“There is truth to be shared. Let us begin…”
Volatile genius Mallory Park is living two lives. In one, she is trying to survive senior year, balancing OCD and social anxiety with looking after her troubled family. In the other, she spends her nights glued to her laptop, breaking into some of the world's most secure systems as the hacker Echo Six.
As part of a corruption-exposing network called The Forum, Mallory is far more at ease among the codes and hidden identities of her online world than she has ever been in the real one - but when other hackers suddenly begin to go missing, she finds herself caught up in a web of secrets that could have repercussions far beyond both...
When anyone can be a name on a screen, how do you know who to trust?
THE No.1 YA BESTSELLER NAMED ‘BOOK OF THE YEAR’ BY THE INTERNATIONAL RUBERY BOOK AWARDS. “A really unique story. This is a book that I recommend you read.” ― The Guardian
“There is truth to be shared. Let us begin…”
Volatile genius Mallory Park is living two lives. In one, she is trying to survive senior year, balancing OCD and social anxiety with looking after her troubled family. In the other, she spends her nights glued to her laptop, breaking into some of the world’s most secure systems as the hacker Echo Six.
As part of a corruption-exposing cyber network called the Forum, Mallory is far more at ease among the codes and hidden identities of her online world than she has ever been in the real one ― but when other hackers suddenly begin to go missing, she finds herself caught up in a web of secrets that could have repercussions far beyond both…
When anyone can be a name on a screen, how do you know who to trust?
****************** Going into Echoes I had an idea of what to expect, code, hacking, and some mystery. But there was so much more to the story itself. For starters, Mallory is not only a genius hacker, but she also holds herself responsible for looking after her Dad, and her brother after her Mum left them. She spends her days going to school, working, and caring for them, while her nights are for her computer. But Mallory also has to fight her fears every day. She has OCD, tapping out patterns, not liking touch or people invading her personal space, her gloves give her a sense of security and help her panic attacks. Seeing how this confident hacker can be so different when she is away from the computer really makes her appealing as a character. She isn’t the obvious choice that you would pick out and say, yes she is a fighter, but she does make you pay attention.
In the Forum, Mallory is Echo Six, she keeps herself private, only really communicating with The Asker, the person in charge of the Forum. When The Asker confides in Echo Six about the missing hackers, and then goes missing himself, there is only one person Echo Six turns to. Warden, her friend, if you could call someone who knows nothing about you a friend, and is the only person who Echo Six has confided in about the situation, and one of the only people who she thinks can help her.
Echoes is a page turning debut book from Laura Tisdall, and I am so glad I gave this one a chance. I devoured every single word of this book, going on a journey with so many twists and turns I never saw the end coming. I love Mallory as a character. She isn’t your typical heroine and has flaws, but this just makes it even more amazing that she does what she does. I really enjoyed seeing her come out of her shell, and slowly let her walls down, conquering her fears and opening up to someone. Warden was someone who was hard to imagine, until we get to see him, and although I don’t think he was what I pictured, he definitely fit his personality, and gave me a few laughs. Seeing Mallory and Warden work together was some awe inspiring work, the hacking that they do is beyond belief, and they make a great team.
The ending of Echoes came too soon for me, but the last few chapters had me speechless when someone who I did not expect at all came in to fight for Mallory and Warden. This made me feel better about Mallory’s current situation, and about her future too.
Final Verdict Echoes is one hell of a debut, and I can’t wait to see what else the author, Laura, has in store for us, whether it be a new book, or a new story for Mallory. Not only was a drawn into the story within the first few paragraphs, but I fell in love with the cover. I love how it portrays both sides of Mallory, with the fading effect of the code.
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