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Hackers
Phantom Wheel
The digital apocalypse has arrived and the future is here in this addictive technological thriller full of twists and turns. Perfect for fans of Nerve!
Being recruited by the CIA to join a top-secret intelligence program should be the opportunity of a lifetime. For Issa, it's a shot at creating a new and better life for herself and her siblings. For clever con artist Harper, it's a chance to bury the secrets of her troubled past and make sure that those secrets stay buried. But for Owen--honor student, star quarterback, and computer-hacking genius--it sounds like a trap.
He's right.
Owen discovers that instead of auditioning for the CIA, they've all been tricked by a multibillion-dollar tech company into creating the ultimate computer virus. It's called Phantom Wheel, and it's capable of hacking anyone on Earth, anywhere, at any time. And thanks to six teenagers, it's virtually unstoppable.
Horrified by what they've done, the hackers must team up to stop the virus before the world descends into chaos. But working together is easier said than done, especially as the lines start to blur between teammate, friend, and more than friend. Because how do you learn to trust someone when you've spent your entire life exploiting that same trust in others?
Being recruited by the CIA to join a top-secret intelligence program should be the opportunity of a lifetime. For Issa, it's a shot at creating a new and better life for herself and her siblings. For clever con artist Harper, it's a chance to bury the secrets of her troubled past and make sure that those secrets stay buried. But for Owen--honor student, star quarterback, and computer-hacking genius--it sounds like a trap.
He's right.
Owen discovers that instead of auditioning for the CIA, they've all been tricked by a multibillion-dollar tech company into creating the ultimate computer virus. It's called Phantom Wheel, and it's capable of hacking anyone on Earth, anywhere, at any time. And thanks to six teenagers, it's virtually unstoppable.
Horrified by what they've done, the hackers must team up to stop the virus before the world descends into chaos. But working together is easier said than done, especially as the lines start to blur between teammate, friend, and more than friend. Because how do you learn to trust someone when you've spent your entire life exploiting that same trust in others?
416 pages, Hardcover
First published October 16, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 70 reviews
October 21, 2018
An arc of this book was sent to me by The NOVL in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Rating: 4 / 5
The Phantom Wheel is a fast-paced story told from the perspectives of three of the main characters. It’s an action packed, crazy plotted, character driven story about six hackers who get “played” by the supposed CIA and end up creating the most devastating virus ever.
— writing
This book was very fast paced, and whenever I had the time, I zipped right through the pages. The descriptions were great, and I was able to vividly picture everything. However, you’ll definitely need to know a little bit about technology while reading this book. Some terms aren’t too well explained, and thank goodness I am taking a computer class at school right now.
— characters
I loved how unique each characters were. However, the narrative/perspectives were rather hard to distinguish and it had me scratching my head from time to time. I loved the interaction between all the characters and I felt that they fit well with the plot.
— plot
A highly intriguing plot that never once made me lose interest. Definitely had me on the edge of my seat throughout the novel!
Rating: 4 / 5
The Phantom Wheel is a fast-paced story told from the perspectives of three of the main characters. It’s an action packed, crazy plotted, character driven story about six hackers who get “played” by the supposed CIA and end up creating the most devastating virus ever.
— writing
This book was very fast paced, and whenever I had the time, I zipped right through the pages. The descriptions were great, and I was able to vividly picture everything. However, you’ll definitely need to know a little bit about technology while reading this book. Some terms aren’t too well explained, and thank goodness I am taking a computer class at school right now.
— characters
I loved how unique each characters were. However, the narrative/perspectives were rather hard to distinguish and it had me scratching my head from time to time. I loved the interaction between all the characters and I felt that they fit well with the plot.
— plot
A highly intriguing plot that never once made me lose interest. Definitely had me on the edge of my seat throughout the novel!
October 22, 2018
3.5 stars
If you're like me and you love anything science-y tech-y, especially books about hackers (even though it's not technically sci-fi), then you'll definitely want to pick up Deebs' latest novel, Phantom Wheel.
What I loved about this was all the science and the tech and it was like a totally geek out book for me. I can say right off the bat that this book isn't for everyone if you don't feel gripped by coding jargon mixed with action.
But I personally adored this sort of action/adventure novel, and I found it to be a really good mix of geekiness (with the coding and hacking) and action packed run-for-your-lives adventure.
They were not only doing cool coding stuff I didn't really understand but accepted anyways, but they were also being hunted by a big bad corporation, which is fun!
Phantom Wheel was definitely engaging and action packed and I book I devoured in one day (the day I'm writing this review, in fact).
But I did think it wasn't perfect and it definitely had its flaws, outside of the obvious lack of appeal for a lot of people who don't like this tech-y sort of book.
There were two main issues I had with this, and both are honestly pretty minor when you looked at the sheer amount of entertainment I got from this book.
But, first off, the plot felt really basic and could use more complexity and twists. Like, there was zero complexity to the antagonist of the big corporation and they ended up falling into the "big bad corporation who wants world domination trope," which was kind of meh.
I was hoping for something a little more nuanced and morally gray and complex with the antagonist of the story, but we ultimately did not get that in Phantom Wheel.
And similarly...y'all. These kids are not the brightest with common sense (except Owen). They get duped by a company to write them really vicious code under the pretense of being "recruited for the CIA."
Sure, it's explained that some characters were "blinded by their desire for a scholarship" and whatnot because they needed the money and support, but it still was such a fishy situation and this all could have been avoided if they used an ounce more common sense than they actually did.
Which brings me to the second issue, which was the characters were barely relatable and hard to distinguish.
I mean, 4/6 of these characters are rich kids, and so that already kind of puts a divide between us. But they all just sort of...lacked that emotional connection, and I feel like that was largely because of the sheer number of protagonists (6!) as well as the fact that this is a really action-based book.
Secondly, like I said, there were 6 main characters, even though there's actually only 3 points of view (one for each couple). It took me at least half the book to realize there were only 3 points of view, Owen, Issa, and the girl whose name starts with an H that has already escaped me, 8 hours after I finished reading. Oops.
It's good to note that by the end of the story I could tell who was who (they have little epistolary case files scattered in the book), but for the beginning half I was definitely a little fuzzy on who was who, and had to keep referring to the beginning of the chapter for the POV a lot of the time (especially between Issa and the H-girl).
In the end, Phantom Wheel satisfied my craving for an action packed hacker read, and for that I applaud it. If you're looking for a book to lose yourself in and hopefully not stress too much about, I'd recommend this.
But if you're looking for your next perfect read, maybe take a pass.
Thank you so much to The NOVL for sending me an advance reader's copy as a LBYR Partner in exchange for an honest review!
Blog | Instagram | Twitter
If you're like me and you love anything science-y tech-y, especially books about hackers (even though it's not technically sci-fi), then you'll definitely want to pick up Deebs' latest novel, Phantom Wheel.
What I loved about this was all the science and the tech and it was like a totally geek out book for me. I can say right off the bat that this book isn't for everyone if you don't feel gripped by coding jargon mixed with action.
But I personally adored this sort of action/adventure novel, and I found it to be a really good mix of geekiness (with the coding and hacking) and action packed run-for-your-lives adventure.
They were not only doing cool coding stuff I didn't really understand but accepted anyways, but they were also being hunted by a big bad corporation, which is fun!
Phantom Wheel was definitely engaging and action packed and I book I devoured in one day (the day I'm writing this review, in fact).
But I did think it wasn't perfect and it definitely had its flaws, outside of the obvious lack of appeal for a lot of people who don't like this tech-y sort of book.
There were two main issues I had with this, and both are honestly pretty minor when you looked at the sheer amount of entertainment I got from this book.
But, first off, the plot felt really basic and could use more complexity and twists. Like, there was zero complexity to the antagonist of the big corporation and they ended up falling into the "big bad corporation who wants world domination trope," which was kind of meh.
I was hoping for something a little more nuanced and morally gray and complex with the antagonist of the story, but we ultimately did not get that in Phantom Wheel.
And similarly...y'all. These kids are not the brightest with common sense (except Owen). They get duped by a company to write them really vicious code under the pretense of being "recruited for the CIA."
Sure, it's explained that some characters were "blinded by their desire for a scholarship" and whatnot because they needed the money and support, but it still was such a fishy situation and this all could have been avoided if they used an ounce more common sense than they actually did.
Which brings me to the second issue, which was the characters were barely relatable and hard to distinguish.
I mean, 4/6 of these characters are rich kids, and so that already kind of puts a divide between us. But they all just sort of...lacked that emotional connection, and I feel like that was largely because of the sheer number of protagonists (6!) as well as the fact that this is a really action-based book.
Secondly, like I said, there were 6 main characters, even though there's actually only 3 points of view (one for each couple). It took me at least half the book to realize there were only 3 points of view, Owen, Issa, and the girl whose name starts with an H that has already escaped me, 8 hours after I finished reading. Oops.
It's good to note that by the end of the story I could tell who was who (they have little epistolary case files scattered in the book), but for the beginning half I was definitely a little fuzzy on who was who, and had to keep referring to the beginning of the chapter for the POV a lot of the time (especially between Issa and the H-girl).
In the end, Phantom Wheel satisfied my craving for an action packed hacker read, and for that I applaud it. If you're looking for a book to lose yourself in and hopefully not stress too much about, I'd recommend this.
But if you're looking for your next perfect read, maybe take a pass.
Thank you so much to The NOVL for sending me an advance reader's copy as a LBYR Partner in exchange for an honest review!
Blog | Instagram | Twitter
October 23, 2018
Phantom Wheel was an extremely catchy story that held my attention from start to finish. I loved the fast pace of the novel and found it entertaining that the story was told by three alternating characters. I often found myself having to back track a little to make sure I knew which character was speaking, but it didn't throw me off too badly. I think Deebs could have made each of the character's voices a little different, but it wasn't something that really changed my opinion of the novel.
The characters were a lot of fun and all had engaging personalities, and I found myself becoming attached to each of them. They weren't exactly easy to relate to, but I think that was what made them so enjoyable. I also loved that I could picture every single thing happening in the book. It was all based on pretty extreme computer/technology information, but I never felt lost.
I would highly recommend this novel to readers who like YA action novels. It was fun, action packed, and I think it would make an incredible movie! Thank you so much to The NOVL for sending an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Rating 3.5/5
The characters were a lot of fun and all had engaging personalities, and I found myself becoming attached to each of them. They weren't exactly easy to relate to, but I think that was what made them so enjoyable. I also loved that I could picture every single thing happening in the book. It was all based on pretty extreme computer/technology information, but I never felt lost.
I would highly recommend this novel to readers who like YA action novels. It was fun, action packed, and I think it would make an incredible movie! Thank you so much to The NOVL for sending an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Rating 3.5/5
February 27, 2019
J’ai beaucoup aimé l’idée, l’intrigue et les personnages. C’est bourré d’action, il y a de l’humour et on ne s’ennuie pas. En revanche, et c’est ce qui m’a fait baissé la note, c’était parfois un peu compliqué à suivre avec tout ce jargon informatique ...
December 21, 2018
This is a lively tale of six young people who hack for various reasons, some to do harm, some not. As is usual in current YA books, they are a wide mix of backgrounds and girls are featured equally with guys. The CIA invites them all to come to LA and pass a hacking test... if they manage it they may be offered college and jobs. We mainly follow an impoverished young lady who needs the offer, but another guy turns the prospect down flat. Later he searches for the others on line and contacts them, telling them he's pretty sure the LA agents weren't really the CIA. So, have they been played, and what did they actually hack?
