Aaru by David Meredith

Rose is dying at just 16-years-old. Mr. Adams from Elysian Enterprises offers her parents the chance to save her. Only after she has died, do they learn that by save he meant to a hard drive where she’ll live forever in Aaru. Any time they want, they can call her up and talk to her. Elysian Enterprises hires her 13-year-old sister to be one of their spokesmodels which leads to a busy schedule and an obsessed fan that could compromise everything.

Aaru is one of the most thought-provoking books I have ever read. What makes you you? Is it enough to just talk to our dead loved ones like they are in a portrait at Hogwarts? What kind of life would they live in Aaru? Is it actually living? Can you really be happy if happy is the only possibility? If we could save people this way, would we want to? As I read, I found myself asking people these questions as I worked out my own answers (an informal Facebook poll on whether my friends would want to save their loved ones revealed very differing opinions).

The writing is excellent, the vocabulary is advanced. I noticed only a few mistakes (generally words that wouldn’t be caught by spell check). The story itself sucked me right in. I found myself caring very much what happened to the characters. Aaru is the first in a planned series and I will definitely be reading the next one when it comes out. This first book has a satisfying ending, no cliffhanger, but leaves plenty of openings for continuing on in the next book. I highly recommend reading this book to adults who enjoy YA and older teens!

5 (out of 5) Stars

Books Read in 2017: 127
Pages Read in 2017: 34,787
Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks (more book reviews!)
Reason I Chose It: I was asked to read and review it by the author