THE LOWDOWN:
Tossed from foster home to foster home, Olivia’s seen a lot in her sixteen years. She’s hardened, sure, though mostly just wants to fly under the radar until graduation. But her natural ability with computers catches the eye of Z, a mysterious guy at her new school. Soon, Z has brought Liv into his team of hacker elite—break into a few bank accounts, and voila, he drives a motorcycle. Follow his lead, and Olivia might even be able to escape from her oppressive foster parents. As Olivia and Z grow closer, though, so does the watchful eye of Bill Sykes, Z’s boss. And he’s got bigger plans for Liv.
FIRST IMPRESSION:
I should be used to this by now—the emptiness that fills me when I become homeless for the stretch of a car ride. I’ve done this more times than I can count, but the truth is that it sucks.
—ARC paperback edition
SNAPSHOT:
Sixteen-year-old Olivia’s story opens as she moves into a new foster home with the odd Mr. Carter and alcoholic Mrs. Carter. At her new school, she immediately ends up attached to chatty Sam and quiet Z–fellow orphans each, who secretly work for Bill Sykes as a gang of computer hackers, stealing from rich corporations to give to… themselves.
The hacking that Z, Sam, Liv and the others participate in are not nearly the expert-level that they’d want one to believe. While on the one hand, it’s best not to actively describe legitimate hacking techniques, on the other it destroys some of the characters’ credibility when they either do a quick Google search to get information or there’s no real repercussions to their criminal activities. In fact, just about any problem one of them has seems to be easily solved through a quick little password breaking-and-entering.
Z treats Liv as an innocent girl who needs protecting, who he needs to keep away from the harsh life of cybercrime. Even in Liv’s own chapters, she constantly questions why she is standing up for herself, how out-of-character is for her. These two points really undermine Liv’s strength, making her and Z poor role models. Sam, meanwhile, uses her cheerfulness to entice Liv, bringing her onto their team by eroding the new girl’s morals and making their group home the lesser of two evils. Between her history, current foster situation, and jerky fake-friends, it seems Liv just can’t catch a break.
The characters, for all their tech smarts, lack basic intelligence or healthy choices. The orphan-hackers drive fancy cars and motorcycles purchased with their stolen money; when a perverted DVD is discovered of one character, the characters choose vigilante justice over turning that DVD into the police from fear that they would discover their hacking habits; when one character slips another a date-rape drug, the victim continues to trust him despite her suspicions. Liv, for her part, seems like a sweet girl who falls in with a bad crowd. Though, the frequent sexually creepy or abusive situations might leave readers wondering if the men of this story don’t know how to keep their hands to themselves.
For folks looking for a modern retelling of Oliver Twist will find hints of modern social issues though not delved as deeply as in Dickens’ original, nor with any call to action from the audience. The love story between Liv and Z takes a more central role.
Appropriate for ages 13+. Some strong language, sexual harassment, history of sexual abuse, real-world and digital crimes especially stealing, drugging someone, violence especially against women, bullying, and revenge.
Deals with foster care, bad romance, abusive friends, identity, self-respect, moral grays, and sexual abuse.
GET IT ON YOUR SHELF:
If you…
– Love classic literature with a modern *twist*
– Enjoy heists, criminal organizations, and good guys working for bad people
– Need your romance wrapped in intrigue
– Have ever searched for the place you belong
THE ESSENTIALS:
YA retelling romance
Paperback & Ebook, 352 pages
Published November 5th, 2013 by Entangled Teen (ISBN 1622660285)
www.entangledpublishing.com/olivia-twisted/
(Review copy provided by Entangled Teen.)