I have read similar books, notably Zer0es by Chuck Wendig which featured a mix of age groups. If you enjoy reading chat about coding and exploits, and speculation about hacking cars on the road, you'll like this one, but the teens seem more immature than usual and they spend innumerable pages bragging, scoring silly points and discussing sodas. I often just turned the page rather than read any more texts about soda. By contrast I liked the somewhat slimmed down accounts of accessing files and systems. We do need to raise awareness of how all computers are interconnected. Some lively action scenes occur as the young people start to pull together as a team. Some strong language and violence occurs.
I downloaded an e-ARC through Fresh Fiction. This is an unbiased review.
I have read similar books, notably Zer0es by Chuck Wendig which featured a mix of age groups. If you enjoy reading chat about coding and exploits, and speculation about hacking cars on the road, you'll like this one, but the teens seem more immature than usual and they spend innumerable pages bragging, scoring silly points and discussing sodas. I often just turned the page rather than read any more texts about soda. By contrast I liked the somewhat slimmed down accounts of accessing files and systems. We do need to raise awareness of how all computers are interconnected. Some lively action scenes occur as the young people start to pull together as a team. Some strong language and violence occurs.
I downloaded an e-ARC through Fresh Fiction. This is an unbiased review.
July 4, 2019
This book is all over the place.
October 14, 2018
Disclaimer: I received this book for free from Little Brown Young Readers and The Novl. Thanks! All opinions are my own.
Rating: 4/5
Publication Date: October 16th, 2018
Genre: YA Sci-Fi
Recommended Age: 14+ (hacking, the digital apocalypse, some language, some romance)
Pages: 403
Author Website
Amazon Link
Synopsis: Believing they have been recruited by the CIA, six teen hackers arrive in LA for a hacking aptitude test with the promise of a college scholarship and a job with the CIA after graduation. But one of the teens, Owen, walks out, refusing to participate. The other five decide to stay and complete the tests. When they finish, they leave feeling equally accomplished and unnerved.
Then silence-until they receive a text from Owen: You've been played. He's uncovered evidence that the hackers created "Phantom Wheel," the most devastating virus ever made. Jacento, the corporation behind it all, plans to use this virus to gain unprecedented access to personal data. And that's just the beginning of the devastation. Can the teen hackers stop Phantom Wheel-and protect their own secrets from being revealed-before it's too late?
Ever since being with my husband I’ve developed a fascination with hacker novels. I love asking Ethan if stuff in the books are possible or not and what his opinions on things are and this book wasn’t any different. For the most part, I enjoyed the book. I loved the dynamic between the cast of characters, I loved how developed each of the characters were, and I felt that the plot was intriguing enough to keep me interested throughout the book. I felt that the pacing was level throughout the book as well.
The only things that concern me about this book are the time jumps. At times they seem uneven and awkward. The way the kids talk about different computer things and hacking items can be confusing to people who aren’t into that or who haven’t read books like this before. There’s no explanation to the stuff they talk about or do. There are also things the kids do that don’t have an explanation to them and the way their written can be confusing. For example, at one point the kids break into a building with a plan to gather something (trying to not be spoilery). The heist goes off like how it would in a movie, but there’s no prior explanation to the readers, which is a bit confusing at first. It’s like you’re an outsider looking in throughout this book and at times it works, but sometimes it really doesn’t.
Verdict: A excellent hacker novel that makes you want to binge.
Rating: 4/5
Publication Date: October 16th, 2018
Genre: YA Sci-Fi
Recommended Age: 14+ (hacking, the digital apocalypse, some language, some romance)
Pages: 403
Author Website
Amazon Link
Synopsis: Believing they have been recruited by the CIA, six teen hackers arrive in LA for a hacking aptitude test with the promise of a college scholarship and a job with the CIA after graduation. But one of the teens, Owen, walks out, refusing to participate. The other five decide to stay and complete the tests. When they finish, they leave feeling equally accomplished and unnerved.
Then silence-until they receive a text from Owen: You've been played. He's uncovered evidence that the hackers created "Phantom Wheel," the most devastating virus ever made. Jacento, the corporation behind it all, plans to use this virus to gain unprecedented access to personal data. And that's just the beginning of the devastation. Can the teen hackers stop Phantom Wheel-and protect their own secrets from being revealed-before it's too late?
Ever since being with my husband I’ve developed a fascination with hacker novels. I love asking Ethan if stuff in the books are possible or not and what his opinions on things are and this book wasn’t any different. For the most part, I enjoyed the book. I loved the dynamic between the cast of characters, I loved how developed each of the characters were, and I felt that the plot was intriguing enough to keep me interested throughout the book. I felt that the pacing was level throughout the book as well.
The only things that concern me about this book are the time jumps. At times they seem uneven and awkward. The way the kids talk about different computer things and hacking items can be confusing to people who aren’t into that or who haven’t read books like this before. There’s no explanation to the stuff they talk about or do. There are also things the kids do that don’t have an explanation to them and the way their written can be confusing. For example, at one point the kids break into a building with a plan to gather something (trying to not be spoilery). The heist goes off like how it would in a movie, but there’s no prior explanation to the readers, which is a bit confusing at first. It’s like you’re an outsider looking in throughout this book and at times it works, but sometimes it really doesn’t.
Verdict: A excellent hacker novel that makes you want to binge.
October 2, 2018
Thank you to The Novl for sending me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Phantom Wheel was an action-packed, high-stakes hacker novel with a great cast of characters, an elaborate and extreme plot, and great humor.
First, let's talk characters. We had six protagonists, and got perspectives of about four. I did wonder why we lacked the other perspectives, since all characters got equal "show time," but this was still a great way of telling the story. The voices did tend to run together, and I would need to flip back a few pages to determine which character was narrating, but their personalities were unique. Each character has a different background, different motives, different home lives, etc., and that played a huge part in the story as well.
The plot is another great element of the story. We have a group of teenagers hired to do seemingly innocent work, then find out that the work they did will be used to essentially exploit everyone's online activity. As I said, very high stakes. The events in the story weren't necessarily convenient, but things did have an unlikely, and occasionally unrealistic, way of happening. I was constantly wondering how characters were going to get out of tough situations, which was great. The author kept me guessing through the entirety of the novel.
For the most part, I liked the dialogue between our characters. At some points, I cringed, or thought sentences could have been worded better. Surprisingly, this was a funny book. While we do have the extravagant plot, we also get some light humor, and I thought it eased the tension in a nice way.
I didn't like how some of the fight scenes or hacking scenes were done. In my opinion, they were confusing, and it was hard to follow along with what the characters were doing. I wish that the hacking scenes, specifically, were easier to read, since it's the main plot of the story.
Overall, I enjoyed PHANTOM WHEEL and would recommend it to absolutely anyone when it comes out! This isn't my usual cup of tea, but I truly enjoyed my time reading it.
Phantom Wheel was an action-packed, high-stakes hacker novel with a great cast of characters, an elaborate and extreme plot, and great humor.
First, let's talk characters. We had six protagonists, and got perspectives of about four. I did wonder why we lacked the other perspectives, since all characters got equal "show time," but this was still a great way of telling the story. The voices did tend to run together, and I would need to flip back a few pages to determine which character was narrating, but their personalities were unique. Each character has a different background, different motives, different home lives, etc., and that played a huge part in the story as well.
The plot is another great element of the story. We have a group of teenagers hired to do seemingly innocent work, then find out that the work they did will be used to essentially exploit everyone's online activity. As I said, very high stakes. The events in the story weren't necessarily convenient, but things did have an unlikely, and occasionally unrealistic, way of happening. I was constantly wondering how characters were going to get out of tough situations, which was great. The author kept me guessing through the entirety of the novel.
For the most part, I liked the dialogue between our characters. At some points, I cringed, or thought sentences could have been worded better. Surprisingly, this was a funny book. While we do have the extravagant plot, we also get some light humor, and I thought it eased the tension in a nice way.
I didn't like how some of the fight scenes or hacking scenes were done. In my opinion, they were confusing, and it was hard to follow along with what the characters were doing. I wish that the hacking scenes, specifically, were easier to read, since it's the main plot of the story.
Overall, I enjoyed PHANTOM WHEEL and would recommend it to absolutely anyone when it comes out! This isn't my usual cup of tea, but I truly enjoyed my time reading it.
September 17, 2021
3.5 stars
I liked this, but I did get a bit confused with who was who at the beginning (with there being 6 of them), but this was made worse by the fact that Harper never called anybody by their actual name! So it was hard to remember that Snow White was actually Alika, and Silver-Spoon was Ezra.
I liked the things I learned about hacking, but I got a bit confused at times with that also.
I liked this, but I did get a bit confused with who was who at the beginning (with there being 6 of them), but this was made worse by the fact that Harper never called anybody by their actual name! So it was hard to remember that Snow White was actually Alika, and Silver-Spoon was Ezra.
I liked the things I learned about hacking, but I got a bit confused at times with that also.
November 23, 2018
Even tough this was rife with computer hacking terms, I did enjoy it. The characters were likable and the plot line was interesting for a cold winter day long before winter is officially here. It made me glad that I don't have a cell phone.
December 8, 2022
Tracy Deebs brings about another chilling thriller with Phantom Wheel that sets forth a pretty terrifying plot that I feel could really happen, especially in this day and age! Phantom Wheel follows six teenage hackers who thought they were simply competing for a scholarship but ended up taking part in creating a virus that could ultimately tear society apart and now they must work together to correct their mistake and take down the company that misled them!
After reading Deebs' thriller, Doomed, I was all set to read yet another suspense read that would terrify me to my core with it's possibility of somehow actually happening in our society! This one may not have been as intense as Doomed, as the teenagers are trying to prevent the virus from actually doing what it was meant to do, so the big scary hasn't happened, but just knowing that it could was enough to have me looking at my phone differently, that's for sure!
We follow six teenage hackers, Issa, Ezra, Seth, Harper, Alika, and Owen who were brought in by the CIA to have a chance at earning a full ride scholarship to college and a job waiting for them afterwards. They just had to complete the test laid out especially for them, but Owen took one look at his and left without completing it. A few weeks later though, after some digging, he's reaching out to everyone as he came to a very terrifying conclusion...they'd been played.
Now the six teens come back together and uncover that there was never any CIA involvement with their possible scholarship. It was all the working of Jacento, a very large, very notorious company who was basically wanting a virus created that would basically allow them control over everyone's cellphone, no matter the type and get them to do whatever they wanted--be it vote for certain things, buy this, buy that...the possibilities were endless.
Although we have six teenagers at the helm, we only get three points of view in this one. I was a bit thrown by this, as I kind of thought we'd get everyone's perspective, but it still works well with just the three, and I will admit, it's a little less overwhelming too as I've read books with up to six or seven points of view and it can be a lot! Although, sometimes I found myself wondering what the other three were thinking during the events, but no matter.
The pacing to this one was fast and intense! As just days after the "test" was held, Owen starts putting things together and with Alika's help, gets everyone together again to realize their mistake and how they were going to fix it. And it was so intense! I am not in any way a tech guru, I can barely cooperate with technology on a good day, but even I was able to follow along for the most part with what was happening. Sure some of the actual hacking skills and talks of coding were a bit beyond my knowledge span, but I was able to get the general idea across even if I had no clue what exactly they were always typing so fast on their keyboards! Lol.
The characters to this were all amazing too! We had quite the variety from the millionaire playboy, to the down-trodded girl, to a politician's daughter, to the wacky comic relief...everyone had a role to play, yet despite appearances they were all super smart, which is expected since they were all hackers and what not! There were some developing romances between some of the characters. Not everyone ended up with someone, which you almost sort of expected what with there being 6 individuals, but it worked well with who ended up with who. Although, I will say that the romance took a far backseat to the story as it was meant to do. It was just a side element in the long run but I enjoyed watching the two relationships develop in the way that they did.
