The Bar Code Rebellion by Suzanne Weyn

This sequel in the Bar Code series, The Bar Code Rebellion, follows Kayla on her journey to rebel against the bar code tattoo, which by law is required in the year 2025. I did a blog post on the first novel, The Bar Code Tattoo, (title is linked to post) which explains the differences in 2025 and will help you understand the storyline better if you read before this post.

Kayla feels that she can't keep hiding in the mountains from the Global-1 officials. After the officers raid the mountain, she knows for sure that she can't stay there anymore and decides to fight for her freedom and try to stop Global-1 from forcing the tattoos on everyone.

She goes to Washington D.C. where a government official, David Young, is advocating for no requirements on bar code tattoos when everyone who doesn't have the tattoo gets ambushed by the Global-1 officers and are put into jail.

Kayla barely escapes with the help of an old friend, Dusa. They are creating fake bar codes and helping out everyone against the bar code tattoos.

After that, Kayla needs to find answers and goes west to find her friend, Allyson, who is working for a genetic school in California.

Meanwhile, Kayla is having more visions about girls who look like Kayla, but are not her in different parts of the world. Come to find out, Kayla was part of an experiment that initiated the bar code tattoos! She is a sixtuplet - and a clone! All of the visions she's been having are with her other "sisters" and now Kayla wants to find them to find out who they are and where they came from.

Will Kayla be able to save all of her friends from getting the tattoo? Can she stop Global-1 once and for all, or will they keep bar coding everyone? Read both The Bar Code Tattoo and The Bar Code Rebellion to find out how this futuristic series ends!

My Thoughts/Reflections
I was not disappointed with this sequel, and final, book of Suzanne Weyn's books! Kayla definitely grew into more of a leader instead of a hider in this novel, making herself face her fears and find answers to what has been happening to her for almost a year.

Weyn created a future that was believable because of how advanced technology has gotten in the past few years. Her ability to go "back in time" to show how everything was initiated was also a great thing to read because the reader was able to understand how this could possibly happen in today's society.

I also liked how the author was able to explain the scientific terminology and concepts in a way where the reader can understand. I do not enjoy science and do not understand anything about science, but after reading these two novels I was able to wrap my head around what the scientists did to create such a future. That's talent, I think, to break down the concepts of science for anyone to understand!

I would recommend this novel to anyone interested in dystopian worlds, science fiction, cloning, rebellion/war, and survival. Kayla really had a lot going on but she never gave up and fought for her freedom - something a strong character needs throughout the story to keep the reader cheering the main character on until the very end of the story.

The Bar Code Tattoo by Suzanne Weyn

It's the year 2025. Some things are different than we know now, such as:

• There is no paper money - only e-cards, and most recently bar code tattoo's (also called 'too) on a person's right inside wrist where they are scanned, like food at a grocery store. 
• Minimum wage is $18 an hour. 
• Global-1 is issuing that everyone at the age of 17 must get a bar code tattoo or the ones who don't get the 'too will be a felon. 
• AgroGlobal (a district of Global-1) creates all food. They replicate the seeds in plants, creating food when they want to rather than planting seeds in the ground to produce natural food. 
• Robots run cash registers. 
• Desktops in schools now have an iPad or eReader installed in it. 

Kayla Reed has just turned 17 and has been conflicted over whether she wanted to get the bar code 'too. After watching her father go crazy and try to cut the 'too off of his wrist, killing himself, she's inclined to stay away from her own bar code. 

However, Global-1 won their lawsuit against the government, stating that everyone of the age of 17 must get the 'too, or they will be committing a crime. 

After Kayla's world starts crumbling around her, losing everything and everyone she was close to, Kayla finds herself running from the government and police officials. She wants to keep her own identity instead of having her every action being followed. 

She decides to find a haven where others who are rebelling against the 'too live together. Instead of living in high society, they are living in the mountains, living day by day as the cavemen used to without technology. 

But they are also psychic - they can talk to one another through their minds and use energy to move things if they are strong enough. After seeing images of a war in the near future, Kayla is unsure what will happen to her and her new friends in their future. 

My Thoughts/Reflections

I really liked this book. When I first read the back, I got the image of Dark Angel television show with Jessica Alba where she had a bar code on the back of her neck after she broke out of a prison as a child. This is different, though, because everyone wants the 'too rather than only a select few can get one. 

Kayla had to grow up very fast in a short amount of time and I liked that about her. She might have complained about how tough things were, but she never gave up and always tried to find somewhere safe to be. 

This is the first book in a two book series, so I'm excited to see where Suzanne Weyn went in the second novel, The Bar Code Rebellion (which I'll be reading next to find out!). I hope I see more of the rebellion members and see Kayla initiate actions to hopefully get rid of the bar code law. 

I would recommend this book to anyone wanting to read a "futuristic" novel and if anyone is interested in the future of credit cards/banking topics, since this is basically related to those topics. The twists and turns Weyn takes throughout the novel is also refreshing as I didn't see all of them coming ahead of time.