When Mae is hired to work for the Circle, the world's most powerful internet company, she feels she's been given the opportunity of a lifetime. Run out of a sprawling California campus, the Circle links users' personal emails, social media, and finances with their universal operating system, resulting in one online identity and a new age of transparency. Mae can't believe her great fortune to work for them - even as life beyond the campus grows distant, even as a strange encounter with a colleague leaves her shaken, even as her role at the Circle becomes increasingly public
The premise of this book scared the ever-loving crap out of me. The idea of my entire life out there on the web for people to watch is literally my worst nightmare. And then, to have them be able to comment and whine if I don’t react to their comments fast enough? Ugh. So, I thought this book would be delectably creepy and make a huge statement about how connected and out there for display we all are and the privacy issues this causes.
Instead, Mae was just a moron. She did things because everyone told her to, but I had no idea how she felt about what was going on. How did she feel when her transparency caused the death of a friend? When she embarrassed her parents? What would make her continue to have sex with a guy who flat out didn’t satisfy her and then lie about how great it was when she got nothing else from the relationship? I wanted the insight into the whys and how it felts, and instead it was a wishy washy meander without a point.
And, despite the great cast, don’t bother with the movie either. It was even more wishy washy. (But more funny Tom Hanks. I miss him. I still maintain that Joe vs the Volcano was vastly underrated.)
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