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.*

The Best Version of a Girl

Expected Publication: March 12th, 2013

Mila 2.0 (Mila 2.0 # 1)

By: Debra Driza

Katherine Tegen Books

ISBN-13:  9780062090362

Mila 2.0 is the first book in an electrifying sci-fi thriller series about a teenage girl who discovers that she is an experiment in artificial intelligence.

Mila was never meant to learn the truth about her identity. She was a girl living with her mother in a small Minnesota town. She was supposed to forget her past —that she was built in a secret computer science lab and programmed to do things real people would never do.

Now she has no choice but to run—from the dangerous operatives who want her terminated because she knows too much and from a mysterious group that wants to capture her alive and unlock her advanced technology. However, what Mila’s becoming is beyond anyone’s imagination, including her own, and it just might save her life.

Review

     Mila is just trying to fit into her new school, while trying to grieve for her Dad, who died recently in a fire. All she wants is to fly under the radar, for things to go back to normal.  The only problem is Mila doesn't even remember what normal is - almost everything before the fire is a blank.  When strange things start happening to Mila, her life is thrown out of balance even further than she ever dreamed.  It turns out that Mila is an android, created by a secret government agency and stolen by "Mom" so she could have a normal life, as a teenage girl and not a weapon.  But now the government is catching up with them and as they try to escape, Mila and her Mom are caught.  Now Mila will have to try and fool the scientists who created her into believing that she's not a failed experiment.  Otherwise termination might be a real possibility.  Can Mila and her Mom manage to stay alive long enough to break free?  I really liked the idea that this book tries to carry through.  But I feel like none of the characters were all that developed.  I thought the book was going to be set at Mila's high school, with more romance and that it would definitely take Mila longer to figure out that she was an android.  I feel like that revelation was rushed into.  I would have liked a little bit more set up and world-building.  I felt like this book tried to hard to jump into the action right away.  I did like the scene where Mila's arm is gashed open and they realize that she doesn't bleed.  That was a good way to have her discover the truth.  I also felt like "Mom" didn't have a good enough reason to have stolen Mila - or at least the author didn't develop her enough to make me feel like she did.  I felt like Mila did about her Mom, that she only saw her as an object of interest.  Supposedly she took Mila to give her a normal life, but she treats her like a machine the same way everyone else does.  I liked the cliffhanger at the end and I probably will read the next book, but I really hope it had a lot more character insights and build-up.  Otherwise what's the point?

VERDICT:  3.5/5 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 March 12th, 2013.*