Individutopia

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive any financial compensation or reward for this review. This review may contain SPOILERS

Individutopia follows the life of an Individual named Renee, as she survives living, working, and competing in London, a large city filled with thousands of other Individuals who are also living, working, and competing. Renee only interacts with her avatar images, created by her at various stages of her life. She is able to monitor her debt and order all the products she needs through a feed she sees in special lenses called Plenses. Her avatars cheer for her, keeping her motivated to be the best Individual she can be, as she interviews for jobs and competes with other Individuals to rise up in the ranks of the workforce. Then, one day, something goes wrong and this one incident puts her on a path to let go of her individualism and seek out companions and relationships, things she has never had. This path leads her outside of London to an unfamiliar territory where she has to learn how to live as part of a society. Living within a society changes her in ways she didn't expect.

I was intrigued by the plot of the story and it did not disappoint. The London society Renee lives in is all about the individual. Renee only interacts with the avatars she has made and has never met or spent time with any of the people she's competing against. At the beginning of the story, we are informed of Renee's debt and how the debt system works within this society that isn't a society. The individuals living in the city are charged various amounts for doing basic everyday things, such as steps taken or breaths inhaled. It's difficult to know what London looks like since Renee's vision is affected by special lenses she wears, called Plenses. The Plenses allow her to see her own avatars as she interviews for jobs on a daily basis. When she makes money from various jobs performed, her debt goes down, but it immediately goes back up as she buys necessities like food and hygiene products, very much like our current society. We earn, we spend, we spend a lot of time on our cell phones and on social media, and maybe not enough time with real people.

Renee's life starts to change when she destroys a kettle, and it throws her off the track she's on. This destruction and the following confusion it causes in her head leads to her leaving London in search of others who want to be with her. She doesn't have a word for what she is looking for, all she knows is that she wants to find another Individual that wants to be with her – two Individuals existing together. Renee is a good example of our own society – for all of the time we spend on our cellphones interacting with social media, we spend less time with others, but deep down there is a part of us that desires to be with other people. Renee discovers this desire and seeks out a society of people, and begins to learn what it is like to share with others, cooperate within a group, and how to feel real emotions for other people.

I think this book is a thought-provoking exploration of society and the impact technology and social media has on our lives. We spend a lot of time interacting with the world through Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and other social media sites, that our vision becomes distorted. We see the world through a false lens, impacted by the seemingly perfect lives others share on their social media feeds. It's when we put down the phones and spend time with other people, that our lives become richer. That is exactly what happens to Renee.

A short note about the closure of the book: throughout the book, Renee steps over a homeless man living on the street outside of her “pod”. At the end of the book, we discover who this man is and why he's on the street rather than being a part of the Individutopia of London. It was not something I expected. I also was surprised by the reveal of the omniscient Narrator, also not what I expected.

Overall, I found this story entertaining and a creative example of what society becomes when each member of that society focuses on individual needs instead of the good of the whole.