admit that the author doesn't really mention that the entire world in 'inside' until about halfway through the book. So I can understand a little bit of frustration with the setting in that sense.

While I liked the ending, I would have liked a little more follow up. What happens when she gets back to her own settlement? What happens with Mykel. I don't think he would react well with the fact that she is not going to meekly settle down with him. The ending just feels too abrupt. It just needed something more. Still, I would recommend it and really enjoyed it. If I didn't have to work, I would have read it in one sitting in one day.

[Amber (Ambee's Bookish Pages) · Rating 4 out of 5]

The full review + more can be found at The Book Bratz

After finishing this book, all I can say is: I WANT MORE! Failsafe was different compared to other sci-fi novels I have read. The idea is so unique and different. I have a crazy fascination with A.I. and what would happen if it rebelled and became smarter then its human counter parts. Anela explored this in her novel as well as the message that love has no bounds.

After learning she has epilepsy everything that Sol had hoped for her future is slowly collapsing. Where she was suppose to follow in her father's footsteps, the position is suddenly passed on to Mykel, the boy she been genetically matched with to produce healthy children to keep the human race going. Sol does what she can for her home colony though. She goes out of the compound and scavenges for supplies that the A.I. they live within no longer provides for them. On one of these runs Sol meets Echo, a boy who looks like no one she has ever seen before. There is one thing about this strange boy though: He isn't entirely human. Echo's primary objective is to destroy the Interspace and with the help of Sol, he might just succeed.

There are so many laugh out loud moments in Failsafe. Yes, Echo is human but he has no social skills. He has spent years in silence searching for a way to destroy the Interspace. He never had a moment of human interaction until the moment he meets Sol. Echo learning humanity and what certain things are, the way humans react to certain things is funny. I think the best aspect of Sol teaching Echo about human behavior is her body language as she begins to develop feelings for the mysterious boy. Echo is notices the slightest changes in things, such as: Sol's accelerated heart rate when she is around him. He also doesn't understand all the new feelings he is beginning to experience. It was fun to see a human/robot develop such feelings for Sol and a better understanding for humanity.

Typically, I am one for a slow burn romance where I am basically screaming for the two characters to kiss. This book takes place over a couple of week time span, so though it may seem that Sol's feelings for Echo or abrupt and happen pretty quick, they actually aren't. I enjoyed the moment that Sol acknowledges the fact she has a crush on Echo, and she does that typical girl things where she doesn't want to have feelings but she does and now she is confused. Sol was such an easily relatable character in this book.

The only thing I wasn't sure about is that I am not sure if this book is a stand alone or not. I think there were a lot of things that could have been clarified more or and expanded upon, especially if this is a stand alone. I enjoyed Failsafe and would love to see more of Sol and Echo's journey in the new obstacles they are going to faced based on how the novel ended.

[Arden Belrose ♛ Phantom Paper · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received a free copy of this book thanks to the author/Xpresso Book Tours and Netgalley. This does not affect my opinions.

You know that moment when you have to give yourself some time to absorb that a certain story's ended before moving on to other ones? This was one of them.
I felt this strange sense of loss and happiness after reading it and I just had to lose myself in some C-drama 'cause I simply had to give it some respect. And closure. Yes, that's what I need. Closure.

Failsafe by Anela Dunn is a high-stakes, stirring YA Sci-Fi, with a side of humor to lighten the tense atmosphere. It delves into what it means to be human, and whether the cost of freedom for humanity is worth sacrificing the things you hold closest to heart.

We watch the main characters, Sol and Echo, battle with external enemies and the ones that reside within themselves as they grow into better and stronger individuals. Sol, short for 'Soleil', meaning 'Sun' in French(I guessed that from the start!), is a fiesty little firecracker with sarcasm as her weapon of defence. Regardless if she's facing the epilepsy(seizures) that brings on debilitating after-effects or an enemy that strikes terror in people's hearts she does whatever's in her power to overcome them.
Echo, on the other-hand, has his own battles even if his strength is that of a hundred men. Part human, part droid, his robotic mannerisms can be quite endearing and at times frustrating. Always the cool and collected one, his sharp intellect and with a body like titanium, it's difficult not to love the guy.

The dystopian world that Anela Dunn has constructed made me think of a mechanic body/motherboard with the drones as white blood cells that eliminate any threats, i.e. the humans.
There were plenty of moments that gave me a fuzzy, giddy-happy feeling. Failsafe is not short of surprises, brutal realities, twists and mystery. There was one scene where my heart was wrenched out and smacked back into my body a few moments later. Oh, how cruel that was of you, Anela. I was on the verge of tears, did you know that?

Failsafe received 4.5 stars because there were some cheesiness but mainly because it's not completely unique in the YA Sci-fi/Dystopian genre BUT it's a very good one in that saturated corner of the genre. The keyword here is 'not completely', which means that it does have a freshness factor that keeps the reader wanting to know what's next.

[Ally · Rating 4 out of 5]

This review can also be found on my blog: http://allyspages.com/failsafe/
Also thank you Hidden Gems for an eARC copy of this book!

