I'm a committed fan of Julia Keller's excellent Bell Elkins mysteries, so started reading this first in a YA SF dystopian series with anticipation. But it took me a while to get into The Dark Intercept.

In this 1st in a series, Earth is dying, the elite have fled to the artificial, utopian New Earth where the Intercept monitors emotions and uses the anguish of their worst moment as a weapon against criminals.

The story features a strong young heroine, torn between her loyalty to her father, her love for a young rebel, and the values she shares with her dead mother.

This was a fast read with a good amount of action. The characters were well written and the twist at the end was done well. Put this in the hands of James Dashner fans.

Julia Keller does a great job of setting up the book from the get go. We can truly picture everything happening even though it is based in a possible future for Earth. The characters and emotions are well written and simplistic enough to appeal to the young adult crowd. Parents alike will love for their children to read this clean, well thought-out novel. Keller over describes scenes and emotions throughout the first half of the book, sometimes even repeating herself, which leads to a slow to moderate pace. Stick with it as the action picks up in the second half of the book and everything is tied up nicely. Recommended to teens and adults alike.

SUMMARY: Violet Crowley, daughter to the President of New Earth, has spent her whole life being protected; by her parents, by the Intercept and by her friends. When Danny Mayhew, the guy she is in love with, comes across her screens at work as being in trouble, she immediately runs interference. Danny asks her to trust him in what he is doing but Violet just needs to know and launches into her own investigations, against everyone's wishes. Will she discover what is going on before it is too late?

Started out promising, then kind of fizzled. I liked the concept, but the plot wandered a bit too much for me.

I thought the idea behind this book was interesting. A machine that can monitor and provoke emotions in someone's head and use it to incapacitate people who may be committing a crime?!? I loved the idea of that because it isn't something that I think has been used before in dystopian or sci-fi books before. It is an interesting thing to think about because I don't think that people may realize how much power emotions have over people. They can motivate a person to commit certain acts or to react differently to situations.
My main issue with this book was Violet. I felt like the majority of her actions were prompted by her feelings for Danny. I'm all for romance but she didn't seem to care about anything else besides him. It was really frustrating for me because I wanted the book to focus on more interesting aspects of the book but since Violet was the only point of view it didn't end of happening.
I wish that the author would have spent more time on the actual story rather than what I just mentioned because book ended up feeling fragmented. I wanted to have more information about many other things that are brought up in the story like how people are chosen to come to New Earth or about the intercept itself. I know that there is supposed to be another book after this one which may help to explain more but I don't plan on reading it.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free digital ARC of this book. This book is true to its title description. The reader won't be disappointed when reading this book.

I...did not like this book. I gave it two stars because it had a lot of promise. But other than that I had to force myself to read it. It took me almost two weeks to finish this book and it never takes me that long to read something.

Violet is a boring character, first of all. I almost feel like she's got some social anxiety disorder because she is very, very awkward. Especially around Danny, the boy she's "in love with". Violet's dad is the ruler of New Earth and she works in Protocol Hall helping monitor Old Earth.

Their weapon of choice is people's memories, courtesy of the Intercept. The Intercept was created by boy genius Kendall Mayhew only he killed himself and that story just turns into one big trash pile toward the end of everything.

Here's my main problem: it took until I was about 60% through this book that something actually happened. For the first part it was Violet following Danny. Or pining after Danny. Or sitting at her father's feet. It was boring. I loved the idea of New Earth but it wasn't expanded. The Intercept sounds like a great threat, but I didn't get it. Maybe it's just me?

The end of this book happened SO FAST that I feel like the build up (the first 60%) could have been done a little better. Too little action at the beginning and too much at the end. There was no balance and not really enough depth of the characters for me to enjoy them.

Thanks to Tor Teens and NetGalley for the ARC.

Thank you so much to Netgalley for the eARC to review.
The Dark Intercept takes place in a world where the Earth has been decimated, and all the wealthy people now live in what I think is an orbiting space station. They are all tracked by a computer called "The Intercept" that keeps a vast catalogue of people's thoughts, memories and emotions. Those emotions are then used as punishment to keep the population in check. We follow the daughter of the President as she wrestles with what the intercept means for both the lucky ones on New Earth, and the less fortunate left on Old Earth.
I am a sucker for a dystopian novel, and the premise of people being punished by their memories was absolutely fascinating. The story seemed to wrap up a bit quickly and neatly for me, but it was definitely an incredibly interesting take on a dystopian world.

There were a few books this year that I picked up because of their amazing-sounding Blurb. New Earth and Old Earth, Sci-fi and Dystopian, this new perfect life where noone can ever harm you, where there are no crimes, no illnesses, no hunger. Unfortunately, it didn’t live up to my expectations.