While we did get reasons behind why all their parents wouldn't have noticed them being missing for so many days at a time--after the scholarship debacle--I was still kind of amazed that people of privilege really wouldn't notice that their child as gone. I mean explanations are given, don't get me wrong, I guess just even trying to conceive going somewhere as a teenager and my mom not calling the cops wondering what happened to me is something that takes a bit of believing on my part. But again, I realize that even fictional families aren't always perfect or close enough.
The ending to this one was satisfying! It's a standalone so you can expect resolution and happy enough endings. Although I do wonder what will become of the teenagers and their relationships since they came from all over the States. Tiny details that a reader always wonders after the fact, but really play no part in the story. I guess in my happy brained mind, I would say that their friendships continued despite the distance and with college just being around the corner the friends would find themselves together again soon, somehow, some way, because yes, I am a sappy kind of reader at the best of times! Lol.
If you're looking for a fun and suspense filled read that I would look no further than Phantom Wheel! It kept me on the edge of my seat and turning the pages eager to see how these teens would ultimately save the world...even if no one really knew it! It's a fun read and will be sure to keep you entertained until its fitting end!
Overall Rating 4.5/5 stars
After reading Deebs' thriller, Doomed, I was all set to read yet another suspense read that would terrify me to my core with it's possibility of somehow actually happening in our society! This one may not have been as intense as Doomed, as the teenagers are trying to prevent the virus from actually doing what it was meant to do, so the big scary hasn't happened, but just knowing that it could was enough to have me looking at my phone differently, that's for sure!
We follow six teenage hackers, Issa, Ezra, Seth, Harper, Alika, and Owen who were brought in by the CIA to have a chance at earning a full ride scholarship to college and a job waiting for them afterwards. They just had to complete the test laid out especially for them, but Owen took one look at his and left without completing it. A few weeks later though, after some digging, he's reaching out to everyone as he came to a very terrifying conclusion...they'd been played.
Now the six teens come back together and uncover that there was never any CIA involvement with their possible scholarship. It was all the working of Jacento, a very large, very notorious company who was basically wanting a virus created that would basically allow them control over everyone's cellphone, no matter the type and get them to do whatever they wanted--be it vote for certain things, buy this, buy that...the possibilities were endless.
Although we have six teenagers at the helm, we only get three points of view in this one. I was a bit thrown by this, as I kind of thought we'd get everyone's perspective, but it still works well with just the three, and I will admit, it's a little less overwhelming too as I've read books with up to six or seven points of view and it can be a lot! Although, sometimes I found myself wondering what the other three were thinking during the events, but no matter.
The pacing to this one was fast and intense! As just days after the "test" was held, Owen starts putting things together and with Alika's help, gets everyone together again to realize their mistake and how they were going to fix it. And it was so intense! I am not in any way a tech guru, I can barely cooperate with technology on a good day, but even I was able to follow along for the most part with what was happening. Sure some of the actual hacking skills and talks of coding were a bit beyond my knowledge span, but I was able to get the general idea across even if I had no clue what exactly they were always typing so fast on their keyboards! Lol.
The characters to this were all amazing too! We had quite the variety from the millionaire playboy, to the down-trodded girl, to a politician's daughter, to the wacky comic relief...everyone had a role to play, yet despite appearances they were all super smart, which is expected since they were all hackers and what not! There were some developing romances between some of the characters. Not everyone ended up with someone, which you almost sort of expected what with there being 6 individuals, but it worked well with who ended up with who. Although, I will say that the romance took a far backseat to the story as it was meant to do. It was just a side element in the long run but I enjoyed watching the two relationships develop in the way that they did.
While we did get reasons behind why all their parents wouldn't have noticed them being missing for so many days at a time--after the scholarship debacle--I was still kind of amazed that people of privilege really wouldn't notice that their child as gone. I mean explanations are given, don't get me wrong, I guess just even trying to conceive going somewhere as a teenager and my mom not calling the cops wondering what happened to me is something that takes a bit of believing on my part. But again, I realize that even fictional families aren't always perfect or close enough.
The ending to this one was satisfying! It's a standalone so you can expect resolution and happy enough endings. Although I do wonder what will become of the teenagers and their relationships since they came from all over the States. Tiny details that a reader always wonders after the fact, but really play no part in the story. I guess in my happy brained mind, I would say that their friendships continued despite the distance and with college just being around the corner the friends would find themselves together again soon, somehow, some way, because yes, I am a sappy kind of reader at the best of times! Lol.
If you're looking for a fun and suspense filled read that I would look no further than Phantom Wheel! It kept me on the edge of my seat and turning the pages eager to see how these teens would ultimately save the world...even if no one really knew it! It's a fun read and will be sure to keep you entertained until its fitting end!
Overall Rating 4.5/5 stars
February 27, 2019
I'm still trying to wrap my head around what went down in this book but I honestly had so much fun reading it! I can't sit here and say that this is the most incredible book ever or one of the best books I've ever read. It definitely had it's problems and it's flaws but it was extremely enjoyable to read. It was crazy, intense, emotional, hilarious at times and so much more. I went in honestly with kind of low expectations because I hadn't been hearing the best reviews after I received a copy and anything outside of fantasy tends to be a hit or miss for me if I'm going to be honest but the synopsis intrigued me a lot! I definitely struggled with the first few chapters and getting to know who was who and what was going on but once things were established and the action started to happen I was hooked!
The thing that really made this book for me was the cast of characters and their friendship with each other. Like oh my gosh, I adored them all! They're all so insanely different but they learn to combat that and come together for the greater good. Anyone who knows me knows how much I love banter, and sass between characters in books and there was so much of it in here which I absolutely adored. Not only were they just simply well done characters they genuinely acted and thought like teenagers which was refreshing to me. They were imperfect, they said potentially stupid things, they made bad decisions, but they learn from these experiences and were just perfectly imperfect. Even to the point where sometimes the narrator just annoyed me but I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing because I think it's true to real life. Sometimes people are just going to annoy you. I wasn't a huge fan of Issa or her chapters at first but I think she grew on me for sure!
Also they're such a diverse group of characters! Out of the six main characters only one is fully white. We also have an asexual character and I believe a bisexual character though it was only mentioned very briefly so I'm not 100% sure. That might be able to speak for itself. I cannot personally speak on how good the rep on these things are but it's there.
Also the plot was just fun and crazy! I have no idea how realistic any of this stuff is and sometimes it was hard to suspend my disbelief. But it's a fiction book and things have to happen so I can't really say anything. 😂 The whole time I was reading this I was just thinking about how good of a movie this book would have made. It reads like one of those totally crazy and intense spy/hacker/adventure movies so if you love those you'll probably adore this book! I will say sometimes all the tech talk flew right over my head but that's totally on my part and nothing really against the book or author. It makes it way more real that it's in there and goes into detail about it. I also would have loved to get more insight on these characters backgrounds. Like it's mentioned and scattered throughout the book but I feel like it was pretty surface level. Especially for the three characters who don't get a POV in the book. Though I do understand it wouldn't have entirely served the book and the plot. I just love learning about characters more in depth and their background so it's something I would have loved.
While overall I really enjoyed this book of course I had a few problems throughout. Some that were so minor that I just didn't mind all that much. I think my only real big issue with this book was actually the romance. Like I understand why it was there and it's a natural thing to happen but it just felt completely unnecessary to me and kind of took away from the story. I don't even think it was so much the romance itself, because I normally love romance in books. I think it was more it just didn't seem like it naturally happened. It felt like it was almost forced and just put there to be there. I think there would have been a lot of value if they just stayed as one big group of friends. I would totally be fine even if just one couple came from it but I don't know. This could totally have been a personal preference but it's something that I noticed. Besides the few minor things throughout the book I mentioned already, I think that's the only huge thing I can comment on.
So overall a super fun and enjoyable read and if this sounds like a book you'll enjoy I would definitely recommend picking it up! Especially if you love books with a huge focus on characters. Also I'm pretty sure it's a stand alone so no having to get invested in a big series which is always something nice! Even though I love a good series. 😂
Big thanks to TheNovl for sending me an advanced copy to read and review.
The thing that really made this book for me was the cast of characters and their friendship with each other. Like oh my gosh, I adored them all! They're all so insanely different but they learn to combat that and come together for the greater good. Anyone who knows me knows how much I love banter, and sass between characters in books and there was so much of it in here which I absolutely adored. Not only were they just simply well done characters they genuinely acted and thought like teenagers which was refreshing to me. They were imperfect, they said potentially stupid things, they made bad decisions, but they learn from these experiences and were just perfectly imperfect. Even to the point where sometimes the narrator just annoyed me but I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing because I think it's true to real life. Sometimes people are just going to annoy you. I wasn't a huge fan of Issa or her chapters at first but I think she grew on me for sure!
Also they're such a diverse group of characters! Out of the six main characters only one is fully white. We also have an asexual character and I believe a bisexual character though it was only mentioned very briefly so I'm not 100% sure. That might be able to speak for itself. I cannot personally speak on how good the rep on these things are but it's there.
Also the plot was just fun and crazy! I have no idea how realistic any of this stuff is and sometimes it was hard to suspend my disbelief. But it's a fiction book and things have to happen so I can't really say anything. 😂 The whole time I was reading this I was just thinking about how good of a movie this book would have made. It reads like one of those totally crazy and intense spy/hacker/adventure movies so if you love those you'll probably adore this book! I will say sometimes all the tech talk flew right over my head but that's totally on my part and nothing really against the book or author. It makes it way more real that it's in there and goes into detail about it. I also would have loved to get more insight on these characters backgrounds. Like it's mentioned and scattered throughout the book but I feel like it was pretty surface level. Especially for the three characters who don't get a POV in the book. Though I do understand it wouldn't have entirely served the book and the plot. I just love learning about characters more in depth and their background so it's something I would have loved.
While overall I really enjoyed this book of course I had a few problems throughout. Some that were so minor that I just didn't mind all that much. I think my only real big issue with this book was actually the romance. Like I understand why it was there and it's a natural thing to happen but it just felt completely unnecessary to me and kind of took away from the story. I don't even think it was so much the romance itself, because I normally love romance in books. I think it was more it just didn't seem like it naturally happened. It felt like it was almost forced and just put there to be there. I think there would have been a lot of value if they just stayed as one big group of friends. I would totally be fine even if just one couple came from it but I don't know. This could totally have been a personal preference but it's something that I noticed. Besides the few minor things throughout the book I mentioned already, I think that's the only huge thing I can comment on.
So overall a super fun and enjoyable read and if this sounds like a book you'll enjoy I would definitely recommend picking it up! Especially if you love books with a huge focus on characters. Also I'm pretty sure it's a stand alone so no having to get invested in a big series which is always something nice! Even though I love a good series. 😂
Big thanks to TheNovl for sending me an advanced copy to read and review.
July 2, 2024
An extreme simplification of this story: 6 hackers go in for a "scholarship" opportunity, find out they've been played, and now they are trying to fix what they created for the big tech/media company. This book has plenty of technical jargon, fast-paced plot, some twists and mysteries, is wonderfully detailed, fun characters, and reading from 3 different perspectives.
Frankly, I was a little scared about how much technical jargon was going to be in this book, and whether or not I would be able to understand. I was pleasantly surprised that it had enough so you know what is going on concerning the hacks, whether you are computer literate or not (like me). I believe one can still enjoy this book, even without knowing completely about computers and how they work. The author does an excellent job to throw something out then briefly explain what that means/what it does.
