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    Genesis Girl
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    Genesis Girl
    Unavailable
    Genesis Girl
    Ebook289 pages5 hours

    Genesis Girl

    By Jennifer Bardsley

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    Eighteen-year-old Blanca has lived a sheltered life. Her entire childhood has been spent at Tabula Rasa School where she's been protected from the Internet. Blanca has never been online and doesn't even know how to text. Her lack of a virtual footprint has made her extremely valuable and upon graduation Blanca, and those like her, are sold to the highest bidders. Blanca is purchased by Cal McNeal, who uses her to achieve personal gain. But the McNeal's are soon horrified by just how obedient and non-defiant Blanca is. All those mind-numbing years locked away from society have made her mind almost impenetrable. By the time Blanca is ready to think for herself, she is trapped. Her only chance of escape is to go online.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherIndependent Publishers Group
    Release dateJun 14, 2016
    ISBN9781944816773
    Unavailable
    Genesis Girl
    Author

    Jennifer Bardsley

    Jennifer Bardsley believes in friendship, true love, and the everlasting power of books. A graduate of Stanford University, she lives in Edmonds, Washington, with her husband and two children. Bardsley’s column, I Brake for Moms, has appeared in the Everett Herald every week since 2012. She also writes young adult paranormal romance under the pen name Louise Cypress. When Bardsley’s not writing books or camping with her Girl Scout troop, you can find her walking from her house to the beach every chance she gets. Sign up for Bardsley’s author newsletter, and you’ll receive Marlo’s stir-fry dinner recipe: https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/o1l7v3.

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    Reviews for Genesis Girl

    3.5/5

    18 ratings8 reviews

    What did you think?

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    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      I received a free ARC copy from Month9Books to provide an honest review.

      Genesis Girl takes a few pages to get into and understand the world Bardsley built. Blanca is a 18 year old girl who is pure from the internet, technology and virtual image. In this world there was a brain cancer epidemic caused by cell phones and other wireless technology and some parents wanted their children to be raised without it, making them Vestals. Vestals are harvested by companies to be their models and construct their public image for the masses to follow, or they are harvested by private citizens, also known as going Geisha. Blanca's future is at risk when a viral (journalist/paparazzi) breaks into the school, takes her picture and uploads it on his website. She ends up being harvested by a private citizen, who's estranged son was the viral who took her picture. She must now confront this viral in order to make her purchaser happy by reuniting them. Blanca is very obedient, but upset that she didn't get the typical Vestal life. She learns a little about technology and the Vestal history through the story, making her question everything she believes.

      The story takes on the extreme of tech addiction and tech avoidance showing both are not the right answer, but a happy between is possible. The pace is fast and the story builds/moves fast. It keeps the reader hooked. A lot happens in the last 80 pages or so and it was a bit confusing until it's explained better at the end. There was some short unnecessary subplot reveals that at this point feels unnecessary, maybe in the future books it will play a bigger role, but it just felt stacked onto everything else that was going on in the end. I really enjoyed the book, it was a fast read and kept me wanting to find out more about this world.
    • 5/5
      Blanca and Seth couldn't be more different. One raised to believe technology is evil and that it is an honor to be "pure" with no profile on the internet save what the company who purchases her contract wishes to portray in their advertisements. The other has a past that has bred a belief that privacy is a way to hide transgressions and has become a viral blogger in response. Will these two be able to find a middle ground?
    • 4/5
      This book definitely made me consider how much I personally interact with technology - especially my smartphone - as it depicted the difference between the Vestal, Blanca, who didn't have any knowledge of science or technology, and the Virus, Seth McNeal, whose words and images are all over the Internet. Everyone's obsession with their "finger chips" parallels our current interactions with our smart phones. I would have liked the characters to be deeper, and it felt like there were too many subplots by the end of the book that could have been better fleshed out. Overall, I still enjoyed Genesis Girl and would like to see more with these characters.I received a free ARC of Genesis Girl from Month9Books in return for an honest review.
    • 4/5
      This book was quite an interesting read. It focuses on a future world where everyone is basically obsessed with technology and having access to the internet except for a few "pure" people called Vestals who are sheltered from technology and are supposed to be the "white guiding light" in this world. The book was a real page turner and was full of unexpected twists. I couldn't put it down!
    • 3/5
      When I first started reading this book, I wasn't able to understand what was going on and was confused about what the story was about, but was finally able to figure out the premise. It took an interesting look at what what it would be like to live in a community that totally cut itself off from technology in a dramatic way. What was developed to be a world without technology being cult-like, almost in a Stepford wife sort of way.
    • 3/5
      I received this e-book of Genesis Girl from LibraryThing in exchange for a fair and honest review.I absolutely loved the premise of Genesis Girl - technology has overtaken our lives in a very real way, and it was quite realistic to me that one day technology "virgins" would be rare and far between. Blanca is one such person - she has been shielded from technology her whole life and was raised in a cloister, from which she is auctioned off to the highest bidder for them to "harvest" her purity. Most purchasers use these people, called Vestals, to sell their products. Blanca ends up being sold to a private purchaser (Cal), who has an ulterior motive to her use. Blanca has been trained to follow her purchaser's wishes, and in the process she ends up falling for someone she did not expect, while discovering the secrets of her past.As I've already said, I really liked the theme of this book. A few things did fall a little flat for me though - I was expecting more of a "wow" factor for Cal's motives in purchasing Blanca. It was such a big deal in the book, but he only wanted help with a family situation that I feel could possibly have been achieved using any vestal. Additionally, I feel the ending was very rushed - the discovery of Blanca's mother was very sudden and the reaction was a bit underwhelming, and I just wanted more in general.That being said, it was an entertaining and enjoyable read, and I would read more from Jennifer Bardsley in the future.
    • 4/5
      I received a free ARC copy from Month9Books to provide an honest review.