There wasn’t a single character that I liked or deserved any sort of sympathy from me. Violet seemed unbelievably shallow, her father only had one trait – “make the world a better place no matter what”, and the rest of the characters weren’t developed enough for me to form any sort of opinion on them.

Violet constantly talked about her love interest, throughout the whole book and then NOTHING HAPPENED, the relationship didn’t go anywhere. If you read this book, you might disagree and say: Hey, some major events unraveled by the end of the book and Violet had her moment with Danny. And that is true, but it felt weird, considering the circumstances.

The concept was poorly executed, in my opinion, and deserved a little bit more depth and details. The characters deserved to have other conversations than “What is Danny up to”.

I liked the idea of the New Earth and the control over people’s emotions to prevent any crime, no matter how small it might be. I loved the idea of the Rebellion and a group of people fighting against the government, fighting to keep their emotions to themselves. And I wish it would have been written better, would have focused more on a core rather than someone’s love interest.

Earth is divided in two parts: Old and New Earth. In the last one live Violet Crowley, the main protagonist of the novel. Her whole world move around the Intercept, an incredible machine that it's able to convey image and emotions into people's minds with the objective to stop crimes.  And this book was a huge NO.

At the start, I must admit that I was really intrigued. But then... I don't know. Something happened to the story, to the characters that were good only at the start but couldn't remain so flat at the end of the story. So, that's why this books is a no for me:

The protagonist - Violet or Miss Privilege. She's a typical ya female protagonist with like zero personality or something particular. Okay, maybe she's really curious person that is clearly not afraid to do something dangerous, but still-   Most important: she's so faithful to her father to don't see how much he's an asshole. She's also not above trying to moralize people from Old Earth. Obviously no one is gonna challenge her.

The romance - 100% useless. It's a plot device with no actual reasons to exist because the plot could have goon forward even without it.

The other characters - There was a great friendship superficially explored, but for the rest I couldn't care about them, or neither love them.

The idea of the Intercept - First of all, the way it was created is utterly almost impossible. A theory idea, that's fine, but a practical one? Oh, just no. But also: how is that possible that no one is ready to fight after an Intercept "attack"? Everyone knows how it works. Everyone should be ready to understand that a mental image of the past is clearly strong but also started by a machine. This cannot work all the time. Cannot be any kind of anti-crime machine.

The story - I'm gonna say it: is that even and end? As I already wrote, I started this one with a good impression but after few times, after having reached half of the book, approaching the end... it was like everything was rushed and get wasted.

The Dark Intercept is one of that big books let down that, after having turned the last page, will probably made you ask if you wasted a bit your time or what got lost during the way - since in my opinion the premise was quite good. Many good ideas but all poorly done.

Violet Crowley is the sixteen-year-old daughter of the founder of New Earth, the safe home of people with the right to leave the sordid conditions of Earth behind. The Intercept keeps New Earth residents safe, and it monitors emotions and occasionally uses them to keep that safety intact. Julia has never known anything different, but when Danny, a cop and her long-time crush, is almost killed on Old Earth, Violet decides to investigate what he’s up to, and ends up finding out secrets she never imagined.

I enjoyed The Dark Intercept very much. The concept was unique and intriguing, and the book takes a hard look at what people are willing to put up with for their idea of safety. Technology is taken to the extreme in New Earth, and the idea is terrifying. Violet is pretty typical for a teenager, with her crush and her preconceived ideas of what’s really going on. She matures some in the book, but she still has a tendency to forgive all of Danny’s lies and actions, which is a bit annoying. The characters are rather one-dimensional, but I feel they will develop more as the series continues.

Galley provided by Macmillan-Tor/Forge via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Violet Crowley lives on New Earth which was founded by her father.
Everyone on New Earth, as well as those unlucky enough to be living on the ravaged Old Earth, have an Intercept chip implanted at their elbows. The Intercept uses emotional memories to prevent crime, something not everyone agrees with.
Violet knows that Danny Mayhew, her friend and the boy she loves, has a secret. He keeps travelling to Old Earth and Violet has to know why.
What is Danny hiding?

When I read the premise for The Dark Intercept I was really excited to see where it would go. However, I ended up disappointed.
Violet was an okay character but I didn't like how obsessed she was with finding out Danny's secret. He told Violet to trust him, but she had to go and invade Danny's privacy and stick her nose into his business. I found her reason for deciding to finally do some snooping a bit weak - she was fed up of waiting and just HAD to find out. It would have made more sense if Violet hadn't known about Danny's not-so-secret trips to Old Earth, and then discovering them she decides to find out what he's doing.
The writing style was alright but I lost interest several times.
The plot was okay. If it wasn't for the twists I didn't see coming then I would be giving this a lower rating.

Overall this was an okay, disappointing read.

This book is the kind of book I like to read curled up with a cup of coffee in my hand ready for some excitement in my brain while in the comfort of my home. Being of one of my all time favorite genres dystopian I really and truly loved this novel!