I did enjoy the plot. Every so often the author seemed to like to take little jabs to the story when things were wrapped a little too neatly, to go ahead and go "Oh wait, nevermind" with a nice, could-be-seen twist (if you know, you know). There were a few things about the plot that had me roll my eyes though due to personal preferences. I understand when you have multiple characters (especially 6 of them) it's bound to have at least one couple generate from that, especially in a high tense situation as this book portraits, but having 2 couples form in a SHORT period of time because of hormones. I should also say that I am fully aware that if one is in a extremely tense situation like getting shot at or have situation of high adrenaline, they can become hormonal and attracted to whoever they are with or where the 'damsel' becomes extremely attracted to their savior, whether that's their type or not, and so it could be absolutely possible for this to happen. Then there are the last two characters going through a 'what-if?' situation, but then going: "Ha ha psyche! I'm asexual, whatever that means because even I who declared it don't even know!" and the other going: "that's cool bro, and it's cool that I finally have an asexual friend!" like someone's sexuality is like collecting Pokémon. I'm questioning why these romances are necessary at all to begin with? Due to these micro-plots, this book is categorized also as a romance - which I would argue that, that is not the main gist of the book nor the plot, you wouldn't look at "The Da Vinci Code" by Dan Brown or the Percy Jackson Series (or other titles for that matter) and classify it as a romance just because there is a type/touch of romance in it. I would also argue, that this book would be fine without the side romances, especially when it has a feeling of "friendship wins in the end" at the end, but I guess it's so theoretically everyone can enjoy it, even those who enjoy romance novels, but don't want to read a romance novel. Also, I know "The eye is in the beholder" and people can classify this book however they so please, but when this book is also found with the romance tag on other sites, it's a little much. I say all that to say this: those who might be deterred by the romance tag, should know that this book is primarily thriller, action, suspense, and mystery, first and foremost, even if the book tries to play as a possible romance-themed book mid-way.
The plot is fast paced (which I absolutely love the rhythm), but the ending goes at warped speed and seems a little abrupt. I had roughly 50 pages left, thinking there is a 2nd book as everything is so beautifully detailed and vivid or that it will be an open-ending/cliffhanger, but nope, everything just went on lightspeed and wrapped up just as quickly.
Then, there are the characters. There is plenty of good banter between the characters, and if you like your movies, you may also love the multitude of movie references made throughout. Even considering that 3 of these characters are filthy rich, they teach so much in the sense of you have no clue what someone is going through and everyone has their own problems, may not be relatable, but that is beside the point. For the most part, these are the type of characters that everyone knows at least one person with that personality, and it's so much fun to read that in a book. I also love reading from the different perspectives, the author did it so wonderfully, with only having 3 perspectives to read from. If she would have added the other 3, it would have been too much to keep up with.
Frankly, I was a little scared about how much technical jargon was going to be in this book, and whether or not I would be able to understand. I was pleasantly surprised that it had enough so you know what is going on concerning the hacks, whether you are computer literate or not (like me). I believe one can still enjoy this book, even without knowing completely about computers and how they work. The author does an excellent job to throw something out then briefly explain what that means/what it does.
I did enjoy the plot. Every so often the author seemed to like to take little jabs to the story when things were wrapped a little too neatly, to go ahead and go "Oh wait, nevermind" with a nice, could-be-seen twist (if you know, you know). There were a few things about the plot that had me roll my eyes though due to personal preferences. I understand when you have multiple characters (especially 6 of them) it's bound to have at least one couple generate from that, especially in a high tense situation as this book portraits, but having 2 couples form in a SHORT period of time because of hormones. I should also say that I am fully aware that if one is in a extremely tense situation like getting shot at or have situation of high adrenaline, they can become hormonal and attracted to whoever they are with or where the 'damsel' becomes extremely attracted to their savior, whether that's their type or not, and so it could be absolutely possible for this to happen. Then there are the last two characters going through a 'what-if?' situation, but then going: "Ha ha psyche! I'm asexual, whatever that means because even I who declared it don't even know!" and the other going: "that's cool bro, and it's cool that I finally have an asexual friend!" like someone's sexuality is like collecting Pokémon. I'm questioning why these romances are necessary at all to begin with? Due to these micro-plots, this book is categorized also as a romance - which I would argue that, that is not the main gist of the book nor the plot, you wouldn't look at "The Da Vinci Code" by Dan Brown or the Percy Jackson Series (or other titles for that matter) and classify it as a romance just because there is a type/touch of romance in it. I would also argue, that this book would be fine without the side romances, especially when it has a feeling of "friendship wins in the end" at the end, but I guess it's so theoretically everyone can enjoy it, even those who enjoy romance novels, but don't want to read a romance novel. Also, I know "The eye is in the beholder" and people can classify this book however they so please, but when this book is also found with the romance tag on other sites, it's a little much. I say all that to say this: those who might be deterred by the romance tag, should know that this book is primarily thriller, action, suspense, and mystery, first and foremost, even if the book tries to play as a possible romance-themed book mid-way.
The plot is fast paced (which I absolutely love the rhythm), but the ending goes at warped speed and seems a little abrupt. I had roughly 50 pages left, thinking there is a 2nd book as everything is so beautifully detailed and vivid or that it will be an open-ending/cliffhanger, but nope, everything just went on lightspeed and wrapped up just as quickly.
Then, there are the characters. There is plenty of good banter between the characters, and if you like your movies, you may also love the multitude of movie references made throughout. Even considering that 3 of these characters are filthy rich, they teach so much in the sense of you have no clue what someone is going through and everyone has their own problems, may not be relatable, but that is beside the point. For the most part, these are the type of characters that everyone knows at least one person with that personality, and it's so much fun to read that in a book. I also love reading from the different perspectives, the author did it so wonderfully, with only having 3 perspectives to read from. If she would have added the other 3, it would have been too much to keep up with.
October 28, 2018
*Thank you to TheNovl for sending me a copy of this book to review. Please know that all of the opinions are my honest thoughts.
4.5 Stars
I just flew through the Phantom Wheel by Tracy Deebs! The idea for the book was unique and intriguing, and I knew that I would love it. A bunch of teenagers hackers getting played by a group pretending to be the CIA and accidentally creating the worlds most dangerous computer virus and having to fix it all during and before finals? SIGN ME UP!
As I mentioned before, I knew that I would love the book before I even started it. It sounded like it had all of the necessary components to make it an exciting, intriguing, and suspenseful read! In the beginning, the book hit a bit of a lull; I felt as if the story was being told instead of being shown to me. I understand that in the beginning, the story, characters, and scene needs to be set up, but I think that it could have been done better. However, once the "you've been played" text comes through and the group starts to learn what they have accidentally done, it starts to pick up. Throughout the rest of the book, it is continuously fast-paced, a race against the clock to avoid a worldwide disaster. This pacing makes the book impossible to set down for a second! I sat down after school hoping to read a chapter or two and ended up reading the whole thing instead. I enjoyed the fast-paced nature of this story, but at parts, I felt as if it was too much. I felt as if the story went from creating a code to straight to running from gunfire and the police while hacking cars.
For the most part, the story felt pretty believable, which only added to the underlying sense of dread that THIS was what our world is like. I think that is what made me so attached to the characters and the story. The fact that it was so eerily similar to today and a technology giant wanted to gather all of our information to sell to the government just makes me so uncomfortable.
I love the writing style that Deebs had. I'll be honest; I am not a fan of coding and things having to do with the technical aspect of technology. This undoubtedly stems from a bad experience at coding camp where all we did was copy code that our instructor wrote on the board without explaining to us what it did. However, the writing and the fun that the characters had while hacking made me, more than once, want to learn how to code! It seems like it would be so much fun and so rewarding once you write a successful code or be able to get past a firewall! The writing helped to immerse me into the hacking world. I loved all of the technical terms; however, some went over my head, and I had no idea what the characters were talking about or doing. It wasn't too disruptive that I had to stop and look up the words, but it did leave me pretty confused!
And the multiple POVs! I am a huge fan of having multiple points of view, but here, I felt as if it was too much. Switching between all six of the characters, or what felt like it, made me super confused and I often had to go back to the chapter headings to see which perspective I was reading from. I only definitively knew that I would be reading from Harper's perspective because of the nicknames that she gave everyone else.
I liked the characters in this book, but I didn't feel as if I could fully connect to them. I loved learning more about them through their little profiles. But, I felt as if I never really got to know them and their little habits. I have a feeling that the multiple perspectives were meant to help shine some light on the characters' personalities, but I don't believe that they did. To me, it seemed as if the characters almost had the same voice which made it even harder for me to distinguish between the characters when the point of view changed. While it sounds like I didn't enjoy the characters, I did. I love how they interacted with each other and watching them learn and grow together as a team.
In conclusion, the Phantom Wheel was a great read. It was full of suspense and action, and I just couldn't put it down! Quite honestly, the way coding and hacking was portrayed, made me want to give coding a try again. While the multiple POVs and some terminology made it hard to understand what point of view was being shown or what was going on, it didn't take too much away from the experience. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to read a fantastically written, fast-paced book!
4.5 Stars
I just flew through the Phantom Wheel by Tracy Deebs! The idea for the book was unique and intriguing, and I knew that I would love it. A bunch of teenagers hackers getting played by a group pretending to be the CIA and accidentally creating the worlds most dangerous computer virus and having to fix it all during and before finals? SIGN ME UP!
As I mentioned before, I knew that I would love the book before I even started it. It sounded like it had all of the necessary components to make it an exciting, intriguing, and suspenseful read! In the beginning, the book hit a bit of a lull; I felt as if the story was being told instead of being shown to me. I understand that in the beginning, the story, characters, and scene needs to be set up, but I think that it could have been done better. However, once the "you've been played" text comes through and the group starts to learn what they have accidentally done, it starts to pick up. Throughout the rest of the book, it is continuously fast-paced, a race against the clock to avoid a worldwide disaster. This pacing makes the book impossible to set down for a second! I sat down after school hoping to read a chapter or two and ended up reading the whole thing instead. I enjoyed the fast-paced nature of this story, but at parts, I felt as if it was too much. I felt as if the story went from creating a code to straight to running from gunfire and the police while hacking cars.
For the most part, the story felt pretty believable, which only added to the underlying sense of dread that THIS was what our world is like. I think that is what made me so attached to the characters and the story. The fact that it was so eerily similar to today and a technology giant wanted to gather all of our information to sell to the government just makes me so uncomfortable.
I love the writing style that Deebs had. I'll be honest; I am not a fan of coding and things having to do with the technical aspect of technology. This undoubtedly stems from a bad experience at coding camp where all we did was copy code that our instructor wrote on the board without explaining to us what it did. However, the writing and the fun that the characters had while hacking made me, more than once, want to learn how to code! It seems like it would be so much fun and so rewarding once you write a successful code or be able to get past a firewall! The writing helped to immerse me into the hacking world. I loved all of the technical terms; however, some went over my head, and I had no idea what the characters were talking about or doing. It wasn't too disruptive that I had to stop and look up the words, but it did leave me pretty confused!
And the multiple POVs! I am a huge fan of having multiple points of view, but here, I felt as if it was too much. Switching between all six of the characters, or what felt like it, made me super confused and I often had to go back to the chapter headings to see which perspective I was reading from. I only definitively knew that I would be reading from Harper's perspective because of the nicknames that she gave everyone else.
