Do Androids Dream?

Expected Publication:  May 13th, 2014

Mila 2.0: Renegade (Mila 2.0 #2)

By: Debra Driza

Katherine Tegen

ISBN-13:  9780062090393

There is no one left for Mila to trust. Except for a boy she barely knows.

But Hunter has no idea who—and what—Mila really is. She can’t bear to reveal her secret, even though he’s unwittingly joined her search for Richard Grady, a man who may know more details of Mila’s complicated past.

Yet the road to the truth is more dangerous than ever. With General Holland and the Vita Obscura scouring the earth for her whereabouts, Mila must rely on her newfound android abilities to protect herself and Hunter from imminent harm. Still, embracing her identity as a machine leads her to question the state of her humanity—as well as Hunter’s real motives.

Review

     I have a serious problem as a reader: once I start reading a series, nine times out of ten I can't bring myself to stop.  It doesn't matter if the book isn't my cup of tea, I sincerely disliked it, etc.  I'm back in the game for the second round (and the third too, if its a trilogy)!   Turns out I have a thing about androids; I don't like them, I find it extremely difficult to empathize with them as the main characters and it just dampens my reading experience when they are a focus.  These are reasons as to why, even though I read the first Mila 2.0 book, I should NOT have read the second one in the series.  Take my advice kids, and don't waste your time reading about things that you have zero interest in.  It will make your lives SO much easier!

     That said, this wasn't necessarily a bad book.  It just turned out to be a really mediocre read for me personally.  Mainly, I did really enjoy the plot in this book.  As other readers have stated, its not the normal "Second Book Syndrome" book, with too much or too little action, plenty of info-dumping, and overall uneven shittiness.  In this book you have a concise plot, with Mila and Hunter on the run from General Holland and Vita Obscura and Mila trying to decide whether or not to tell Hunter her secret about her not fully human status.   The romance between the two was sweet and I did enjoy the dynamic of their scenes together.  Probably my biggest issue was the amount of focus on Mila's battle to come to terms with her android status.  As I said before, I just have zero sympathy for androids.  They are mainly machines, with human intelligence.  That doesn't mean that they're capable of emotions and I always think of their robotic natures, and never really connect.  I think that a lot of people who loved the first book will enjoy reading this one as well.  It was a very well-written and equalized seqeul.  It just wasn't my thing, AT ALL, and I from now on one promise to myself:  no more android books, EVER!

VERDICT:  3/5  Stars

*I received this book as part of Around the World ARC Tours, run by the lovely Princess Bookie.  No favors or money were exchanged for this review.  This book's expected publication date is May 13th, 2014.*

Three's A Crowd

Published:  May 7th, 2013

The Originals

By: Cat Patrick



Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
ISBN-13:  9780316219433

A riveting new story from Cat Patrick, author of Forgotten and Revived.

17-year-olds Lizzie, Ella, and Betsey Best grew up as identical triplets... until they discovered a shocking family secret. They're actually closer than sisters, they're clones. Hiding from a government agency that would expose them, the Best family appears to consist of a single mother with one daughter named Elizabeth. Lizzie, Ella, and Betsey take turns going to school, attending social engagements, and a group mindset has always been a de facto part of life...

Then Lizzie meets Sean Kelly, a guy who seems to see into her very soul. As their relationship develops, Lizzie realizes that she's not a carbon copy of her sisters; she's an individual with unique dreams and desires, and digging deeper into her background, Lizzie begins to dismantle the delicate balance of an unusual family that only science could have created.

Review

       Lizzie Best is only living one-third of a life.  She goes to school for the first half of the day, her sister Ella for the second half and their other sister Betsey does all the extracurricular activities, goes to their college class and works their job.  They are all living under the name of a single girl, Elizabeth Best, because they aren't just any identical triplets.  The Best sisters are really clones, who are being raised by the woman who agreed to carry them and couldn't bear to have any of the embryos destroyed.  When she found out that her employers were planning on terminating two of them, she ran away.  Since they were little they've all been living as Elizabeth.  But Lizzie is starting to feel stifled and angry with her meager third of a life.  Sean Kelly comes into her life and Lizzie starts to fall in love for the first time, making her less and less able to believer everything her Mother tells her without question.  And when she starts to uncover some shocking and potentially life-changing secrets, it's up to Lizzie, Ella and Betsey to make the right decision about who to trust and how to use their newfound information.  In the end it'll be enough to transform life as they know it.

