Kicking off with our main character Violet. I liked the place she held in society, she's the daughter of New Earth's founder but she's not 'princess-like' she holds a job and operates pretty much as a normal member of society. This could so easily have been a 'riches to rags story, a route which I am glad the author didn't go down. One thing I will say about Violet is that she is written as a very internal character. She'll be in a short conversation with someone but you get about a page of her own thoughts about what she ought to say. It makes for a detailed insight into her character but you do wonder how much of a conversation with her would be filled by awkward pauses as she monologued to herself...

The concept of 'the intercept' is very interesting, I'll be interested to see where else it goes in future novels. But the idea of a world where people are forcibly controlled by their emotions was something that I don't think I have encountered before (or if I have it has never been the driving force as much as it is in The Dark Intercept. This is another YA book that forces you to tackle some difficult issues such as identity and whether people should have access to our most personal feelings. But it doesn't slip too far into being preachy or feeling like an ethics lesson disguised as a novel.

The only issue I had with this book was the way the romance felt a little tacked on? In some ways it was necessary as a plot device, but I think there was too much of a desire to resolve things before the end of the book. Goodreads leads me to believe that there are potentially other books in this series, if that's the case I think this could have been developed further in a later novel rather than stuck onto the end of this book.

I think this book took a powerful concept and ran with it well. There isn't as much action as I initially expected but there are a number of powerful character driven moments that shape this into a great read. In many ways it ticks a lot of the stereotypical 'first there was the hunger games what do we do now' novel boxes but it actually reads as its own novel, I look forward to seeing what comes next.

My rating: 4/5 stars

By the way, I received a digital advanced review copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

I have so many thoughts about this book and not very many of them are good. There are spoilers ahead but I'll tag them.

First off, I think the concept for The Dark Intercept was perfect and terrifying. It reminded me of a cross between the Giver and 1984 and the first few chapters were sufficiently riveting for me to start really getting into it. I also really enjoyed the superior writing style, which was kind of prose-y but in a pleasant way. I had a lot of quotes marked while I was reading. Unfortunately, the concept and the writing were kind of the only things that worked for me, and there was quite a lot that didn't.

First, the characters. None of them were particularly three-dimensional. Violet particularly annoyed me, because she a) used people, and b) never grew a spine. Like, ever. The entire book was either her having no consideration for what someone else wanted, or just doing whatever Danny told her to do.

Also, side note before I forget: Danny was, pardon my French, a real asshole. The ENTIRE book he treats Violet poorly, and just excused his own actions with "You just need to trust me," and Violet.... did??? She is treated badly this entire book by Danny but she just takes it and is still in love with him. Ugh. Danny is such an asshole that he gets an entire paragraph designated to how much of an asshole he is. Screw you, Danny.

The romance was a part of the book that I found really problematic, until the very end, when it was just a little problematic (but significantly less cliche than before!). The way I saw it, there were two possible romance paths this book would take, both equally terrible trope-y YA unhealthy relationships: a) Violet would let Danny walk all over her because "she loved him!!!!!11!!!1!!111!!!!" and he would eventually turn out to be a "nice" guy and they would fall in love and Violet would forget all about the way he treated her before (moral of the story: girls, if a guy treats you like crap, you should stay with him because he could be a good guy underneath!), or b) Violet would realize that Danny was an asshole and would fall in love with this dude named Reznik, her coworker that has a huge crush on and always asks her out (moral of the story: girls, if a guy won't leave you alone even after you've made your intentions clear, you should just go out on a date with him already!! You may actually like what you find!). In case you couldn't sense my sarcasm in those two morals, let me be clear: girls, if a guy treats you like crap, drop him. If a guy won't leave you alone after you've made your intentions clear, report him to your school administration/employer. Don't put up with this.

*This paragraph has romance spoilers*

Every time I read a book where a male love interest treats the main girl like crap, what I want for the ending is for the girl to grow a pair. Say, "yeah, I know you think it was for my own good or whatever, but you actually acted like an asshole and you were really mean to me so you know what? I'm not interested in you anymore." This rarely happens in YA. When it does, the main girl usually falls into the arms of her guy friend who has been in love with her for years, which is equally problematic (see: above morals). So, when the romance arc resolved itself, I was kind of happy with Violet?? But also kind of not. I mean, yeah, she doesn't fall back into "Danny's" arms, but.... she does forgive him..... and they become friends.... and will probably start dating again. The Dark Intercept was so freaking close to breaking out of those toxic YA tropes, but it inevitably fell back into them, which was so disappointing to me.

