Thank you to NetGalley for giving me a copy of this book. 

I originally requested this book because it's Sci-Fi and I've been trying to read more in that genre. Sadly this was not the book for me.  Right off the bat I found that I didn't really care for the writing style. It came off as cheesy to me and I couldn't take the characters or the plot seriously because of it. Plus the use of bible verses as chapter headings made me think this book was possibly religious and I do not read anything that is Christian Fiction.

But I tried to ignore that and just focus on the story, and hopefully finding a character to like.  I didn't make it very far in this book. I found the story confusing to follow. I didn't understand what was going on with the scientific immortality stuff that was going on. And on top of that I didn't like any of the main characters. 

In the end I quit and gave the book 1 star on Goodreads.

The setting is pretty much made clear from the blurb.
I didn't like that in the first part there are lots of unknown premises that we must take for granted, until they are deducted from the text, sometime later. Also, I couldn't quite relate to the characters, but I liked the whole idea of the reborning with the prime memories and the dystopia setting.
The ending is another problem, because it isn't quite an ending, but a cliffhanger.

So more of a 2.5★ rounded up for potential..

Democracy Inc. is a very curious book indeed. Clearly aimed at the YA demographic, it emulates so many of current dystopian YA works that it almost seems an amalgam of those. Like in most of those, the population is being hooked on virtual reality and a range of drugs and lied to. You have a dashing main character who is a charming rogue, and a heroine who is capable and determined. Titus belongs to the ultraclass, the most powerful elite that runs the Corporate States of America. Liviana is a rebel. After a tragic incident the come together to help each other and uncover the truth.

Overall it has been enjoying. However, the characters behave in a very flippant way, which detracts from the credibility of the story, and the book largely reads like a film script. I also don't think I will ever get used to the 1st person present tense narrative. Of course, n this book you have five different perspectives and only that of Titus is in the 1st person. The book reminds me of Ready Player One, Red Rising, and vaguely echoes PK Dick. The way it ends I assume it is the first installment of many. I would have to see what the next book has to offer to decide if it worth persevering with.

I've constantly drawn to dystopian novels. I love the bleakness and world building, and I'm constantly looking out for new additions to the genre.

Democracy Inc follows an Earth that's been taken or by megacorporations instead of government. All natural resources have been depleted, and people are reduced to an employee number while the super rich rule from their towers. Titus is the son of a CEO, a member of this elite group who rules the world. However, with leadership thrust upon him following the untimely sentencing and execution of his father, Titus realises that the truth of his world may be harder to swallow than he thought. Corruption runs deep, and justice is nonexistent.

I thought the world building for this was good. The backbone of any good dystopian novel should be the world, and this was wonderfully descriptive and vivid. It's link to the current politics climate also made it all the more 'real' and believable - although I couldn't help thinking of the Disney Pixar film 'Wall-e' by comparison.

The plot itself is well paced, and moves along swiftly. There wasn't much 'filler' material, which is always good, and it kept me interested and entertained to the end. The main character of Titus is an unusual choice for s lead, as he comes from the 'elite' group, rather than the downtrodden masses, as is the norm for these kinds of stories. I liked that he was different, and at first unlikeable. He was well rounded and well developed. I also liked his relationships with Liv and Kai, and the three together make an interesting and diverse group, something more than the normal one dimensional characters.

As usual, I had an issue with the ending, which was a cliffhanger. It often leaves me feeling cheated when books do this because I want things to be fully completed and rounded up instead of lulling me into a feeling of security. It often feels to me as though the author is manipulating me to buy the next instalment too, instead of being satisfied with one story and one ending. However, his is obviously just a personal opinion.

A good YA novel to a crowded genre that stands out enough to be original. But I would have liked a conclusive ending.

***I was provided this ARC in exchange for honest reviews***

Ever think about what might happen if when you keep buying products from megacorporation’s and discredit what your government can do for you? Well you will find out exactly how terrifying your life could be if you read this amazing book!
Right from the word go! You are forced into the fast-paced action and you need to hold onto your seat! I did also enjoy the droll humor that this author bestowed upon Titus that broke up the weightiness of the story and furthered the plot.
I did not like how generic Emil’s betrayal felt. I don’t believe there was enough rapport between the two to warrant the disloyalty towards Titus. This and I did not care for the ending so much. It felt like all the story was racing towards a different end and this one was just random to me. Hence the 4 star review.

Books like this have an uphill battle to fight. They have to know everyone is coming to this as approximately the 75th technocratic dystopian oligarchy they've experienced. <i>Fahrenheit 451</i>? Check. <i>Neuromancer</i>? Check. <i>Pure</i>? Check.

The challenge is for <i>Democracy Inc</i> to deliver something real and new that doesn't get lost in the wash of familiarity -- which isn't impossible! A single well-crafted relationship can make a book awesome, or a new twist on a well-known world. For me, the closest this book came to something like that was Titus Remington. At first I was vaguely bored by him but, the more the plot came to revolve around his mother, the more I was able to relate to him and be interested. It's a crazy world where you could think leaving your wife to die on another planet was some brief, forgivable business decision. Somewhere near the end, Titus's humor had even become less grating and more endearing.

It never really went beyond that, though. To have rated <i>Democracy Inc</i> four or five stars, I would have needed more of:

• Ryu and Titus's friendship -- that's a super interesting dynamic, where Titus is a part of who Ryu is as a person, his "prime" memories, but Titus completely forgets about Ryu every time he's reborn!

• Titus and Emil's relationship -- Emil has all this deep-seated anger about how Titus has been privileged above him in ALL his lives when we don't even know anything about that. We see Titus and Emil interact like 3 times before Emil's betrayal, and it just feels out of the blue. You can't really feel the pain that Titus feels, because you have barely any context for their relationship.

• Some kind of real resolution. Them accomplishing like one thing and then being run out into the "deserted" outlands was disappointing, and made me feel like I had almost wasted the time I put into reading this book, if nothing's really going to happen until the next one.

This novel is going to be a hit with younger YA fans. For me it was overwhelmingly descriptive. This being said the plot was original, in a world of dystopian novels, this one stands out for its originality.