Review: I wanted to love this book...
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 02 25, 2013
...but it just didn't work for me. The first third was confusing, a series of flashbacks mixed in with the "present" day, but I found it hard to follow what was going on. I can see what the author was trying to do, and I think it could have worked with a stronger editor guiding him and tying it more firmly into the mystery of the Black Box (and perhaps exploring the deeper concepts about the nature of reality vs virtual worlds and the singularity that are hinted at in the text but not really discussed).The switch to a linear narrative partway in helped the book immensely, and the simple love story, mixed in with the details of her stalker and his research, was cute. I rooted for them, even though I knew how the story was going to end.But then once they caught up to the accident that started the book, it seemed to lose purpose and drift. Even once she gets the Black Box, we don't really get much of an impression of her losing herself to the world it presents, she just tells us that. And I didn't really buy the secondary romance and ending.It was well written and much better than the standard fare on the free books chart, but it just didn't click with me. I hope you enjoy it more than I did.