*End of romance spoilers*

One other good thing with The Dark Intercept were the bomb. a. plot. twists. I'm kind of glad I held on through my internal screaming of the first 70% of the book because it was almost worth it for how the plot picked up in that last 30%. I truly did not see what was happening coming, in a good way.

Oh, and one more thing about Danny: As far as I could tell, the book lists no specific age for Danny. So I tried to do my own calculations. If Danny is a cop, and the other characters constantly refer to him as a man instead of a boy, and *spoiler* he is actually Danny's OLDER brother, Kendall *end spoiler* then I would put Danny at about 21. Violet is 16. Not okay. Now, I may be totally off on what Danny's intended age is, but whenever I read a book where the male love interest has a real job that you need actual training for and they act like an adult then I really need that specification of how old they actually are so I can know whether to blacklist the book or not.

In conclusion, I wouldn't really recommend The Dark Intercept to anyone. Fresh concept and exceptional writing don't really make up for flat characters and toxic YA tropes. I am glad I got through it.

P.S. No worries, I won't post my review until two weeks before the release date, as requested. I included the link to where it will be eventually.

Great concept but the second part of the story left me disappointed.

Violet is the sixteen year-old daughter of the founding father New Earth and she has lived a life of prosperity, peace, safety, and comfort. Life is easy thanks in part to the Intercept, a crime prevention device that monitors your thoughts and emotions and can potentially use them against you in order to keep the peace for all on New Earth. When Danny, her long time crush gets into a dangerous situation down on Old Earth, Violet decides to secretly begin investigating. Her findings lead her to question everything she knows about Danny, her father, and the Intercept.

I was really looking forward to to reading The Dark Intercept by Julia Keller. Unfortunately, it didn't really work for me. This is actually one of those stories where I preferred the concept to the final execution. Basically, it's a YA sci-fi dystopian that deals with the issue of the state controlling your emotions and thoughts. Think 1984, except instead of Big Brother you have the Intercept. The Intercept monitors everything - if you try to commit a crime, it makes you relive your worst memory and feel all of emotions that went along with it. It's pretty effective that way at stopping crimes - and it's a government approved program. Sounds pretty intriguing, doesn't it? I was totally expecting something along the lines of 1984, Minority Report, and a dash of the Dementors from the Harry Potter series. The first half seemed fairly promising as it begins to set up our characters and the world although at a slower pace. By the end, though, I realized I wasn't invested in the characters and there's not enough development in the individuals, or when it building their relationships. I was also disappointed with the world-building of New Earth, the background on it and Old Earth, and the Intercept itself. Unfortunately, all of these are lacking as well - I should have had less questions regarding each by the time I made it through that rushed ending.

Overall, The Dark Intercept by Julia Keller has a lot of potential to be a good YA sci-fi dystopian in the vein of a couple of classics. It didn't quite work out for me as I felt there wasn't enough world building or character development to really be invested in the long run. You may want to try this series opener if you are looking for a YA novel with the flavor of 1984 or Minority Report. By the way, I have to admit that I was totally waiting for a cat nun to show up!

Reading the synopsis of this book and seeing the cover already sold the book for me. However, I never expected it to have so many impacts on me. I love the whole concept of the book. It gives me something to think about and it makes me realize how important emotions are.

I think I like the plot more than the characters. The plot twist after plot twist keeps me on the edge of my seat. I feel like I've seen enough female protagonist to not be wowed by Violet but I also think that she is the perfect character in this story.

I could go on and on with this book. I probably would in my blog. Will surely post a review when the book comes out!

The first half of this book was goooood--really good! I was into it and I was *liking* it... and then it completely went awry. I'm not even sure what had happened... the second part felt too rushed, too confusing, and it was a chore to get through!

A new YA series that will keep you wanting more. Julia Keller Has written something both masterful and inticing. Young or old, the story grabs you from the first page until it's gripping conclusion. The books that follow will no doubt continue the exciting tone set in this initial story.

The idea of the state controlling the emotions of its citizens is always a compelling one to explore, but the way the tech is explained doesn't make any sense. Why would people agree to this?

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for sending me a digital ARC of “The Dark Intercept” by Julia Keller. I am sorry to say that this story did not keep my attention. It was a slow start and I never felt that gripping moment where I really became interested. I think if the story had more drive I would have found it more compelling.

It started off slow, but had potential. Even though some of the ideas were overdone (controlling emotions, different rules for different social classes, etc.), I liked a lot of aspects of it. However, the 2nd and 3rd pars of the book were very rushed. So much happens, and it is not fleshed out/disingenuous to the story.