Dangerously Placed by Nansi Kunze Publisher: Random House Australia
Format: Paperback
Pages: 274
Source: NetGalley
Amazon | Goodreads
★★★☆☆
A fantastic romantic sci-fi thriller for teens featuring virtual reality, simulated environments, and just the right mix of mystery and first love
He lay on the ground, his eyes open but unseeing, his pinstriped body blinking in and out of existence like the picture on a fault television.
Alex Thaler can't wait to start her dream work experience placement at Virk, where staff from all over the world mingle in an astonishing virtual office. But when an employee is found murdered, the dream becomes a nightmare—because Alex is the prime suspect. Fortunately, Alex's friends are willing to brave shark tanks, disgusting pathology specimens, and even a nude beach in order to clear her name. Can a hippie chick, a goth girl in a lab coat, and two guys with a taste for blowing things up really help solve the mystery before Alex becomes the next victim?
Dangerously Placed was quite a thrill ride. I was blown away by how developed and realistic Nansi’s virtual reality technologies were! They were extremely well thought out. So much that I could definitely see us using similar technologies in the future. I also enjoyed how the book was physically broken up: Each chapter takes place over one day. This made it easy to keep track of how time progressed. Sometimes, for me, it is easy to lose track of how much time has passed in novels. Unfortunately, I did find Dangerously Placed lacking in character development initially… BUT by the end the flatness I felt at first was gone and I had a chance to see the intricacies of the secondary characters.
Though this was an interesting, developed story, it did not grab me like the many sci-fi books I have read before. Perhaps the timing was off, but I just wasn’t “feeling it.” I do however feel that this book definitely has a place in the YA sci-fi genre!
Dangerously Placed finished as a strong sci-fi adventure! At 274 pages, this qualifies as a quick read. I definitely recommend this to fans of the sci-fi and adventure genres. I’m very curious to see what Nansi has in store for us next!
I chat to Nansi all the time on Twitter (and have met her in person), but embarrassingly haven't read her books yet! This one sounds like a solid read, though--I really should pick it up!
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