The Loop by Jeremy Robert Johnson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is one of those YA horrors that are specifically designed to appeal to a certain young reader if that certain young reader is certain that they want ALL the excuses to take all the drugs they want because they're being uber-controlled by a synthetic lovecraftian nightmare burrowing through their bodies -- I.E., their hormones.

No, no, this isn't a SATIRE or a COMMENTARY on young people's... ahem... drives or feedback loops... it really IS all about the lovecraftian cybernetic horror burrowing through their bodies.

And let me tell you... *WHEW* If I were young, I'd really prefer to have an outside uber-evil force to blame all my crap on, too. :)

All I had when I was young was Christianity. Do you KNOW how much baggage and mental loops you have to go through to make THAT work? NO THANK YOU.


So. Total honesty here. I got annoyed with the teenager angst. BUT, I really, really loved the narrative asides and media stuff. The investigative conspiracy stuff was fun as hell. And so was the eventual worldbuilding. I didn't even mind MOST of the teenage angst. It was pretty honest and not that annoying. Mostly.

End score? It amused me even if it didn't blow me away. All that transhumanism gone squiddy wrong always tickles my funnybone. And brainstem.

View all my reviews