patchworkbunny reviewed Jinxed by Amy McCulloch
Review of 'Jinxed' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
Lacey Chu wants to be a companioneer at MONCHA, one of the engineers responsible for creating the robotic pets called baku. First she needs to get into Profectus and get a level 3 baku. Her dreams seem to be at an end when she receives a rejection letter and has to settle for a level 1 beetle, until she discovers a broken baku at the bottom of a ravine. But Jinx isn't just any baku...
Ahh this was such a fun, lovely book with a career in STEM at the heart of the character's desires. It has a similar feeling to Amy's Potion Diaries books, although published under different names. The setting is reminiscent of the campuses in Silicon Valley, massive tech companies in control and keeping their employees close, whilst providing what looks like a dream from the outside.
Set in the near future, baku are replacements for mobile …
Lacey Chu wants to be a companioneer at MONCHA, one of the engineers responsible for creating the robotic pets called baku. First she needs to get into Profectus and get a level 3 baku. Her dreams seem to be at an end when she receives a rejection letter and has to settle for a level 1 beetle, until she discovers a broken baku at the bottom of a ravine. But Jinx isn't just any baku...
Ahh this was such a fun, lovely book with a career in STEM at the heart of the character's desires. It has a similar feeling to Amy's Potion Diaries books, although published under different names. The setting is reminiscent of the campuses in Silicon Valley, massive tech companies in control and keeping their employees close, whilst providing what looks like a dream from the outside.
Set in the near future, baku are replacements for mobile phones, providing connection to the world without having to worry about charging. They can be seen as status symbols, with level 1 insect bakus being the cheapest but least impressive. Kids still have phones but when they are 15 they get their first baku and celebrate by destroying their old phones in various creative ways.
It opens with a chase and a lost baku, which leaves it pretty obvious to the reader that it was Jinx but Lacey does not know that. After fixing the mangled cat baku, Lacey gets a message from Profectus confirming her admission and showing her registered baku as Jinx. Something's not right but to question it might jeopardise her future.
Jinx has typical cat attitude, not obeying commands and running off at the worst moments. Something's not right, bakus aren't meant to act like that. Is it possible that Jinx is thinking for himself?
Part of the book follows the baku battles at her new school, a bit like Pokemon battles! I wasn't too keen on this aspect but I liked the fact that they could win points for fixing baku as well as destroying them. The skills are equally important.
Things are just getting really interesting when the first instalment ends. So I will be eagerly awaiting book two.
