#ATBR2019 Review: The Warehouse by Rob Hart @crownpublishing @robwhart @jessmapreviews
The Warehouse
by Rob Hart
Publisher: Crown
Publish Date: August 20, 2019
Hardcover
368 Pages
Standalone
Genres: Sci-Fi, Fiction
Paxton never thought he’d be working for Cloud, the giant tech company that’s eaten much of the American economy. Much less that he’d be moving into one of the company’s sprawling live-work facilities.
But compared to what’s left outside, Cloud’s bland chainstore life of gleaming entertainment halls, open-plan offices, and vast warehouses…well, it doesn’t seem so bad. It’s more than anyone else is offering.
Zinnia never thought she’d be infiltrating Cloud. But now she’s undercover, inside the walls, risking it all to ferret out the company’s darkest secrets. And Paxton, with his ordinary little hopes and fears? He just might make the perfect pawn. If she can bear to sacrifice him.
As the truth about Cloud unfolds, Zinnia must gamble everything on a desperate scheme—one that risks both their lives, even as it forces Paxton to question everything about the world he’s so carefully assembled here.
Together, they’ll learn just how far the company will go…to make the world a better place.
Set in the confines of a corporate panopticon that’s at once brilliantly imagined and terrifyingly real, The Warehouse is a near-future thriller about what happens when Big Brother meets Big Business--and who will pay the ultimate price.
My Review:
Cloud is not just a place to work, but a place to live with a ranking and rating system to keep you striving to always be your best! We follow the creator of Cloud on his last tour, Paxton who thinks this is best opportunity though he’s not happy Cloud has essentially been a problem in his life and Zinnia who is undercover..but for what purpose?
This takes a harsh look at where our civilization is going and how some things unfortunately never change despite the lessons we should have already learned. Corporate America. The want and need of those high ratings because we are now virtually trained to react to these. It's like a mix of Facebook on crack salted with an itsy bitsy bit of Black Mirror. Not gonna lie, if the world went to (further) shit and I was afforded and opportunity to work in a place like this, I would be tempted. Just remember, everything comes at a price.
What an unexpected surprise! It’s written in 11 sections with chapters written in the voice of the three main characters and various chapters in the form of a message. I will say I glazed over sometimes during the owner’s chapters. I was way more intrigued with Paxton and Zinnia. Around the last couple chapters I had that “I KNEW IT!” moment, but I didn’t really know it y’all. 🤦🏻♀️. It’s in these last chapters that the book really captured me and I turned the last page seriously saying out loud, “Well now THAT was so good!” There’s not crazy twist but there are some verrrry interesting surprises. 🍔 And while I thought some sections dragged a tiny bit, once I finished I appreciated all the depth in the characters. Love it when a book surprises me in the unexpected ways.
Anybody wanna grab a Cloudburger? 😏
★★★★
Jessica's Review:
While I don't frequent the dystopian genre, there are always a few that catch my attention. THE WAREHOUSE was one of those books. This is also, in my opinion, where we could be heading in the future with how technology is advancing.
Imagine a company where you work and live there. A place where they have everything you could ever need. Only, you don't work for money, you work for credits and your performance is recorded on a rating system. This sounds eerily like how things could be heading for us if we continue on the route of online shopping and the instant gratification.
I mean, I live where I work, but nothing on this level. There are so many aspects about this scenario and this new world that feel entirely possible. That's when I enjoy this genre, when the author can give us something that feels real and makes us think about how humanity got there. There were definitely some big surprises in the book and despite thinking I knew the end, I was very wrong. It happens to the best of us, right? I know there have been plenty of mentions from other reviewers, but let's just all agree to avoid those cloudburgers.
4 stars
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