I liked the characters in this book, but I didn't feel as if I could fully connect to them. I loved learning more about them through their little profiles. But, I felt as if I never really got to know them and their little habits. I have a feeling that the multiple perspectives were meant to help shine some light on the characters' personalities, but I don't believe that they did. To me, it seemed as if the characters almost had the same voice which made it even harder for me to distinguish between the characters when the point of view changed. While it sounds like I didn't enjoy the characters, I did. I love how they interacted with each other and watching them learn and grow together as a team.
In conclusion, the Phantom Wheel was a great read. It was full of suspense and action, and I just couldn't put it down! Quite honestly, the way coding and hacking was portrayed, made me want to give coding a try again. While the multiple POVs and some terminology made it hard to understand what point of view was being shown or what was going on, it didn't take too much away from the experience. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to read a fantastically written, fast-paced book!
December 28, 2018
Phantom Wheel a novel where a group of Hacker teens are set up by a technology company to create a hack that can steal everyone's data . To start with let's look at the six main characters, Alika the goody to shoes senators daughter who is tuffer than she seems, Seth the good red mowhawk guy who trys to save the world, Ezra the rich son of a billionaire hotel owner who is a spoiled rich kid, Harper the one with no family that is paranoid, Issa the tuff chica who loves her family and will do anything to give them a better life, and Owen the once star football player who is trying to fix what the others did. Each of the characters are very stereotypical on the surface yet as the story gets farther along you begin to see that they aren't as basic as they seem. While it seems that some of what you begin to see is forced it does help show that people aren't all the same and that people are different. Now let's look at the writing, at the beginning when Owen and all of them are beginning to realize what they did I really enjoyed the chat room messages they set up to talk with each other rather than doing it face to face. I enjoyed that each chapter changed from the view of Owen to Issa to Harper letting us get inside their head and know what they are thinking I just wished if you were doing that to do it with all six of the main characters than just three of them, though I do understand how that could limit the story with so many perspectives to get through. Now on to the main problem I had with the book, the plot. I understand that these people are like very smart really good hackers and all I don't see how when they broke into Jacento's servers and then went on that crazy car chase I'm thinking are these hackers or James Bonds and really I don't care if these six are some of the best hackers out there Jacento's would probably have hundreds of just as good hackers/tech people to make sure that this didn't happen. Next, while this is a hacker book and there should be hacker talk and code talk it was hard to follow along with the hacker talk, not all of us can hack the Pentagon so if maybe for some more parts explain what it means that would be very helpful. Now this being a ya novel one of the key elements I look at is the romance in the book as come on what ya novel doesn't have romance? Any way back on topic the romance in this was to say the least lack luster, I understand that very emotional and stressful events can bring people together and maybe I haven't experienced it yet but it just seems that the romance here is just fake. Owen and Alika didn't seem to really like each other in till half way through the book when Owen just out of nowhere says how much he likes her and it's like where the hell did this come from, it's the same way with Ezra and Issa. Now that those are out the way one problem in the book I'm bothered with is Ezra's family tree. When they all get to his Pent house in San Francisco at the beginning he let's Harper stay in his sister's room and yet later in the book when he is talking with Issa he says that he is a only child. Now I'm not great at math but that doesn't add up. Now that I'm done nitpicking the book I'll just be straight with you this book while has a interesting topic was certainly vanilla to me. Just a standard book that I can spend a day curled up with to enjoy, let's get that straight I did enjoy the book, read it basically in one sitting yet it is kind of like watching SpongeBob you sit there and mindlessly enjoy it cause it is simple and just easy and relaxing. I'm not about to go throw the book out or start writing a fan page about it, I'll set back on my bookshelf and maybe will pick it up again in a few months to read again. If you want something easy and interesting to read for a day I would recommend this book if your looking for a new binge series that will have you falling in love with the characters I might recommend you keep looking.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 25, 2022
⭐.5-DNF
Most people think hackers are bad, and some definitely are. But most of us are in it because we don't like secrets. We want to know everything, want to see everything.
Other than all the dreams that I have had of completing medical school to become a medical examiner and my plans of world domination with the use of Thanksgiving turkey dinners, my one dream is to hack my way into a book publishing company and *GASP* READ ALL THE BOOKS!
I know that my ideas of danger and delinquency are very scandalous. So much so that I think I should go sit in a corner all day and read books that will cause me to cry- if I could just find my dust bunny heart in my soulless body.
Although I may have a life of terrifying tales and the such, at least I do not follow in the footsteps of Tracy Deeb's characters in Phantom Wheel, a young adult thriller that desires to tell the stories behind the mysterious profiles of six hackers. Unfortunately, the only mystery these teens set to discover is why Jacento, a technology company disguising itself as the CIA, used them to create a virus that would allow them to access the world's population's private information. Instead of getting a scholarship and the chance to learn how to climb a train (and hopefully jujitsu) in a CIA program, everyone is slapped in the face with a butter sock when Owen Owen "Smarty Pants McGee" Heath hacks his way into his fellow hackers' brains with a singular message: You've been played. Along with the characters, I also got slapped in the face with butter since I not only had to read through some problematic qualities.
First, the characters are blobs of unflavored jello-jiggling in no direction and bland. End of that story.
Also, while Deebs is trying to teach her readers the important lesson of not judging others based on one's appearance, her characters contradict her SO many times. While also completing the life cycle of a sunshine smile, it's ridiculous that the characters cannot stick to their own morals. Can't the world have both smiles and the cake-blessed truth! The following quotes tell me that I cannot have them both:
"They forgot that hackers aren't like normal people. We don't just move on from something that interests us, and we rarely forget anything-especially if it matters to us."
Hahahahahahahahahahaha, yes, because the Chemistry degree that I just completed with the blood, sweat, and tears of ancient H2O buffalos does not lie in a special place in my cold, soulless heart. Fischer configurations, organometallic reactions, and Baeyer-Villiger oxidations might as well be cold, dried-out oatmeal compared to hacking, huh?
AND...
"In the grand scheme of things, it's not much trust. But she's a hacker and any trust is above the norm, so I'll take it. The fact that it's the hot Alika who went out on a limb for me...yeah, not going to let that matter."
So, if you came to the same conclusion as I did, hackers are super special, bionic, and just so different. Pick me girl/boy who???!!!!
The only reason why I decided to give it more than my usual one-star rating, or the only rating that I allow myself to give the discarded books in my closet, is due to the entertaining story Deebs tells. Although I find it problematic and the characters annoy me out of my sock life dreams, I laughed a few times at the characters' thoughts, found Seth to be an adorable web of sugar, and actually thought the future pages could hold an interesting tale of codes and kicking dudes in the booties! Objectively writing, this book can get a whole lot better if the characters were to hack me into liking them.
Anyways, welcome back! Let's get this blog on the road! 🚗
Love (and a warm hello),
newbookcats
Read review of blog: https://newbookcatsreads.blogspot.com...
Most people think hackers are bad, and some definitely are. But most of us are in it because we don't like secrets. We want to know everything, want to see everything.
Other than all the dreams that I have had of completing medical school to become a medical examiner and my plans of world domination with the use of Thanksgiving turkey dinners, my one dream is to hack my way into a book publishing company and *GASP* READ ALL THE BOOKS!
I know that my ideas of danger and delinquency are very scandalous. So much so that I think I should go sit in a corner all day and read books that will cause me to cry- if I could just find my dust bunny heart in my soulless body.
Although I may have a life of terrifying tales and the such, at least I do not follow in the footsteps of Tracy Deeb's characters in Phantom Wheel, a young adult thriller that desires to tell the stories behind the mysterious profiles of six hackers. Unfortunately, the only mystery these teens set to discover is why Jacento, a technology company disguising itself as the CIA, used them to create a virus that would allow them to access the world's population's private information. Instead of getting a scholarship and the chance to learn how to climb a train (and hopefully jujitsu) in a CIA program, everyone is slapped in the face with a butter sock when Owen Owen "Smarty Pants McGee" Heath hacks his way into his fellow hackers' brains with a singular message: You've been played. Along with the characters, I also got slapped in the face with butter since I not only had to read through some problematic qualities.
First, the characters are blobs of unflavored jello-jiggling in no direction and bland. End of that story.
Also, while Deebs is trying to teach her readers the important lesson of not judging others based on one's appearance, her characters contradict her SO many times. While also completing the life cycle of a sunshine smile, it's ridiculous that the characters cannot stick to their own morals. Can't the world have both smiles and the cake-blessed truth! The following quotes tell me that I cannot have them both:
"They forgot that hackers aren't like normal people. We don't just move on from something that interests us, and we rarely forget anything-especially if it matters to us."
Hahahahahahahahahahaha, yes, because the Chemistry degree that I just completed with the blood, sweat, and tears of ancient H2O buffalos does not lie in a special place in my cold, soulless heart. Fischer configurations, organometallic reactions, and Baeyer-Villiger oxidations might as well be cold, dried-out oatmeal compared to hacking, huh?
AND...
"In the grand scheme of things, it's not much trust. But she's a hacker and any trust is above the norm, so I'll take it. The fact that it's the hot Alika who went out on a limb for me...yeah, not going to let that matter."
So, if you came to the same conclusion as I did, hackers are super special, bionic, and just so different. Pick me girl/boy who???!!!!
The only reason why I decided to give it more than my usual one-star rating, or the only rating that I allow myself to give the discarded books in my closet, is due to the entertaining story Deebs tells. Although I find it problematic and the characters annoy me out of my sock life dreams, I laughed a few times at the characters' thoughts, found Seth to be an adorable web of sugar, and actually thought the future pages could hold an interesting tale of codes and kicking dudes in the booties! Objectively writing, this book can get a whole lot better if the characters were to hack me into liking them.
Anyways, welcome back! Let's get this blog on the road! 🚗
Love (and a warm hello),
newbookcats
Read review of blog: https://newbookcatsreads.blogspot.com...
October 11, 2018
2.5 stars from me.
This took me much longer to read than I anticipated. Normally I devour stories like this but I struggled to really get into the story with the massive info-dumping and heavy, heavy tech talk. I'll work on my review and have it up soon.
HUGE thanks to The Novl and LB for the copy! I received an arc as a LBYR Partner in exchange for an honest review.
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Full review can be found here: https://agingerlyreview.wordpress.com...
This was one of those books that I was honestly curious to read since I haven’t read a lot of stories about teen hackers, or hackers in general. What I read was entertaining but I often became lost in the verbiage and felt as if I should have been smart enough to follow along easily. Unfortunately I’m not a coder or a hacker so when it came to all of the coding speak, and there was a lot, I had no clue what was being said.
Short recap: Six teens who had never met before believed they were being recruited by the CIA for their impressive hacking skills. If they won, they could win a college scholarship. Pretty tempting for anyone. Only one of the six teens refused to write the code asked of him, the other five wrote with no issue. It was’t until after the “testing” did they realize they were played. They were not being recruited by the CIA or any other government agency. The largest cell/technology company had these unassuming teens write code that when put together would create the most deadly virus every created. Now they have joined forces to put a stop to the virus known as Phantom Wheel from being released.
Sounds pretty amazing, no? Well, as I mentioned it was an entertaining read but it took me far longer to finish this novel then it should have. The characters were compelling, the story line was interesting, however, it was the heavy – and I do mean heavy – use of computer/tech speak that cause my eyes to glaze over. These six teens obviously knew their stuff, but making constant references to Red Hat and Linux coding was unnecessary. That meant nothing to me. I didn’t understand why it was so important. It was never explained why these coding languages were so important or what they were. It gave me the sense that I was not smart enough to understand what was going on and I am not a fan of that type of story. No reader should ever feel that way when reading a book.