       I absolutely adore Cat Patrick!  I have been reading her since Forgotten was first published in 2011 and loved her second book Revived just as much, in it's own way.  Every time I pick up one of her books I know that I'm in for something thought-provoking and completely different from all the other books I've read so far that week/month/year.  This, her third novel, was no exception to that feeling,  But I do agree with some readers that it was a really character-driven book.  Rather than being focused on the possibility of the clones/triplets being kidnapped and used as guinea pigs, this book is more about the moral and individual need to be someone of your own making.  Lizzie especially demonstrates this theme, through her struggles to gain an identity outside of her sisters.  Probably my least favorite aspect of this novel was that the romantic interest between Lizzie and a boy in her class, Sean Kelly, is what triggers her rebellion and outright disobedience to her Mother.  All because Mom decides that they boy the girls can 'date' is Ella's crush, David.
       The relationship between each of the sisters with one another were very realistic in regards to how siblings really treat/feel about each other.  Betsey, Lizzie and Ella all have personalities as distinctive as their situation will allow.  The plot did suffer from all the character-centric development and issues though.  I felt like the action mashed together with the love story didn't exactly mesh, because each of them were fighting to be the dominant focus of the book.  The government trying to capture the triplets wasn't even an issue till pretty much the very end of the book and even then it's wrapped up so neatly that it feels like there was never any real conflict.  Conflict is the element that was definitely absent from the majority of this book (at least on a larger, more deadly scale of measurement.  Cat Patrick definitely knows how to write a page-turner, but I feel like Forgotten had the perfect balance of plot and character development, but she hasn't achieved it since then.  It's the Three-Bears Syndrome.  This porridge is too hot, this porridge is too cold.  Hopefully her next book will be just right.  Until then I would say that overall this was an interesting read especially when spotlighted as a family issue/coming of age story.  As a sci-fi book, not as much.  I would recommend it to people who want something entirely different, with fresh concepts though.

VERDICT:  3.5/5  Stars

**No money or favors were exchanged for this review. This book is now available in stores, online, or maybe even at your local library.**

Even Better Than The Original

Expected Publication: October 16th, 2012

Beta (Annex # 1)

By: Rachel Cohn

Disney-Hyperion

ISBN-13: 9781423157199

Elysia is created in a laboratory, born as a sixteen-year-old girl, an empty vessel with no life experience to draw from. She is a Beta, an experimental model of a teenage clone. She was replicated from another teenage girl, who had to die in order for Elysia to exist. 
Elysia's purpose is to serve the inhabitants of Demesne, an island paradise for the wealthiest people on earth. Everything about Demesne is bioengineered for perfection. Even the air induces a strange, euphoric high, which only the island's workers--soulless clones like Elysia--are immune to. 

At first, Elysia's life is idyllic and pampered. But she soon sees that Demesne's human residents, who should want for nothing, yearn. But for what, exactly? She also comes to realize that beneath the island's flawless exterior, there is an under-current of discontent among Demesne's worker clones. She knows she is soulless and cannot feel and should not care--so why are overpowering sensations cloud-ing Elysia's mind? 

If anyone discovers that Elysia isn't the unfeeling clone she must pretend to be, she will suffer a fate too terrible to imagine. When her one chance at happi-ness is ripped away with breathtaking cruelty, emotions she's always had but never understood are unleashed. As rage, terror, and desire threaten to overwhelm her, Elysia must find the will to survive. 

Review

     Elysia lives on Demesne, an island paradise that can only belong to the wealthy of the world.  She's sixteen years old and has live their her whole life - which is only the past few weeks.  Elysia is a beta model, an experimental model of a teenage clone.  She was cloned from another girl, who is now dead (the real person has to die before a clone can be made).  The purpose of the clones in general is to serve the residents of Demesne in any way they wish, once they are bought by their "owner."  Elysia is no different and when she is bought to be a companion to the children of one of the most important couples on the island, in essence to replace their own daughter who is away at collge, Elysia is glad that she has found a purpose.  But then she starts having strange visions, memories that belong to her First and shouldn't be available to her.  Elysia starts showing Olympic swimming abilities (another quality of her First) and has a sense of taste that should be absent as a clone.  She begins to feel discontent with being treated like a cross between a pet and a slave, like many of the other Demesne workers and begins to feel lust, anger, happiness and other forbidden emotions.  How can she find a way to survive, when if discovered she will be recycled as defective?  And why is she displaying the qualities of a soul when she supposedly doesn't have one?  

     This book was something that I have been dying to read for months, ever since I first saw the cover.  But I am a major fan of Rachel Cohn's to begin with, especially her Cyd Charisse Trilogy.  I was excited to see her expand into the realm of science fiction.  I was not disappointed in the least.  The book starting out with Elysia working in a boutique as living merchandise and waiting to be bought, elicits a very strong reaction and caused me as a reader to instantly connect to this poor being who is caught between being an object and a real person.  I liked the in-depth world building that explains why regular people can't serve the rich residents of Demesne and they "need" to engineer clone slaves for their menial tasks.  The differences between the clones were also highlighted when Elysia interacted with the Governor's secretary clone (who was also his sexual slave), one of the house clones who is an active member of the rebellion, and the other 'defective' Beta clone, Becky who lashes out at her creators.  The development of Elysia into her own person over time is very gratifying and especially heartbreaking when she is mistreated near the end of the book in an unforgivable way.   Her adoptive 'brother' Ivan and his friends play a big part in her development, especially his friend Tahir who was in a horrific accident and almost died.  Elysia and Tahir start a romantic relationship and he, Greer, Dementia and Ivan introduce her to the drug 'raxia' which puts you in a blissful state and allows clones to "wake up."  There were a few very good plot twists involving the identity of another, secret clone among the wealthy families, but there was major plot twist near the end that I thought was highly unnecessary.  Overall, a very interesting sc-fi debut and I'm looking forward to the next book in the series.

VERDICT:  4/5  Stars

*I received this book as part of Around the World ARC Tours, run by the lovely Princess Bookie. No favors or money were exchanged for this review. It will be available for purchase on October 16th, 2012.*