This really reminded me of Scored, a dystopian-in-process type of book. This was a really good book. 
 It had a really strong plot, but it had a very vague background. At one point, there was this part about a phone (it makes me wonder, what do they mean by "phone" when they mention them in books? Touchscreen smartphones or flip phones?) anyways, at that point, I found myself wondering if it took place in the 1990's. Or maybe the 2000's. It could've even happened right now, maybe a few years in the future. It was very vague about that.