The concepts of how humans destroy and rebuild themselves in different situations and always find a way to have hope is what I love about dystopians. Humans are emotional and hugely flawed and it’s so cool to think about how someone would act in any given situation. Or even how I would act.

Imagining Old Earth being this desolate, dirty, and destructive place where death is an every minute occurrence and people are at each other’s throats for any grain of food is an awful, but not too unimaginable reality. There are places on earth today where people are starving and doing anything they can for a few pennies here or there to get enough food to feed their families. It’s why I find books like this to be so good and so necessary because they show not only what could be but also what is in a very real way.

What I also loved about this book was the Intercept itself. A machine that takes every single emotion you have and the moment that caused it in order to be used against you in an intervention should you commit a crime. The second I learned about what the Intercept was I knew I had to read this book and I am so glad I did. It is truly a fun ride.

However, it wasn’t just the dystopian elements that I loved about the book, but the characters themselves. They were all flawed and had so many different emotions and motives for their actions. While I wish I got more of the rebels side of the story it was interesting to see the choice of Violet as the main character and how her choices affected the outcome of the story. Plus, I did enjoy the romance in the story. It kept me on my toes that’s for sure.

The Dark Intercept is a riveting dystopian novel that will make you fill with wonder. It’s a novel that has me dutifully awaiting its sequel.

The Dark Intercept confused me a bit. It seemed like some sentences were more traditionally composed and others included casual phrases like "totally focused" or "get a clue, girl." The more casual parts seemed to come out of nowhere for me.

Oddly, once you've started getting used to the writing style, it's not so disorienting. But still, it can be disarming at first.

Either way, the story immediately interested me. A New Earth, an Old Earth, and a system that catalogs everyone's emotions constantly to use against them? Sounds cool to me.

Except it sort of fell flat. After I had to get used to the writing style and the strange way the main character seemed to relate to herself, the story just fizzled a little. The idea of the Intercept, the system that catalogs and can control emotion, seemed really awesome. I just feel like so much more could have been done with this cool dystopian thing that's halfway between The Giver and 1984.

Honestly, Violet's crush on Danny was also weird for me. So the romantic aspect wasn't there, either. It seemed more like a celeb crush than a real-life romance, and the character development didn't go far, either.

I don't want to go much farther into detail, since this is a non-spoiler review and I don't have much more to say. Definitely give The Dark Intercept a try if you're curious, and as always, let us know what you think!

Side note: By the way, the cover art for TDI is awesome. That's one thing I did like about it, but unfortunately it's superficial.

I received The Dark Intercept a couple months ago and I had started reading the book just a few days after receiving it as an ARC. After only a few pages, I had to set it down. I couldn't get into it. So I gave it some time and finally picked it up again to finish. And after having done so, or should I say, after having forced myself to do so, I can truthfully say it wasn't a pleasant experience. There are several aspects of this story that I found to be severely lacking, particularly concerning the plot, characters, and setting.

First things first, the characters are hollow and breathtakingly two-dimensional. Violet Crowley is one of the most unlikable protagonists I've come across in a while. She's unapologetic, but in the worst possible way in that she has no good reason to be; she's arrogant and manipulative and not very clever; her motivations are thin, and she uses people for her own gain and feels no remorse.

And her longtime crush on Danny Mayhew is never really explored. There's not much to know about Danny and for what we do know, he's achingly boring and unoriginal. It's incredibly hard to dig up any sympathy for Violet as she pines after Danny because we know next to nothing about the guy. And the same goes for Violet. There is nothing intriguing or idiosyncratic about her, and her relationships with her father and her best friend, Shura, are flat and mechanical at best. 

The world-building is severely lacking to the point where it's non-existent. There is little explanation of how Old Earth reached such a horrible state other than there were Water Wars and Mineral Wars. What are these wars? I couldn't tell you. We don't know if Old Earth experienced some grand apocalypse or if it just degraded naturally from both natural and human disasters. As for New Earth, I had a spectacularly hard time picturing its environment. The story is set far into the future but there was little to no futuristic technology or imagery to help ground us in Violet's world.

As a whole, the plot isn't very concrete or definitive. It's not really something you can sum up and say, "There it is, that's the beginning, middle, and end. That's the conflict, the climax, and the resolution." There's so much happening, but not much going on. The concept of the Intercept is fantastic, and yet, its potential is wasted in execution. There is the looming threat of this system that gathers human emotion and weaponizes it to corral human behavior, and it's something that can really place a dark cloud over the text, but it doesn't. You never really feel that lurking sinisterness. There's a band of rebels who oppose the Intercept, but their schemes are incredibly anticlimactic as is the end of this book.

The writing is lazy in that all the history is explained in blocks of information handed out by Violet's father in the forms of stories and remember-the-times rather than seamless bits of information weaved within everyday conversations, the setting, character thoughts and memories, and other clever ways of dispelling important information. And more often than not, the author tells you rather than shows you details about her characters and plot, allowing no room for imagination when its most needed.

