PopCo by Scarlett Thomas

Everyone loves working at PopCo. It's a young, cool, toy company with no dress code and no set working hours. Creatives at PopCo are just as likely to stay up all night designing prototypes as they are to decamp to Prague for a week of trend spotting. It's just that sort of place.

PopCo isn't about fluffy toys though. They have an experimental Robotics division, a mirror brand, K, which pretends to be Japanese, a Virtual Worlds research center, and they're offering a million dollar prize for an old AI puzzle. 

Their latest plan is to create a 'killer' brand for teenage girls, and Alice has been relocated to a 'Thought Camp' to brainstorm the idea. But could her ideas have other applications? How sinister is marketing to children anyway? And is everything as it seems at the company's isolated 'Thought Camp'?

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Scarlett Thomas is one of my favorite author. I find her books very thought provoking and stimulating. Thomas has the ability to make the reader look at the world in a new light. Opening up your eyes to the darker side of the world, this book focuses on consumerism but especially products directly aimed at children and teens. It makes for an interesting book with a very different and interesting storyline.

The most enjoyable element to this book was the fact that it opened my mind to the dangers of product placement, advertising and how easily a person can be fooled into that 'must have' purchase. It makes me wonder do we have any free will at all or are we simply the puppets of large companies who have been trained since birth to respond to flashy advertising. 

The main character Alice was a perfect contrast to the other characters in the book. Alice was a deeper thinker, able to live outside of the social groups of her work force who functioned much the same as cliques do in schools. While above all she remained herself and didn't conform to any stereotype. The obvious social structure of Popco was intriguing, did Thomas intend for the lives of the employees to correlate with those of the audience they were targeting? Did she intentionally describe the fun, relaxed work atmosphere with employers  pushing extra curricular activities as a way of showing how they remained 'young at heart'. These answers I may never know but I have enjoyed mulling over them ever since.

Overall it is a wonderful book, I was sucked into the story from the first page. It is full of colourful and engaging characters with a superb and clever plot.  One of the most wonderful things about Scarlett Thomas is that her novels not only entertain but they educate. I have enjoyed learning so much such as science in The End of Mr Y to consumerism in Popco.  I highly recommend giving this book a try. 

I rate this book 5 out of 5 stars. 
It's a terrific read from a gifted writer. You won't be disappointed if you try it especially if you enjoy books which challenge your views on our society.