      Genesis Girl takes a few pages to get into and understand the world Bardsley built. Blanca is a 18 year old girl who is pure from the internet, technology and virtual image. In this world there was a brain cancer epidemic caused by cell phones and other wireless technology and some parents wanted their children to be raised without it, making them Vestals. Vestals are harvested by companies to be their models and construct their public image for the masses to follow, or they are harvested by private citizens, also known as going Geisha. Blanca's future is at risk when a viral (journalist/paparazzi) breaks into the school, takes her picture and uploads it on his website. She ends up being harvested by a private citizen, who's estranged son was the viral who took her picture. She must now confront this viral in order to make her purchaser happy by reuniting them. Blanca is very obedient, but upset that she didn't get the typical Vestal life. She learns a little about technology and the Vestal history through the story, making her question everything she believes.

      The story takes on the extreme of tech addiction and tech avoidance showing both are not the right answer, but a happy between is possible. The pace is fast and the story builds/moves fast. It keeps the reader hooked. A lot happens in the last 80 pages or so and it was a bit confusing until it's explained better at the end. There was some short unnecessary subplot reveals that at this point feels unnecessary, maybe in the future books it will play a bigger role, but it just felt stacked onto everything else that was going on in the end. I really enjoyed the book, it was a fast read and kept me wanting to find out more about this world.
    • 4/5
      Blanca is very special. She’s spent her entire life sequestered in a special school, where there is no Internet technology and students are kept hidden from the outside world and even from their families. They don’t ever see the outdoors and have been trained to follow all commands, without any thought to their personal feelings or desires. Access to any Internet is forbidden and the students are protected from the contamination of online exposure. Once the students come of age, they are auctioned off to the highest bidder. Usually it’s corporations who pay for these young adults who are called Vestals. They buy them for promotional purposes and advertising, showcasing the untainted in conjunction with their products. The Vestals are highly sought after and they bring financial rewards to the companies that buy them. When Blanca’s auction date approaches, she finds herself accidentally exposed to the media and she fears this may prevent her from ever becoming a Vestal spokesperson. Blanca and her other Vestal friends have been thoroughly indoctrinated and appear to believe everything they have been taught. Blanca herself has difficulty if asked to make up her own mind. She’s terrified of not having a direct command to follow. The paparazzi are even more outrageous than in real life. They will go to violent extremes to get photographs of the Vestals. In Blanca’s new placement following the auction, she must get close to one of the very photographers that she has been trained to hate. Bardsley’s book is a quick read that moves along at a swift pace. The idea of raising children in an environment totally free of the Internet is a fascinating concept in today’s world of instant access and self–absorption. It’s virtually impossible to have no online presence today when even babies are immediately shared through social media. What seems strange is the manipulation of these online virgins by the companies that buy them. Life for Vestals is so tightly controlled and their life after the auction (also called harvesting) is almost like victims of Stockholm Syndrome. Thank goodness for some interesting developments with the tattooed journalist, or Virus, as he’s called. Bardsley has hit upon some interesting concepts with her online virgins and the Tabula Rasa school that treats students like a blank slate to be brainwashed and molded. The writing is simple but the action carries the book. Blanca’ behavior is not always consistent but she is still an interesting character.