Sunday Street Team: Genius by Leopoldo Gout (Review + A GIVEAWAY)

Title: Genius
Author: Leopoldo Gout
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Publication date: May 3, 2016
Genres: Young Adult, Science Fiction, Thriller
Source: eARC from NetGalley

Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository

Trust no one. Every camera is an eye. Every microphone an ear. Find me and we can stop him together.

 

The Game: Get ready for Zero Hour as 200 geniuses from around the world go head to head in a competition hand-devised by India’s youngest CEO and visionary.

 

The Players:

Rex– One of the best programmers/hackers in the world, this 16-year-old Mexican-American is determined to find his missing brother.

Tunde-This 14-year-old self-taught engineering genius has drawn the attention of a ruthless military warlord by single-handedly bringing electricity and internet to his small Nigerian village.

Painted Wolf-One of China’s most respected activist bloggers, this mysterious 16-year-old is being pulled into the spotlight by her father’s new deal with a corrupt Chinese official.
The Stakes: Are higher than you can imagine. Like life and death. Welcome to the revolution. And get ready to run.

My Review:

I love books about a group of genius kids trying to solve problems, so I was really interested to read this one.  Genius is told from the POV of three characters. Usually I am not a huge fan of multiple POVs in books, but I think it really worked with this one.  All three characters has distinctly different voices, so it would easy to tell them apart.  I really enjoyed every character in Genius.  Even the secondary characters had distinctive and interesting personalities. Tunde was my favorite and I would have liked to read more from his POV, especially since he had his own interesting side-story that ran concurrent with The Game. There are a lot of visuals sprinkled throughout the book, like diagrams and maps.  I thought these were fun additions, even though sometimes they didn’t add much to the story.

There was a lot of technical terms throughout the book that were related to computers, math, and engineering, and sometimes I got confused at all the unfamiliar language. It did add some authenticity to the genius minds of our characters, at least for me since a lot of the jargon went over my head! I did get a slight Ready Player One vibe from Genius, although genius focused more on technology and hacking aspects, and RPO is more about gaming.

I think my favorite part of the book was reading how close the teenage game players became.  They were all so willing to help out Tunde any way they could.  They were willing to risk their own spot in the game and break the law to make sure Tunde was able to complete his mission.

The reveal of the “bad guy” was predictable but I still enjoyed reading how it played out. There were a lot of twists and turns that I wasn’t expecting.  The last 20% of the book was wild and I never knew what was going to happen next.  I had to keep reminding myself that these characters were just teenagers dealing with so much deceit, blackmailing, and lawbreaking.  The ending felt a little abrupt and left me wanting more and needing answers, so I hope there will be a second book.

About the Author:

 

Leopoldo Gout is the producer behind many films including Days of Grace, which A.O. Scott of the New York Times called “a potent and vigorous film.” He is also a writer, artist, and filmmaker. Leopoldo is currently involved in various film and television projects including major adaptations of the Alex Cross series, with the author James Patterson and the upcoming film adaption of Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life.

Website | Twitter

Giveaway:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Uncover the Quote:

___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___  a part of it.”  ___, ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___, ___ ___, “___ ___ ___ ___, ___ ___. ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___.”

Check out the other SST blogs this month to complete the quote!

Sierra	sdavreads.wordpress.com	5/1/2016	Interview
Emily Hughes	Http://www.little-book-wyrm.com http://www.little-book-wyrm.tumblr.com	5/1/2016	Review
Nicole Lynn Hoefs	http://www.boundlessbookaholic.com/	5/1/2016	Review
Victoria	https://thepetitebookblogger.wordpress.com	5/1/2016	Review
Amber	https://bookstacksamber.wordpress.com	5/1/2016	Review
Wren	thebookmatochronicles.blogspot.com	5/8/2016	Review
Heather DeFilippis	http://hermitlibrarian.blogspot.com	5/8/2016	Review
Annalisse	http://hopefulreads.wordpress.com	5/8/2016	Review
The Book Jar Blog	Thebookjarblog.wordpress.com	5/8/2016	Review
Nori	www.readwritelove28.com	5/8/2016	Review
Karen Blue	http://kissinbluekaren.com	5/15/2016	Interview
Sara McGraw	www.readingthebluesaway.blogspot.com	5/15/2016	Review
Lila Harrison	thebookkeeperssecrets.wordpress.com	5/15/2016	Review
Jessica	novelcravings.wordpress.com	5/15/2016	Review
Lynette	www.charminglysimple.com	5/15/2016	Review
Ameenah	Tattooed Pages	5/22/2016	Excerpt
J.A. Jimenez	Coffee Inked Tales – http://hercoffeeinkedtales.wordpress.com	5/22/2016	Guest Post
Rochelle	http://www.chocomeiske.com	5/22/2016	Interview
Em	piplupsshadow.blogspot.com	5/22/2016	Review
Meleika	endlesspagesinc.blogspot.com	5/29/2016	Review
MC	http://blameitonthebooks.com	5/29/2016	Review
Coley	Www.happycloudreviews.com	5/29/2016	Review
Bayy	bayyinwonderland.wordpress.com	5/29/2016	Review ARC Tour
Wesaun	Oreos & Books: oreoandbooks.wordpress.com	5/29/2016	Review ARC Tour

 Have you read Genius yet? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments! I received this book in exchange for an honest review.