So, the book begins with Sol running around the network, because she delivers supplies between settlements since she seems the schematics in her dreams. Even with this in mind, she still ends up getting discovered by drones who would have killed her on sight if it weren’t for Echo coming out of nowhere and saving her. They end up coming to an agreement that if she will guide him to the central core of the Interspace, he will carry around the heavy supply container that she needs to deliver to the other settlements.

Sol is an interesting protagonist. She has epilepsy, but is determined to not let that deter her from making her own choices in life. I loved seeing her come to the realization that her fate is in her hands and she does not have to let other people make her life choices for her. She is headstrong and filled with sassy remarks and I enjoyed reading about how she thought through the decisions she made.

I immensely enjoyed Echo though. One of my new favorite characters of all time. He is not entirely a machine and not entirely human either, but desperately favors his human side. He went from a stoic, awkward guy that was more machine than man to someone that is grateful for the ability to feel emotions. Seeing the growth in Echo warmed my heart.

The romance between Sol and Echo was so innocent and sweet. I haven’t read a book in awhile that captured falling in love with such an air of innocence. As they fight their way to the central core, Sol comes to some realizations about herself and teaches Echo what it means to be human. Echo realizes that his feelings for her are a bit more than what Sol has described as “friendship”, but he does not know the word for the feelings he has. For example, there’s this quote: “You are a separate entity. Independent of me in every respect, yet I have come to see you as an integral part of myself. Vital to my core functions. I will not leave you. I cannot.” My heart!!

I would have loved a bit more explanation about the world they lived in, because it was hard to visualize the scenes in the book. Personally, the writing got better towards the later half of the book as well, because the action scenes with the drones just felt bland but when they fought Overdrive it was a lot more enjoyable to read. There were also a lot of technical terms that people may not know normally, but taking IT courses in high school came in handy. Overall, it was the characters that made me really love this book.

[Cath · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! How do I start?

I found this to be an intriguing and fascinating story of man vs computer in a world overrun by the Interface and the few thousands of surviving humans kept isolated in 12 separate settlements. The Interface is responsible for providing them with supplies, but these have suddenly stopped.

A young girl, almost eighteen, called Sol, goes out into the desolate wasteland of the Interface to get supplies for everyone from the abandoned supply trains. She is able to avoid drones due to her nightmares and her recently being different as she started to suffer from epilepsy. She sees patterns in these states. Rather than be seen as different and broken by those in her settlement, she wants to feel useful. Not someone to be stared at.

On her latest trip, her bike breaks down and she is targeted by drones. This is where she first interacts with Echo, the Failsafe. He seems more like a machine than human, but saves her life. He helps her back with the supplies and in return, asks her for directions to his directive. Others are suspicious and believe him to be a dangerous robot machine sent by the Interface.

Sol has to free Echo and uses him to take the much needed supplies to the other settlements. Along the way she teaches him about being human and he always tries to automatically fix broken mechanical devices in each settlement, off his own back, making others thankful for his aid.

Sol and Echo continue on towards his objective and come under fire and find themselves in danger at every turn. Another machine called the Override has been sent to stop and destroy each and every Failsafe or anything else in its way.

A fantastic story that just carries you along the journey of discovery, between Sol and Echo, as they try to defeat the Interface and also survive, for each other. A thoroughly enjoyable read that took me through a believable world, caused mainly by man’s passion for conflict and power. A story of friendship between strangers and the trust that can develop through adversity and personal struggle.

I absolutely loved reading this book and have found another new author to follow. I look forward to reading some more of their books in the near future. I would highly recommend it to other readers.

I received an ARC copy of this book from Hidden Gems and I have freely given my own opinion of the book above

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’d forgotten how much I love a good adventure novel until I started reading Failsafe. The book follows a 17-year-old epileptic girl living in a dystopian future, Soleil, on her journey to save the world. Or at least try. She has some help in the form of a boy/robot named Echo. They set off on a journey to take down the big bad, an AI who goes by “The Interface.”

Just based on the premise I’m sure you can help how much fun this book was to read. I’m a sucker for dystopian YA with a little bit of romance thrown in, so this was basically my kryptonite. There were a few bumps in the story along the way, but for the most part, I’m happy with how everything played out. Some of the world building was a bit vague/confusing in the beginning to middle of the book, but I’m going to go ahead and say that was deliberate. For a long while, I had no idea what was going on and who exactly the enemy was. They kept talking about “The Interface” but literally not until the end of the book did I figure out what that was referring to. I’m not sure whether it was not explicitly explained or if I just wasn’t paying close enough attention.

I think my favorite part was probably the dialogue. I think? I just loved how formal Sol and Echo spoke to each other. Sol because she’s playing along and slightly making fun of him. And Echo because he doesn’t know anything different. Sometimes, the writing ended up sound slightly convoluted, but rather than being annoyed I found it kind of charming. (But maybe that’s just me?) His character development in this book was not something I anticipated to be so believable, but somehow I ended up falling for it. The story didn’t draw me into the characters enough to fully immerse myself in their situation, but it was close.

