All Rights Reserved is a really excellent introduction to what could be a really great YA dystopian series; Katsoulis balances the typical “world building” one has to do with any futuristic novel, especially one they hope to make into a series, with a solid standalone story line. I already have the second novel on my library holds list.
“Every word is Trademarked™, Restricted® or Copyrighted©. The companies and people who own these rights let people use them, but once you turn fifteen, you have to pay.”
Speth Jime lives in an America that has been overrun by lawyers and corporations who have copyrighted all words and most intentional gestures. Luckily we seem to still have some time on our hands before this happens here, sorry Carlton. Your whole life you are targeted for ads based on your current mood and surrounding, which Google and Facebook are getting pretty close to replicating here in 2019, and after your fifteenth birthday you have to pay for the right to communicate. If you’re lucky you’ll get a corporate sponsor who will give you a stipend for talking about their products as well as discounts for their product. The most lucrative sponsorship is honey because all the bees are dead. You are fitted with sensors in your eyes and an arm cuff you can’t take off which tracks your billable words and gestures. Oh, and people can insta-sue you for any petty grievance they can dream up.
Speth’s parents have been sent to collections to repay the debt from when a great-great-great relative illegally downloaded music (sorry in advance future relations but Limewire was the shit) and Speth is being raised by her older sister, Siretha, as well as a social worker who looks in on Speth and her brother Sam. On Speth’s 15th birthday her friend Beecher commits suicide and it drives Speth to reevaluate the system and go mute. Even though a lot of poor people get by on as few words as possible Speth never signed her “Terms of Service” for turning fifteen which makes her deliberate silence a big deal.
“Words matter. Words make ideas. They preserve truths and history. They express freedom and they shape it. Words mold our thoughts. That gives them value and power.”
While Speth’s decision to be silent is initially just an impulsive reaction to her friend’s death and her anger at the system it becomes something much more. There is a lot to unpack commentary wise on the freedom of speech, the looming power of companies and the whole vibe is a bit like a Black Mirror episode.