Unleashed

Written by Amy McCulloch

Narrated by Catherine Ho

When Lacey Chu wakes up in a hospital room with no memory of how she got there, she knows something went really wrong. And
with her cat baku, Jinx, missing in action and Moncha, the company behind the invention of the robot pet, threatening her family, she isn’t sure who to turn to for answers.

To make matters worse, Lacey is expelled from her dream school, Profectus. And when she tries to talk to her mom about it, she
realizes she’s been acting weirdly ever since the latest update from Moncha. Lacey and her friends work together to get to the bottom
of it and discover a sinister plot at the heart of the corporation that could change everyone’s lives.

Lacey must use all her skills if she has a chance of stopping Moncha from carrying out its plan. But can she take on the biggest
tech company in North America armed with only a level one robot beetle and her friends at her side?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: Jan 5, 2021
• ISBN: 9781705007082

Amy McCulloch

Amy McCulloch is a Canadian author and freelance editor. Her debut fantasy adventure novel, The Oathbreaker's Shadow, was published in 2013 and was longlisted for the Branford Boase Award for best UK debut children's book.The Potion Diaries series, written under Amy Alward, was an international success and was selected for the Zoella Book Club in 2016. Amy lives life in a continual search for adventure, coffee and really great books.  Visit her at www.amyalward.co.uk or on Twitter @amymcculloch

Reviews for Unleashed

[ladycato · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Amy McCulloch's middle grade novel Jinxed absolutely charmed me when I read a galley late last year. When the publisher offered me a early chance to read the sequel Unleashed, via NetGalley, I jumped at the chance.In this near-future science fiction setting, people don't simply have phones at hand, they have a baku--essentially, a computer that looks like an animal or insect, acting as their personal assistant and ready source of knowledge and connections. In the first book, bright young engineer Lacey Chu finds a battered cat baku and brings it back to life, not realizing until too late that this is a revolutionary new baku that escaped from the company she idolizes, Moncha. Of course, mischief ensues--she finds the cat, named Jinx, isn't a more robot, but sentient and full of snark, and that Moncha has a definite evil and ambitious side. That really comes to a head in the sequel, when she discovers that Moncha wants to make its users happy--at all costs.I loved this book. It's a breezy, fast read that is full of action, realistic and complicated characters, and moral dilemmas that are addressed in non-preachy ways that will make readers of all ages stop and think. I did find Lacey's amnesia at the start of the book to be a bit too convenient a literary device, but fortunately, she works through that quickly. As ever, I adore Jinx. I want a Jinx of my own. I really appreciated how Lacey's connection with her school bully develops in surprising ways, too. These books have genuine depth while staying fun all the while.Unleashed comes out on January 5th, 2021. Be sure to read Jinxed first so you can fully enjoy the full arc of this duology.