Release Date: April 1st 2014
Published By: HarperCollins
Pages: 400
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Purchase: Click here to purchase

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Synopsis: What if a microchip could identify your perfect match?

What if it could be used against you and the ones you love?

Eight years ago, Mercer Corporation’s M-Bands became mandatory. An evolution of the smartphone, the bracelets promised an easier life. Instead, they have come to control it.

Two years ago, Maggie Stevens watched helplessly as one of the people she loves most was taken from her, shattering her world as she knew it.

Now, Maggie is ready. And Quentin Mercer – heir to the M-Corp empire – has become key to Maggie’s plan. But as the pieces of her dangerous design fall into place, could Quentin’s involvement destroy everything she’s fought for?

In a world full of broken promises, the ones Maggie must keep could be the most heartbreaking.

Review: With Disruption, Jessica Shrivington once again proves her amazing ability to provide us with a complex and interesting world, an amazing storyline and strong, relatable characters.

Maggie lives in a world that is dictated by technology. This futuristic society completely relies on M-Bands - a device worn on the wrist that is used to make life easier, as it can do everything from monitor your health, be used for payments and used as a communication device. Adults also have Phera tech installed on their M-Band… Phera tech uses pheromones to check a person’s compatibly to someone else, and with society in general. Not only does this society use Phera tech to dictate their relationships with others (taking out the need to get to know people the usual way and then making their own judgement), but it also monitors for “negative” readings. If a person registers more than 3 negative readings via Phera tech within a month, they are then removed from society to be “rehabilitated”. And of course, society is happy for “negs” to be removed from society to rehabilitated, as “negs” are expected the show violence or become a danger in the future. Everyone is happy with the way this process removes risks and ensures the safety of this technology dependent society…. except for Maggie.

Maggie lost her father to this process. And she will do anything to get him back. And by anything, I mean anything!

Along her journey of getting her father back, Maggie has done, and will continue to do, some despicable things. She is determined, she is strong, but she is so blinded by her desire that she will do whatever it takes to get her life back - even if that means ruining the lives of others.

Maggie is so utterly filled with conviction and drive, she will manipulate whoever she needs to and she will force them to help her no matter the consequences. Now Maggie needs the help of Quentin Mercer. The youngest heir to the M-Corp - the company that produces M-Band and Phera tech, the people who run the rehabilitation process, and the reason her life has been torn apart.

Just by having the surname Mercer, Quentin is a walking advertisement for M- Corp - he is a poster-boy for everything they believe in, and everything that Maggie does not. Getting close to Quentin will not be easy, so Maggie has to become inventive. But what she doesn’t expect to find is that she has misjudged Quentin. She thought she had found a tool, and a way to use it, but what she finds is that she may have just found someone who is so completely different to what she expected - someone she can truly care about and trust. But the foundation of their relationship is built on a lie so big that it seems impossible for there to be any possibility of a future for them.

Maggie has spent her whole life determined to get her happy ever after - but did she just throw away her one chance of happiness?

Maggie herself is a kick-ass character. She is smart, brave, strong, and willing to do whatever it takes to get her father back. But she does have flaws. She is totally blinded by her desire that she is willing to do some truly horrible things - but it is her conviction that must be respected. It breaks your heart that you can see why Maggie is doing what she is doing, but you can also see that what she is doing is wrong. Maggie is doing the wrong things for the right reasons. And although she recognises that at times her actions may be wrong, her unyielding need to get her family back together is blinding her to the fact that she is doing exactly what she hates about M-Corp - lying, manipulating, betraying and hurting people, tearing family’s apart and ruining lives.

And Quentin. I loved this character as well. But what I loved was his character development. To begin with, we meet an entitled spoiled guy who has the world at his feet and girls throwing themselves at him (I will admit, we do see this through Maggie’s eyes). But as he begins to learn things about his family’s corporation, and gets to know Maggie (someone who he would had never gotten to know under normal circumstances), he gradually begins to grow as a character. But I will say, I do think that we may have seen a biased version of him through Maggie in the beginning - there are hints along the way that he was not who he was portrayed to be - he was more than his “image”.

I adored the relationship between Maggie and Quentin. Their relationship builds slowly and naturally (besides the lie it is built on of course). Maggie begins to learn that she judged Quentin with the blindness that others judge her, and Quentin finds what he was missing before he met Maggie - himself. With Maggie, he is able to find his true self, not just what who is expected to be.

I also loved the relationship between Maggie and her sidekick Gus. But when I say sidekick, I really mean reluctant co-conspirator. They love to hate each other, but yet the hate to love each other. Not love - there is no romantic connection here (that’s right - there is no love triangle). Although their friendship started in a bad way, and their banter consists of Gus wishing Maggie dead, you can tell a true friendship has formed underneath all the ‘I wish you were dead’ comments.

Basically… I loved Disruption! It is a new unique futuristic world - with amazingly detailed science (but not too much so), set in a believable, technology-driven society. The characters have depth, conviction and substance. The storyline is original, intriguing, intricate and action-packed. The complexities of the storyline will have you eagerly flipping the pages as you try to figure out how all of this will possibly work out for these characters, the twists will leave your heart-racing and the ending will leave you desperately wanting the next book, Corruption!

Quotes:

“Seems like it might be over-compensating for some other… insecurities.”

“I don’t care who i have to mow down on my way.”

“But mostly, i wish we’d never met,”

“You’re so blind, it’d be funny if it weren’t so damn tragic”

“I’ll never let you fall, Maggie. Not if I can stop it.”

“I know that you know.”

Australian and New Zealand readers: Don’t forget to enter for a chance to win a SIGNED copy of Disruption! This giveaway is thanks to HarperCollins Australia and you can find a link to enter on our Disruption Blog Tour post. Go, quick, enter!