Tuesday 26 February 2013

Review ~ MILA 2.0 by Debra Driza

MILA 2.0 (MILA 2.0, #1)
  • Expected Publication: 28th March 2013
  • eARC received through Netgalley for an honest review


Description

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.



My Opinion
I was really excited to receive a copy of this book via Netgalley, not only had the cover intrigued me but it sounded like it would be fast paced, action packed and full of tense, exciting moments. However these moments kind of never arrived. Although I did enjoy this book and I read most of it in one sitting there were quite a few flaws that left me struggling to get through parts.

I liked the concept of androids as it is not something I have come across a lot and that fact that Mila is struggling to cope with the fact she isn't human was developed well. I liked how the book started off. By placing Mila in high school and describing her to be slightly unstable due to a death in the family really worked for me and it created a sense of suspicion and intrigue about what was really going on. As well as this the fact that normal high school issues were brought into the equation only added to make the lies more believable. 

When Hunter was introduced I thought I was really going to like this book as I wasn't expecting there to be any romance which made it a nice surprise. Sadly though, this is the point things started to go down hill for me. After Hunter's brief introduction Mila is quickly thrown into a new world where she finds out the truth. This leads to Hunter being cut out of the book rather dramatically and abruptly which left me disappointed. I found that most of the book was like this actually. 

The writing was quite jumpy and disjointed with Mila's internal monologue becoming increasingly annoying and this only became worse when her android functions got reactivated. This writing style was most evident in the build up, during and post action sequence. Instead of describing what was happening the author would use phrases like "target immobilised" or "threat detected" which led the writing to become irritating to read as it didn't give much of a picture to base visualisations on. I know it fit in well with the military side but for me it lessened the flow of the writing, leading my attention to slip.

There were only a few relationships that I like in this book, one being Mila and her mum. It was believable and one of the few that I could sympathise and connect with. The rest of the time though I found the characters to be very distant, especially when Mila went into full android mode, and not very well developed. We were given little information on each and besides Mila and Mum, practically all of the characters I could relate to at the start were cut out and never to be heard from again.

Finally, the ending of this book seemed to fit with the rest of the writing. It was predictable and abrupt. Yes it leaves you on a cliff hanger and draws you into wanting to read the next book, especially with the promise of more romance however I hated the way it ended. I was watching the page count go down and questioning how the author could give the reader any kind of resolve and satisfaction in the space she had left to which the simple answer is, she didn't. The writing just cuts off at the start of a new scene and left me thinking "was that it? How can you leave a book like that?!"

Overall I liked the concept and ideas in this book. There were moments I enjoyed and a few relationships that I was able to connect with but on the whole this book was pretty disappointing due to the disjointed writing, lack of interesting character (all had been cut) and constant internal monologues. Although it ends on a cliff hanger I am not sure whether it is enough to entice me into getting the sequel, especially if the writing stays as it is but it might be of interest to sci-fi fans.





2 comments:

  1. I also got approved for Mila 2.0 on NetGalley but I haven't had a chance to read it yet. I only read a half of your review because I don't want it to influence my opinion about the book before I even start to read it! :) I'll get back to you after I'm finished with it. :)

    Inx from Inklings of two Booklings

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for the comment! I understand about influencing, I tend not to read reviews until I have read a book for the same reason (unless I am undecided) :)

      I hope you like MILA 2.0 more than I did, it was a book I really wanted to like but just couldn't!

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