The Word Exchange

The Word Exchange by Alena Graedon

386 Pages

Publisher: Doubleday Books, Anchor

Release Date: April 8, 2014

Fiction, Sci Fi, Fantasy, Dystopian, Alternate Realities

Anana is supposed to meet her father Doug for their weekly check-in at the diner. When he does not arrive, she goes to his office looking for him. He is on the brink of publishing the third edition of the Dictionary in a world that has drifted away from reading and printed material. Everyone now relies on their electronic devices to read to them and provide information so people do not need to remember. After searching his office and finding his entry has been removed from the digital listing, Anana sees a message for “Alice,” the code name Doug gave her. Now she is worried.

The book has a slow pace because of the complexity of words. The characters are somewhat developed, and it is written in the third person point of view from two different perspectives. When we read from Anana’s perspective, it is like reading any other novel but Bart’s view is written as journal entries. Initially, I was not sure what I thought about this book. It was wordy but that was the author’s objective. I have found myself changing my vocabulary to use more substantial language. As someone who used a thesaurus on a daily basis, this book reminded me it is important to use thought provoking terminology.