Touch

The protagonist of Touch, Sloane Jacobson, is a trends forecaster; she knows what the “next big thing” will be years before other people. She predicted the "swipe" on phones; she has always seemed to know what's coming next. But when she gets hired by Mammoth, a giant tech company (very on the nose, no?), she can't help but predict that the next thing is going to be a turn away from technology and towards greater human interaction. Essentially: people will crave touch again. In the background of this, Sloane Sloane's partner Roman is advocating a turn further into technology: that people will stop having sex altogether. This creates the inevitable conflict, and Sloane falling for someone new.

And there's also another plot of Sloane reconciling with her sister and mom after a decade... it all wraps up so predictably. (SO! PREDICTABLE!) However, that doesn't mean the whole plot of touch vs. tech isn't fascinating, and a Courtney Maum does a fascinating job of creating a world that is very similar to ours (if a little more futuristic) and predicting a future where tech falls away (kinda). Definitely a good beach read, if nothing more. Rating: ★★★