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The Hive by Barry Lyga and Morgan Baden

In this sci-fi, dystopian novel, we see uncanny parallels to the current political situation in the United States where Tweets can inflame and instigate violence. Cassie McKinney is the teenage protagonist who supported The Hive (a system to sanction people for their online activity if they troll or dox).

Cassie’s own father, an established and accomplished programmer, had worked to get social media under control but had failed. But then The Hive was implemented and if a poster received too many “Condemns” (think the opposite of “Likes”), the person would be hunted down by vigilantes who seek retribution.

With her father having died, she and her mother have to move to a new town and school where things are going fine until Cassie is egged on by her friends to post an over the top comment re. the President of the United State’s new grand baby. The next thing Cassie knows, she is being pursued and has to run for her life.

Will Cassie escape The Hive? Or figure out how to crack their machine? Read The Hive to find out.