That being said, there was also an enormous info-dump during the first third of the book that did not feel logical. Sure, backstory is important but it felt like overkill here. As mentioned, there were six characters but three to four POVs. That was okay as it helped give more depth to those characters, but why not give a voice to all characters? Why just those select few? Also, there were “character assessments” sprinkled randomly throughout the story but it wasn’t revealed who was compiling these assessments until the very end of the story. When the person was outed, it did not feel like a masterful reveal that blew my hair back. Instead, it caused me to say, “But… why?”
The pacing of the story itself felt a little off. There were sections that moved at lighting speed while others felt they lasted the length of the book. It was probably just me but the parts where the teens were coding felt to drag on, maybe because I didn’t understand half of what they were talking about or doing. When the story was coming to conclusion, things simply rocketed and the story was over. The ending felt incredibly rushed and wrapped up in a few pages. That did not sit well with me because it did not feel resolved. Maybe it is setting up for a sequel, I’m not sure but I know how I felt about what I read.
Overall, I was able to finish the story but this is not one I plan to ever read again. If you are curious, I urge you to give this one a try. It just did not work for me but that doesn’t mean you might not enjoy it.
This took me much longer to read than I anticipated. Normally I devour stories like this but I struggled to really get into the story with the massive info-dumping and heavy, heavy tech talk. I'll work on my review and have it up soon.
HUGE thanks to The Novl and LB for the copy! I received an arc as a LBYR Partner in exchange for an honest review.
--------
Full review can be found here: https://agingerlyreview.wordpress.com...
This was one of those books that I was honestly curious to read since I haven’t read a lot of stories about teen hackers, or hackers in general. What I read was entertaining but I often became lost in the verbiage and felt as if I should have been smart enough to follow along easily. Unfortunately I’m not a coder or a hacker so when it came to all of the coding speak, and there was a lot, I had no clue what was being said.
Short recap: Six teens who had never met before believed they were being recruited by the CIA for their impressive hacking skills. If they won, they could win a college scholarship. Pretty tempting for anyone. Only one of the six teens refused to write the code asked of him, the other five wrote with no issue. It was’t until after the “testing” did they realize they were played. They were not being recruited by the CIA or any other government agency. The largest cell/technology company had these unassuming teens write code that when put together would create the most deadly virus every created. Now they have joined forces to put a stop to the virus known as Phantom Wheel from being released.
Sounds pretty amazing, no? Well, as I mentioned it was an entertaining read but it took me far longer to finish this novel then it should have. The characters were compelling, the story line was interesting, however, it was the heavy – and I do mean heavy – use of computer/tech speak that cause my eyes to glaze over. These six teens obviously knew their stuff, but making constant references to Red Hat and Linux coding was unnecessary. That meant nothing to me. I didn’t understand why it was so important. It was never explained why these coding languages were so important or what they were. It gave me the sense that I was not smart enough to understand what was going on and I am not a fan of that type of story. No reader should ever feel that way when reading a book.
That being said, there was also an enormous info-dump during the first third of the book that did not feel logical. Sure, backstory is important but it felt like overkill here. As mentioned, there were six characters but three to four POVs. That was okay as it helped give more depth to those characters, but why not give a voice to all characters? Why just those select few? Also, there were “character assessments” sprinkled randomly throughout the story but it wasn’t revealed who was compiling these assessments until the very end of the story. When the person was outed, it did not feel like a masterful reveal that blew my hair back. Instead, it caused me to say, “But… why?”
The pacing of the story itself felt a little off. There were sections that moved at lighting speed while others felt they lasted the length of the book. It was probably just me but the parts where the teens were coding felt to drag on, maybe because I didn’t understand half of what they were talking about or doing. When the story was coming to conclusion, things simply rocketed and the story was over. The ending felt incredibly rushed and wrapped up in a few pages. That did not sit well with me because it did not feel resolved. Maybe it is setting up for a sequel, I’m not sure but I know how I felt about what I read.
Overall, I was able to finish the story but this is not one I plan to ever read again. If you are curious, I urge you to give this one a try. It just did not work for me but that doesn’t mean you might not enjoy it.
October 29, 2018
Holy suspense Batman~ Tracy Deebs got me on this one.
(www.ashesofabookdragon.com)
First, thank you to The Novl and Little, Brown Young Readers for providing me this book in exchange for an honest review. #LBYRPARTNER
Now on to the goo parts. This book was a ONE SITTING end to end finish. I picked it up and could NOT STOP READING. It was phenomenal on action and suspense. The characters were amazing and I was rooting for them the entire time.
Phantom Wheel follows the story of six hackers and our story begins with a CIA audition. Well, what we thought was a CIA audition. One hacker walks out of the test only to contact the others stating "You've been played"~ and then the real fun begins.
Dear Film Production Companies, please pick up the rights to this book cuz it would be a BEAUTIFUL action film. Okay, I'll hold on my gushing now to write a 'non spoiler' type review but I did love this book all around.
"EH: I repeat
Houston, we have a BIG FREAKING PROBLEM.
IT: Oh God
What did we do?
EH: You want to know what we did?
We created the apocalypse.
That's what we did."
Tracy Deebs, Phantom Wheel
I did not realize how much I was missing a good hacker book. Our day and age, technology is everything but it's hard to find books that focus on CURRENT tech rather than futuristic tech. Full disclosure thought, I am not a programmer or a hacker, so I cannot say how valid some of the lingo or technology items are in the book. I took it all with a grain of salt but loved every minute of it.
Where to begin! The plot is immediately gripping and the character development kicks off immediately. Tracy Deebs gives you background on each character and changes POV seamlessly. There is one character, Harper, that calls everyone by nicknames. Anytime the Harper point of view began, I didn't even need to look because the language change was so distinct, you just knew. (hahaha) I do have a character I'm partial too. I related a lot to Issa. Her character is one of the odd balls out in her background (along with Harper). She's also the first POV you get in the novel. So that could also be the reason I'm partial to her character.
Non-stop action! Anytime I thought this would calm down for a bit, it didn't. I needed to keep going. So I did, without regret, read this whole book in one sitting. I'm sure there are normal people out there that can put a book down during intense scenes, however I'm not one of them. (LOL) I also would challenge you to put this book down. It's a quick read and so well written.
Overall, I would recommend this book to anyone that enjoys heist, cons, hacking, science fiction, or action. There's a lot going for this book and would say most people that enjoy reading, should give this a chance.
Overall Rating: 4 Stars
Plot: 5 Stars
Character Development: 4 Stars
Dialogue: 4 Stars
Writing: 4 Stars
Happy Reading!
Ash~
(www.ashesofabookdragon.com)
First, thank you to The Novl and Little, Brown Young Readers for providing me this book in exchange for an honest review. #LBYRPARTNER
Now on to the goo parts. This book was a ONE SITTING end to end finish. I picked it up and could NOT STOP READING. It was phenomenal on action and suspense. The characters were amazing and I was rooting for them the entire time.
Phantom Wheel follows the story of six hackers and our story begins with a CIA audition. Well, what we thought was a CIA audition. One hacker walks out of the test only to contact the others stating "You've been played"~ and then the real fun begins.
Dear Film Production Companies, please pick up the rights to this book cuz it would be a BEAUTIFUL action film. Okay, I'll hold on my gushing now to write a 'non spoiler' type review but I did love this book all around.
"EH: I repeat
Houston, we have a BIG FREAKING PROBLEM.
IT: Oh God
What did we do?
EH: You want to know what we did?
We created the apocalypse.
That's what we did."
Tracy Deebs, Phantom Wheel
I did not realize how much I was missing a good hacker book. Our day and age, technology is everything but it's hard to find books that focus on CURRENT tech rather than futuristic tech. Full disclosure thought, I am not a programmer or a hacker, so I cannot say how valid some of the lingo or technology items are in the book. I took it all with a grain of salt but loved every minute of it.
Where to begin! The plot is immediately gripping and the character development kicks off immediately. Tracy Deebs gives you background on each character and changes POV seamlessly. There is one character, Harper, that calls everyone by nicknames. Anytime the Harper point of view began, I didn't even need to look because the language change was so distinct, you just knew. (hahaha) I do have a character I'm partial too. I related a lot to Issa. Her character is one of the odd balls out in her background (along with Harper). She's also the first POV you get in the novel. So that could also be the reason I'm partial to her character.
Non-stop action! Anytime I thought this would calm down for a bit, it didn't. I needed to keep going. So I did, without regret, read this whole book in one sitting. I'm sure there are normal people out there that can put a book down during intense scenes, however I'm not one of them. (LOL) I also would challenge you to put this book down. It's a quick read and so well written.
Overall, I would recommend this book to anyone that enjoys heist, cons, hacking, science fiction, or action. There's a lot going for this book and would say most people that enjoy reading, should give this a chance.
Overall Rating: 4 Stars
Plot: 5 Stars
Character Development: 4 Stars
Dialogue: 4 Stars
Writing: 4 Stars
Happy Reading!
Ash~
January 15, 2019
Oh man, I wish I hadn't waited a week to review this. Hmm, let me try to remember my thoughts.
Most important thoughts:
- Yay, a hacker book! Though I am certainly no hacker, the characters sound very natural and seem to know what they're talking about. Deebs seems to have done her research or had a good consultant.
- Diverse representation: we have POCs with a variety of backgrounds (foster kid, asexual, Japanese, British, Colombian, and more)
- A book dealing with an important issue of the day -- brain injury (from football) resulting in CTE and its effects on a family
- This book would play out great as a movie. I could picture many of the scenes as if they were a heist film (with awesome squad).
Other thoughts:
- Having several of the characters come from very wealthy families (so they could fund the group's activities, pay for flights, securing housing) felt way too convenient
- Plays a little too much to gender stereotypes (the female characters, multiple times, panic or freak out or go on a rant...while the male characters calm them down and constantly act as protectors/guardians of the females). Why not flip it or have females calming females down (if necessary) or males feeling protective of males?
- Having 3 girl and 3 boy characters and having them kinda-sorta pair up perfectly also seemed unrealistic
- In the book we get 2 girl POVs (Issa and Harper) and 1 boy POV (Owen). The girls practically seem to obsess about how cute and hot all the boys are from the start of the book. Owen doesn't get around to thinking any of the girls are hot until more than halfway through the book. Typical...
- The dialogue, especially all the movie-quote banter, felt way too self-conscious and awkward, especially when they pick apart each other's sentences and critique each other's movie taste and choice of quotes. I get that Deebs wanted to build camaraderie and add some fun to their interactions, but it didn't work. Definitely self-conscious.
- Loved that these characters, who mostly felt isolated and misunderstood, finally got comfortable with the other members of the group and became like a family. Hated that multiple characters had to keep bringing it up, however! Okay, we get that you finally feel like you belong and have friends!
The ending seems so anticlimactic after EVERYTHING they go through to get there! Especially the amount of time and effort spent getting evidence at the party (and crimes committed) and making the getaway -- and then . UGH!
Overall, this was an excellent book. Great, fast-paced story that moved along and kept me turning the pages. Topic was relatively unique and seemed well-researched. I love it when the characters feel authentic and seem to know what they're talkinga bout. I liked all the characters, too, and hope we'll be seeing POVs of the other 3. Is there another book? (Wondering why Deebs chose Issa, Harper, and Owen for the POVs, actually.) Issa and Harper have a lot of similarities between them, so I also wonder if using a completely different 6th character might've added something more to the squad.
Most important thoughts:
- Yay, a hacker book! Though I am certainly no hacker, the characters sound very natural and seem to know what they're talking about. Deebs seems to have done her research or had a good consultant.