Overall, this book was a fun read. Not perfect, but definitely not the worst dystopian I’ve read. By far. If you’re into futuristic books with AI overlords, give this one a look.

[J.K. Ullrich · Rating 3 out of 5]

Disclaimer: the author provided me an advance copy of this book for my honest review.

Failsafe delivers a fun, fast-paced cyberpunk ride for YA fans.

Sol’s likable voice draws readers in from the the story’s lead sentence, mitigating the narrative’s expository sections. I appreciated meeting a heroine with a medical disability. Usually the unique trait that genre fiction protagonists possess is a boon: magical abilities, lineage steeped in destiny, or some other enviable advantage. Thumbs-up to Deen for taking the more difficult road, giving Sol a condition outside her control and, more importantly, opportunities to define herself beyond it.

Echo, who struck me as a hunky younger cousin of Mr. Data from Star Trek: The Next Generation, plays an endearing counterpoint to Sol's snark. His stilted speech and awkward processing of social mores provide the book's funniest moments. It also makes him a challenging character to connect with; I never got to know him as well as I would have liked. Nevertheless, the two make engaging companions for a trip through a Matrix-like world of computer components and hostile drones.

Their adventure packs plenty of action with meticulously choreographed fight scenes. Beneath the metal and melees, however, Failsafe has a tender heart. Halfway through the book, an inevitable love story eclipses the sci-fi. It’s well within the typical spectrum for YA, just a little heavy for my taste. Perhaps the limited cast of characters makes it seem a bit cloying, since there’s no relief from the romance, but readers who relish sweet YA relationships probably won't mind. The complete but abrupt ending leaves plenty of room for a sequel. Sol and Echo’s story provides an entertaining introduction to a world that, although a bit underdeveloped in places, hints at more complex potential.

[Tamara · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this story. With how our technology is changing and advancing this story is just one of many possibilities that could happen. Always a fan of fiction with a touch of the what could really be.

Sol is a young girl with a condition that took away the career she was destined for from birth. She has always known she was different. In a world that machines rules and humans live in small colonies love is not in the cards. I loved how the author presented Sol as feeling the need to defy her fate even though she felt helpless about it.

Echo is an interesting being to come across in the desolate world. He seems a recluse, but Sol is determined to crack the puzzle that is him. He seems unfeeling and inhuman and Sol can't figure out why he is determined to prove that he is human.

I find this is a must read if you enjoy technology and survival stories. The character are well written and love the interaction and adventure they go on.

[Zizzo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Failsafe is an engaging, fast-paced read that draws you into the world and main characters, Sol and Echo, from the very first chapter. Sol is a strong willed and determined young woman that is easy to relate to as she narrates the story in her unique voice; while Echo brings an otherworldly element to the narrative that only adds to the tension as his interactions with Sol play out throughout their journey together. Their journey is one fraught with danger and suspense as they venture deeper and deeper into the post-apocalyptic world that is artfully brought to life as the story advances. Though the external struggle is ever present, it is the internal struggles of the main characters and even the villains that give this tale its insistent pull. Overall, I enjoyed Failsafe and would recommend it to any fan of the sci-fi genre.

[Ioanna · Rating 2 out of 5]

In a dystopian world where humanity is under the control of a living computer, the few that remain do their best in order to survive. Everyone is confined to the settlement. And it seems like there's no way out.

But Sol is very different from everyone else. The 17-year-old girl can access the computer's darkest secrets during her sleep. Can she be humanity's hope for a change? With the network alerted to her intrusions, what are the chances that she will survive, let alone free her enslaved species?

Failsafe is a book with a promising concept. A mix of dystopian novel and sci-fi, the summary draws the reader easily in. However, it was unfortunately not the well-written story I had expected. The plot wasn't attention-grasping enough, making this a more difficult read than what it could actually have been.

[Authentikate · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a thrill ride! Failsafe is a book that builds a world with imagination and skill and features a strong female character.

Sol is a young woman with strength, wit, and humor and she drives the plot easily as she circumnavigates a dystopian world taking place inside of a computer. Here, many readers will draw natural comparisons with The Matrix and Ready Player One.

Her friendship with Echo finds much of the strongest dialogue and this feature is part of what made this book so enjoyable for me.

I also appreciated Sol’s overcoming her setbacks, including epilepsy.

Failsafe is a YA novel that will have broad appeal to adults. Grab it!

Thank you to netgalley for arc in exchange for honest review. It was a treat!

[Douglas · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good story which is very original and inspired. Set in a dystopic future in which a computer has defeated humanity, and the remaining humans live like captives on an Earth terraformed for the machine. The author did well in painting us a protagonist affected by a disability, how it affects her relationship with those around her, but also how she deals with it while overcoming her problems. The author did her homework on creating a disabled character with input from professional sources and even her own life experience. Anela really excels in the "show, don't tell" part of writing. Sol's emotions are laid bare for the reader to see and empathize with. Also very appropriate for the youth category.