Free to Fall by Lauren Miller (review)

Rory loves her Lux, this dystopia’s hyperextended version of iPhone Siri, and she is more than happy to let it make her eating, dressing, transportation, and most of her significant life decisions. Even so, Rory recognizes her own intelligence, and she knows that she deserves her hard-earned spot in a prestigious school. She soon finds, though, that all is not well there, and she becomes embroiled in mysteries around secret societies, mass cultural domination via nanotechnology, and new revelations about her own parents that shake her foundation of what she always believed about herself. There’s a high body count here, but there is never much doubt that the key characters will all emerge just fine, each following paths that may not be the most ethical or socially enlightened but that do ring true to the character development. Fans of the lighter batch of dystopias where mostly all ends well and the problems are fixed by the epilogue will find this a worthy addition, and romance buffs will likely find Rory’s steamy, smoothly developed relationship with her ally North to be a satisfying one.