- Diverse representation: we have POCs with a variety of backgrounds (foster kid, asexual, Japanese, British, Colombian, and more)
- A book dealing with an important issue of the day -- brain injury (from football) resulting in CTE and its effects on a family
- This book would play out great as a movie. I could picture many of the scenes as if they were a heist film (with awesome squad).
Other thoughts:
- Having several of the characters come from very wealthy families (so they could fund the group's activities, pay for flights, securing housing) felt way too convenient
- Plays a little too much to gender stereotypes (the female characters, multiple times, panic or freak out or go on a rant...while the male characters calm them down and constantly act as protectors/guardians of the females). Why not flip it or have females calming females down (if necessary) or males feeling protective of males?
- Having 3 girl and 3 boy characters and having them kinda-sorta pair up perfectly also seemed unrealistic
- In the book we get 2 girl POVs (Issa and Harper) and 1 boy POV (Owen). The girls practically seem to obsess about how cute and hot all the boys are from the start of the book. Owen doesn't get around to thinking any of the girls are hot until more than halfway through the book. Typical...
- The dialogue, especially all the movie-quote banter, felt way too self-conscious and awkward, especially when they pick apart each other's sentences and critique each other's movie taste and choice of quotes. I get that Deebs wanted to build camaraderie and add some fun to their interactions, but it didn't work. Definitely self-conscious.
- Loved that these characters, who mostly felt isolated and misunderstood, finally got comfortable with the other members of the group and became like a family. Hated that multiple characters had to keep bringing it up, however! Okay, we get that you finally feel like you belong and have friends!
The ending seems so anticlimactic after EVERYTHING they go through to get there! Especially the amount of time and effort spent getting evidence at the party (and crimes committed) and making the getaway -- and then . UGH!
Overall, this was an excellent book. Great, fast-paced story that moved along and kept me turning the pages. Topic was relatively unique and seemed well-researched. I love it when the characters feel authentic and seem to know what they're talkinga bout. I liked all the characters, too, and hope we'll be seeing POVs of the other 3. Is there another book? (Wondering why Deebs chose Issa, Harper, and Owen for the POVs, actually.) Issa and Harper have a lot of similarities between them, so I also wonder if using a completely different 6th character might've added something more to the squad.
October 31, 2018
I received an ARC from TheNovl for an honest review.
I'd rate more as 4.25 stars.
Okay, I kind of really loved this book?? I was really intrigued by the synopsis- 6 teen hackers, 1 bad corporation, a high-stakes digital catastrophe if they don't succeed in stopping it- YES, sign me right up! I've haven't read any of the author's previous works, but this one was so much fun and I'm looking forward to more books in this series. It's like a contemporary/sci-fi mix, set in modern day, and so very relevant in today's world, what with our dependence on technology, the power of corporations, big data, and the threat to our privacy- what we give up in exchange for convenience. I liked how certain things in the book seemed plausible in real life, but I will admit that I thought certain details were highly unlikely to happen in reality, but hey, it made for a fun and wild ride.
I loved each of the 6 hackers and their dynamics. We only get to read 3 of their POVs- Owen Heath, Issa Torres, and Harper, but I liked the other 3 whose minds we don't get to see into as well- Ezra Hernandez, Alika Izumi, and Seth Prentiss. I thought Harper's nicknames for the rest of them were so funny and apt, and I liked the humor in the old movie references, and the dialogue throughout that kept things light and humorous even in high-tension situations. Each character is interesting and unique. Issa- she's got a tough-girl attitude, but loves and cares greatly for her family. Harper- quiet and observant, but not afraid to do extreme things. She's wary, but opens up to these unexpected friends. Alika- she seems perfect and nice, but she's also got a badass side to her that you wouldn't want to mess with. Ezra- he seemed like an arrogant, spoiled, rich boy, and yes, while he can be those things, he's also extremely intelligent, charismatic, and can be caring and thoughtful. Owen- athlete, hacker, intimidating-looking, but morally good despite black-hat activities. He brings everyone together on the mission and does what needs to be done. Seth- oh my goodness, he was so good and precious. I loved him and his sweetness. All of them together make for one hell of a team and friendship.
There's lots of tech lingo, computers, references to coding and hacking in the book (as expected), and while a lot of it went over my head, I still enjoyed the story despite that. There's some romance, and while I felt like things could've been taken more slowly and developed over the series later on, I didn't mind the inclusion of it. I would've been okay with no romance at all, but it does add to the complexity of the relationships/the plot. Overall, I enjoyed the story and it was a fun and fast read into the world of hacking.
I'd rate more as 4.25 stars.
Okay, I kind of really loved this book?? I was really intrigued by the synopsis- 6 teen hackers, 1 bad corporation, a high-stakes digital catastrophe if they don't succeed in stopping it- YES, sign me right up! I've haven't read any of the author's previous works, but this one was so much fun and I'm looking forward to more books in this series. It's like a contemporary/sci-fi mix, set in modern day, and so very relevant in today's world, what with our dependence on technology, the power of corporations, big data, and the threat to our privacy- what we give up in exchange for convenience. I liked how certain things in the book seemed plausible in real life, but I will admit that I thought certain details were highly unlikely to happen in reality, but hey, it made for a fun and wild ride.
I loved each of the 6 hackers and their dynamics. We only get to read 3 of their POVs- Owen Heath, Issa Torres, and Harper, but I liked the other 3 whose minds we don't get to see into as well- Ezra Hernandez, Alika Izumi, and Seth Prentiss. I thought Harper's nicknames for the rest of them were so funny and apt, and I liked the humor in the old movie references, and the dialogue throughout that kept things light and humorous even in high-tension situations. Each character is interesting and unique. Issa- she's got a tough-girl attitude, but loves and cares greatly for her family. Harper- quiet and observant, but not afraid to do extreme things. She's wary, but opens up to these unexpected friends. Alika- she seems perfect and nice, but she's also got a badass side to her that you wouldn't want to mess with. Ezra- he seemed like an arrogant, spoiled, rich boy, and yes, while he can be those things, he's also extremely intelligent, charismatic, and can be caring and thoughtful. Owen- athlete, hacker, intimidating-looking, but morally good despite black-hat activities. He brings everyone together on the mission and does what needs to be done. Seth- oh my goodness, he was so good and precious. I loved him and his sweetness. All of them together make for one hell of a team and friendship.
There's lots of tech lingo, computers, references to coding and hacking in the book (as expected), and while a lot of it went over my head, I still enjoyed the story despite that. There's some romance, and while I felt like things could've been taken more slowly and developed over the series later on, I didn't mind the inclusion of it. I would've been okay with no romance at all, but it does add to the complexity of the relationships/the plot. Overall, I enjoyed the story and it was a fun and fast read into the world of hacking.
January 25, 2019
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I’m surprised that I haven’t seen this book around on social media as much as I usually do with other YA novels so I didn’t know too much about this book until I had the opportunity to reach it from the Novl. I’m glad to say that I am thoroughly surprised by it because I actually really enjoyed it.
I loved the action and the geekiness of it especially with all of those computer hacking jargons. While the overall plot was really basic and simple, I thought that the author still did a great job with keeping the readers engaged. Honestly, I’m a bit surprised at how well she did so because the plot itself was really simple – there weren’t any real plot twists or complexities to it yet somehow she still made it engaging and interesting.
The one thing that I didn’t like so much was the characters. I thought that the three POVs were pretty random – I mean, why those three specifically and how come the other characters didn’t get their own POV? Another part was the fact that more than half of them were uber rich. For some reason, that just seemed incredibly unlikely. I’m not saying that it’s not possible but how are 4 of the best teen hackers from families with a net worth of a minimum of at least $1 million? I don’t know but it just gave off a very odd vibe to me and it definitely made it harder for me to connect with some of the characters.
One thing that I did enjoy other than the overall plot was how the story was written. I liked how there were sprinkles of these personal files on all of the characters throughout the book. It definitely helped me with figuring out who was who because in the beginning, I honestly kept getting confused between the two female POVs.
Overall, I thought that this was a fun, entertaining and fast-paced novel about these teen hackers trying to save the world. It was also a very short read as I read it within a day.
I’m surprised that I haven’t seen this book around on social media as much as I usually do with other YA novels so I didn’t know too much about this book until I had the opportunity to reach it from the Novl. I’m glad to say that I am thoroughly surprised by it because I actually really enjoyed it.
I loved the action and the geekiness of it especially with all of those computer hacking jargons. While the overall plot was really basic and simple, I thought that the author still did a great job with keeping the readers engaged. Honestly, I’m a bit surprised at how well she did so because the plot itself was really simple – there weren’t any real plot twists or complexities to it yet somehow she still made it engaging and interesting.
The one thing that I didn’t like so much was the characters. I thought that the three POVs were pretty random – I mean, why those three specifically and how come the other characters didn’t get their own POV? Another part was the fact that more than half of them were uber rich. For some reason, that just seemed incredibly unlikely. I’m not saying that it’s not possible but how are 4 of the best teen hackers from families with a net worth of a minimum of at least $1 million? I don’t know but it just gave off a very odd vibe to me and it definitely made it harder for me to connect with some of the characters.
One thing that I did enjoy other than the overall plot was how the story was written. I liked how there were sprinkles of these personal files on all of the characters throughout the book. It definitely helped me with figuring out who was who because in the beginning, I honestly kept getting confused between the two female POVs.
Overall, I thought that this was a fun, entertaining and fast-paced novel about these teen hackers trying to save the world. It was also a very short read as I read it within a day.
December 18, 2018
I received a copy Phantom Wheel from Hachette Australia to review.
When six genius teen hackers are invited to audition for the CIA in order to receive an exclusive scholarship and job offer, five of them, Issa, Harper, Ezra, Alika and Seth, jump at the opportunity and create the code that is requested of them. The sixth teen, Owen, walks out of the room, refusing to participate. Later, when the other five return home they each receive a message for Owen, “You’ve been played.” Owen has uncovered that the people interviewing them were not from the CIA; instead they work for one of the world’s largest telecommunications companies, Jacento. Worse, the hackers’ combined code works together to create a virus, known as Phantom Wheel, which is a malicious piece of code that will give Jacento access to everyone’s personal data and unparalleled control of the world. Determined not to let their creation be unleashed, the six teens band together to break into Jacento and steal back their code. While they are young, these teens are among the most creative hackers in the world. But will their combined skill be enough to protect them from a dangerous corporation with everything to lose?
Phantom Wheel is a fun young adult thriller that focuses on the adventures of six teen hackers determined to save the world from their unintentional creation. This book has a cool style to it, some interesting characters and an intriguing story that features a lot of technological and hacker elements to it. I only got this book a little while ago and managed to read through it pretty quickly, enjoying its various elements and aspects.
Click link for full review:
https://unseenlibrary.com/2018/12/18/...
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https://unseenlibrary.com/
When six genius teen hackers are invited to audition for the CIA in order to receive an exclusive scholarship and job offer, five of them, Issa, Harper, Ezra, Alika and Seth, jump at the opportunity and create the code that is requested of them. The sixth teen, Owen, walks out of the room, refusing to participate. Later, when the other five return home they each receive a message for Owen, “You’ve been played.” Owen has uncovered that the people interviewing them were not from the CIA; instead they work for one of the world’s largest telecommunications companies, Jacento. Worse, the hackers’ combined code works together to create a virus, known as Phantom Wheel, which is a malicious piece of code that will give Jacento access to everyone’s personal data and unparalleled control of the world. Determined not to let their creation be unleashed, the six teens band together to break into Jacento and steal back their code. While they are young, these teens are among the most creative hackers in the world. But will their combined skill be enough to protect them from a dangerous corporation with everything to lose?
