Unreal Series

Two communities. One technological power play. A conflict ready to ignite.  Channel is Unreal. After the devastating Campi eruption, people flocked to new Communities offering retinal implants to modify the world into something beautiful again. Living in Paradise 3 Community, Channel's only goal is to become a World Builder and improve the augmented reality code for everyone living there. Her opportunities seem endless until Cerebrolink is announced - new implant technology with the ability to augment all the senses. With dashed dreams and her skills rendered virtually useless, Channel is left with none of her prior options. Especially after she's ripped from P3 by the Coalition - a group dead set on stopping this tech from moving forward. Mila is Real. Living with her parents who fought to remain independent from the Communities, her world is the antithesis of privileged. With a dwindling peer group, a lack of resources, and seemingly no future, she jumps at the chance to travel with her brother Alek in search of other free Real societies. Though they have outdated information and virtually zero knowledge of what could lie ahead, Alek and Mila leave the only home they've ever known under cover of night. When Mila and Channel's paths collide, they become torn between the worlds they thought they knew and a brazen reality they could never have imagined. Will they risk it all to understand what it truly means to be Real? Unreal is the first novel in the riveting Unreal young-adult augmented reality series. If you like mind-bending storylines, strong female characters, and breathtaking world-building, you'll adore Cindy Gunderson's page-turning psychological saga.

The Unreal World is calling... As newly converted members of the Coalition, Channel and Aave infiltrate their prior home in an attempt to access Cerebrolink’s secrets. After struggling to survive in the Real world, Channel once again finds herself in Paradise 3, where absolutely anything goes. She knows her mission. But the Unreal World was designed to make people forget. Following Channel’s unexpected departure, Mila and her friends join their Coalition escorts to complete the final leg of their journey to the Reals. With inside contacts and undeniable proof that the Real world is healing, Mila has never felt more idealistic about their future. That is...until unfamiliar faces emerge from a P7 rescue transport. Until everyone she loves is restrained and tossed into a holding cell in a vehicle heading anywhere but home. As the Community’s vice tightens, the pull of a virtual utopia is stronger than ever. Will Mila and Channel find a way to break free and save the people they love—and themselves—before they’re unknowingly trapped in Paradise forever?

They know they’re stronger together. But the Communities have torn them apart. After surviving the escape from P3, Channel and Alek travel with the Coalition to regroup and mount another digital attack—this time with the proof they need. But they aren’t the only ones who want to see the end of the Communities’ reign. The Vivientes, descendants of ancient tribes in the New Mexican desert see the writing on the wall. Their treaties won’t last much longer, but they aren’t convinced the Coalition is worthy of their alliance. Meanwhile, Mila and Zayn discover a Coalition contact and finally achieve their goal of making it to the Reals out east. But they quickly find that the lure of Community promises runs deep, and even the Real world isn’t immune from lies and deceit. With too many moving parts and a desperate need for resources, the Coalition finds itself stretched thin. Lives are on the line, and the battle-cry calling them to fight at all costs makes their reality more tenuous by the second. Will Mila and Channel live to see a world built on their ideals? Or is it too late for everyone?

An impossible burden with Real World consequences. Tasked with building a new system for both Reals and Unreals, the Coalition makes plans to travel back to Southwest Territory and Paradise 3 Community. The reality they’re fighting to realize is as fleeting as a dream, and just as fragile. Southwest Territory is already flailing and Paradise 3 is nearly unrecognizable after heavy Cerebrolink rollouts. When they find the Coalition home base is up in flames and their friends are in the clutches of Paradise 7, all hope seems lost. There’s nothing to support a rescue mission, let alone rebuild a world from the ground up. The Coalition knows the cost of failure is integration of the entire Real population, and they refuse to give up without a fight. Can Mila and Channel survive the final push for a united world?