This book has so much potential, especially with that clever idea of the Intercept, but it's missing so much heart. The story feels like words on a page, the characters are mannequins with voice boxes, and the futuristic world they live in is blurry and hard to see through all the foggy and unclear details. I wish I could say I'd be excited to read the next book in this series, but sadly I cannot :(

Such an interesting concept. Totally something I'd recommend to my students.

Goodreads Synopsis:
The State controls your emotions. What would you pay to feel free?

In a radiant world of endless summer, the Intercept keeps the peace. Violet Crowley, the sixteen-year-old daughter of New Earth’s Founding Father, has spent her life in comfort and safety. Her days are easy thanks to the Intercept, a crime-prevention device that monitors and provokes emotion. But when her long-time crush, Danny Mayhew, gets into a dangerous altercation on Old Earth, Violet launches a secret investigation to find out what he's hiding. An investigation that will lead her to question everything she's ever known about Danny, her father, and the power of the Intercept.

My Review:
I received an arc of this book through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I chose this book specifically because I like books about technology and the future. The cover is eye catching and the description sounded intriguing and I'm glad I read it.

What's more important? Safety or freedom? Violet is a sixteen year old girl with a job working for the government helping pilot the intercept, a massively important piece of technology that not only keeps track of everyone's emotion on new and old earth, but can use their worst and best memories and feelings against them rather than using physical violence when say, arresting someone. This tech is implanted in every citizen, and along with the camera's, easily surveys their little world.

It starts off with Violet watching a police chase with her friend Danny, down on Old Earth, through her computer with her work partner Rez, on New Earth. The perp is attacked and "intercepted" at the end of the chase, by intercepted meaning using the computers Violet and Rez are able to use the Intercept and implant an old and very painful memory into his head to completely shut him down. But Violet always feels weird about her job. Most of her thoughts throughout the book are about whether or not this is actually the right thing to do or not, to keep everyone safe by being literally inside their heads and tracking their emotions, or to let people have free reign of their own bodies.

Overall I really enjoyed this book and I'm glad I picked it to read next. Although I finished it a couple days after I received the copy, I waited to upload my review to the internet as the publisher requested. It's action packed and sucked me right into the story from the moment I started reading it. It kept me on the edge of my seat wondering what would be happening next. I couldn't put it down. The characters are lifelike and although they're in a Utopia hovering over top an apocalyptic wasteland, I think they really seem like people you could know and react realistically to their situations. The world they live in is so interesting. I definitely recommend you check it out for yourself if you haven't already.

Here's a link to the book on amazon, and another link to the authors twitter.

https://www.amazon.ca/Dark-Intercept-Julia-Keller/dp/076538762X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1509833070&sr=8-1&keywords=the+dark+intercept

https://twitter.com/DarkIntercept

Thanks for reading! Check out this review and more at my blog.
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The Intercept controls all emotions, and in doing so, prevents crime. How can you commit a crime when you're forced to relive your worst memories over and over? Violet is the daughter of The Intercept's founder, living a life of relative comfort and safety. Danny is a friend, hiding a secret that The Intercept wants to keep hidden. When Violet and Danny meet, they travel down a path that could see Violet reevaluate everything she knows about her world, her father and herself. This book was a fun adventure and like anything I've ever read.

I love a good dystopian novel, and this had so much potential, however I found it a little lacking.

The Intercept controls all emotions, and in doing so, prevents crime. How can you commit a crime when you're forced to relive your worst memories over and over? Violet is the daughter of The Intercept's founder, living a life of relative comfort and safety. Danny is a friend, hiding a secret that The Intercept wants to keep hidden. When Violet and Danny meet, they travel down a path that could see Violet reevaluate everything she knows about her world, her father and herself.

There's not really much world building. I didn't know much about why The Intercept was developed other than it being a group of people who feel superior to the rest of the population, or what had happened to the world to suddenly be in a state of such chaos for The Intercept to be formed, and a 'new World' to appear. A bit more information here would have left me feeling a little bit less confused throughout the novel. The pace is also slow at the start - which I normally wouldn't mind if the accompanying information helped me be more informed about the worlds surroundings, but I felt the plot just plodded along without much development.

The characters are also severely lacking, with little development, descriptions or emotional investment - meaning I didn't really care for any of them. I disliked Violet in particular - she didn't seem able to do anything on her own, or have the ability to form her own opinions. Danny treats her appallingly for most of the book, yet she never seems to do anything about it. The romance element is also extremely cliched.

I found the ending rushed, given the slow pace for the rest of the book, and it felt a little flat. Again, there seemed to be no emotion behind the writing - and perhaps because of this I couldn't get emotionally invested either.

A miss for me, unfortunately.