Phantom Wheel is a fun young adult thriller that focuses on the adventures of six teen hackers determined to save the world from their unintentional creation. This book has a cool style to it, some interesting characters and an intriguing story that features a lot of technological and hacker elements to it. I only got this book a little while ago and managed to read through it pretty quickly, enjoying its various elements and aspects.
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https://unseenlibrary.com/2018/12/18/...
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https://unseenlibrary.com/
March 12, 2019
Je tiens tout d’abord à remercier Hachette Romans et NetGalley France pour l’envoi de ce roman. J’ai été totalement attiré par le quatrième de couverture de ce roman. Il faut dire que j’ai toujours aimé les histoires de hackers et je trouvais que justement celui-ci me sortirait des lectures que je lis en ce moment et ce fut réellement le cas ! J’ai adoré, l’histoire est totalement prenante et j’ai craqué pour tous les personnages ! 6 jeunes qui ne se connaissent pas sont appeler par la CIA pour espérer changer de vie grâce à leur talent de hacker sauf qu’en fait ils se font avoir sur toute la ligne ! Celui qui n’a pas voulu participer, Owen, découvre le poteau rose et contacte les autres pour essayer de se venger et surtout arrêter ce qu’ils ont développé à leur insu ! Commence alors une course contre la montre pour empêcher que la société développe cette technologie et arrive à avoir toutes les données des internautes.
Forcément, lorsque l’on est confronté à des événements qui nous dépassent avec des personnes que l’on ne connait pas, les relations se développent et surtout les liens se resserrent ! J’ai beaucoup aimé l’évolution des personnages mais aussi leur relation. Et puis, il faut dire qu’on s’attache clairement à cette petite bande. D’ailleurs, celle-ci vit quelques moments compliqués et dangereux et pourtant ils n’hésitent pas à se lancer dans les ennuis pour empêcher ce qui va se passer. Je ne connaissais pas cette autrice mais j’ai vraiment adoré le style et j’ai dévoré littéralement le roman !
En résumé, Phantom Wheel est un excellent roman qui vous tiendra en haleine du début à la fin ! J’ai trouvé l’histoire très prenante avec des personnages à la hauteur et un sujet que l’on aborde finalement pas beaucoup mais qui pourtant reste actuel et fait ressortir les travers d’internet et de la technologie. Bref, un roman qui change des dystopies et qui est vraiment passionnant !
Forcément, lorsque l’on est confronté à des événements qui nous dépassent avec des personnes que l’on ne connait pas, les relations se développent et surtout les liens se resserrent ! J’ai beaucoup aimé l’évolution des personnages mais aussi leur relation. Et puis, il faut dire qu’on s’attache clairement à cette petite bande. D’ailleurs, celle-ci vit quelques moments compliqués et dangereux et pourtant ils n’hésitent pas à se lancer dans les ennuis pour empêcher ce qui va se passer. Je ne connaissais pas cette autrice mais j’ai vraiment adoré le style et j’ai dévoré littéralement le roman !
En résumé, Phantom Wheel est un excellent roman qui vous tiendra en haleine du début à la fin ! J’ai trouvé l’histoire très prenante avec des personnages à la hauteur et un sujet que l’on aborde finalement pas beaucoup mais qui pourtant reste actuel et fait ressortir les travers d’internet et de la technologie. Bref, un roman qui change des dystopies et qui est vraiment passionnant !
October 28, 2018
Thank you to the Novl for sending me a copy for review! I look forward to posting a full review.
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Full review: https://mindofabookdragon.wordpress.c...
This book starts a little slow, but it picks up after the five remaining hackers perform their hack. It is heavily plot driven and full of action. This was probably the best part of the book -- it kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time.
It's told from three perspectives, and while this is really nice to see inside their heads, I felt that their voices bled together a little. I got a little lost trying to figure out who was telling the story sometimes. Overall, they were compelling and fun to get to know. I wish I had gotten to hear from the other characters too, but I can see being six voices being hard to keep track of.
I loved the setting and how detailed it was. I felt like I was right there with them as they untangled the web of lies.
As compelling as the story was, it wasn't quite the right book for me. I wanted to like it more than I did, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't read it.
I highly recommend this to people who love sci-fi and high stakes. It was a fun read nonetheless.
Happy reading,
Sophie :)
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Full review: https://mindofabookdragon.wordpress.c...
This book starts a little slow, but it picks up after the five remaining hackers perform their hack. It is heavily plot driven and full of action. This was probably the best part of the book -- it kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time.
It's told from three perspectives, and while this is really nice to see inside their heads, I felt that their voices bled together a little. I got a little lost trying to figure out who was telling the story sometimes. Overall, they were compelling and fun to get to know. I wish I had gotten to hear from the other characters too, but I can see being six voices being hard to keep track of.
I loved the setting and how detailed it was. I felt like I was right there with them as they untangled the web of lies.
As compelling as the story was, it wasn't quite the right book for me. I wanted to like it more than I did, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't read it.
I highly recommend this to people who love sci-fi and high stakes. It was a fun read nonetheless.
Happy reading,
Sophie :)
January 4, 2019
Overall, I enjoyed this fast paced hacker novel. I loved all the hacking talk and the fast paced action. It made me feel really smart just reading it because it was like I was being let in on a lingo I basically know nothing about. The cast was laudibly diverse and the characters, for the most part, had depth. The action was exciting and super interesting.
The one gripe I had was that a few of the characters felt stereotypical or from stereotypical situations. i.e. the Asian girl, though wicked smart, also is described as SUPER HOT. Perfect. There is an entire scene that is purely body focused that's coming from Owen's POV. The point of view makes sense because he's attracted to her, but since Alika was used as a distraction in previous scenes, it just felt like her skills were heavily overshadowed by looks to the point where I basically only remember that she was the hot Asian. Deebs definitely deep dove into the characteristics of the main players, but this one never cleared the bar for me.
Likewise, Owen, a football player's son, has a dad that is abusive. I felt like that, too, was skirting cliche, though she did develop the backstory around the mental health and the reasons he was the way he was.
It was like there were cliched characters with depth, which kept me reading.
I liked Harper, but Harper had a different nickname for each person. Because each person had a real name, a handle and a nickname, it made it difficult for me to keep the characters straight at the beginning of the story. Eventually, I let that go and just decided to listen and enjoy the ride.
It stands as a smart, fast-paced read with a few things that didn't work for me, personally.
The one gripe I had was that a few of the characters felt stereotypical or from stereotypical situations. i.e. the Asian girl, though wicked smart, also is described as SUPER HOT. Perfect. There is an entire scene that is purely body focused that's coming from Owen's POV. The point of view makes sense because he's attracted to her, but since Alika was used as a distraction in previous scenes, it just felt like her skills were heavily overshadowed by looks to the point where I basically only remember that she was the hot Asian. Deebs definitely deep dove into the characteristics of the main players, but this one never cleared the bar for me.
Likewise, Owen, a football player's son, has a dad that is abusive. I felt like that, too, was skirting cliche, though she did develop the backstory around the mental health and the reasons he was the way he was.
It was like there were cliched characters with depth, which kept me reading.
I liked Harper, but Harper had a different nickname for each person. Because each person had a real name, a handle and a nickname, it made it difficult for me to keep the characters straight at the beginning of the story. Eventually, I let that go and just decided to listen and enjoy the ride.
It stands as a smart, fast-paced read with a few things that didn't work for me, personally.
June 7, 2019
I'd give this an upward leaning 3.5 stars, but it's not quite up to par with earning a 4-star rating.
Six teenage hackers with very different personalities get a chance to prove their skills to the CIA and earn a scholarship and a guaranteed job... or so they think. It's a story that's been told at least 100 times before so it doesn't get many points for originality, but the hackers are all different and well-developed enough that the story does end up pulling you in.
And that might just be my main gripe. It took me almost half the book to actually care about what was going on in the plot. I was interested in the hackers but not so much in what they were doing. I've read this story before, it's something that I knew the ending to before the first fourth of the book was done. What made it interesting was the characters and I had a bit of trouble figuring out who was who at the beginning.
Six teenage hackers with very different personalities get a chance to prove their skills to the CIA and earn a scholarship and a guaranteed job... or so they think. It's a story that's been told at least 100 times before so it doesn't get many points for originality, but the hackers are all different and well-developed enough that the story does end up pulling you in.
And that might just be my main gripe. It took me almost half the book to actually care about what was going on in the plot. I was interested in the hackers but not so much in what they were doing. I've read this story before, it's something that I knew the ending to before the first fourth of the book was done. What made it interesting was the characters and I had a bit of trouble figuring out who was who at the beginning.
October 22, 2018
This was a fantastic read! Each of the six main characters had unique personalities and flaws but brought their own skills to the team. The story was fast paced but still allowed the reader to learn more about the background. The computer jargon was sometimes a bit confusing but I got the overall gist of what they were trying to accomplish. The chapters went back and forth from different POV's from the six teens. There was also lots of witty banter between the characters that added some comic relief to the situation they were trying to prevent. I would definitely recommend this to anyone who enjoys multiple POV's with some non traditional writing style aspects (instant messages and background files).
I won an ARC in a goodreads giveaway from the Publisher, The Novl, however all opinions are my own.
I won an ARC in a goodreads giveaway from the Publisher, The Novl, however all opinions are my own.
July 18, 2019
This was a fun and very light read. It's YA so don't expect it to get too deep. Every plot point is obviously stated. But the narrative moves at a lively pace, at that's good.
All the characters are teenagers and they have issues™️. They're also the only ones who can take down a mega evil super bad corporation. Why don't they go to the police? Because then there would be no story.
The romances were very annoying though. The protagonists are evenly split - three girls, three boys - but even though one girl is Ace, they're all paired up anyway. Let me roll my eyes.
The boys are all super macho - at one point, one boy nearly dies but he's 'man' enough to shake it off. Eyes are rolling again.
The girls are all hopeless at pop culture - because cliches. Sigh.
I enjoyed the book well enough but I won't be reading more.
All the characters are teenagers and they have issues™️. They're also the only ones who can take down a mega evil super bad corporation. Why don't they go to the police? Because then there would be no story.
The romances were very annoying though. The protagonists are evenly split - three girls, three boys - but even though one girl is Ace, they're all paired up anyway. Let me roll my eyes.
The boys are all super macho - at one point, one boy nearly dies but he's 'man' enough to shake it off. Eyes are rolling again.
The girls are all hopeless at pop culture - because cliches. Sigh.
I enjoyed the book well enough but I won't be reading more.
January 2, 2019
Take a bunch of teens who have one thing in common-superb computer hacking skills, but are completely different otherwise, then let them get sucked into a fake CIA recruiting test. Watch one smell a rat while the others fall for the ruse and create a set of extremely dangerous hacks that have the potential to give one company control of technology and social media. Let the one hacker who refused to bite stew until he has to alert the others to his discoveries. Mix well and serve. What ensues is a fast-paced and very well done techno-thriller for teens. While I sometimes had trouble keeping track of which character was which, that was a very small concern in comparison to how the story grabbed me and took me for a wild ride. I'd love to see this as a movie.
April 4, 2019
This book is about six hackers that are duped into creating an apocalyptic computer virus under the pretense of competing for a college scholarship. After they figure out that they have been fooled, they ban together stop the corporation from spreading the virus. The story is told from the perspective of three of the hackers. Sometimes it's confusing who is speaking because one of the hackers has given everyone nicknames. Also some of the texting parts just have initials for who his talking and that really made you concentrate on who was talking. But after you got past figuring out who was who, the book moved fast. I liked the little romances between a few of the hackers. This book was good, but not amazing. I give it three stars.
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