Mila 2.0
Author: Debra Driza
Release: March 12th 2013
Genre: Science Fiction, YA
#1 in the Mila 2.0 trilogy
Sequels: Renegade (#2), Redemption (#3)
Plot:
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.
Damn, I don't really know what to think. It was so good, but at the same time, so annoying.
I basically read Part One in one sitting, it started that good. During the road that was Part 2, there were a few lame scenes in between where I was like, "Meh," but I swear as soon as I thought that, the tension spiked up again and something kickass happened and I was at it again with full attention. Everything happened was like a punch in the gut and glued me to the pages, it was that good and engaging, especially all the fight scenes were done so extremely well I am very impressed with Debra Driza.
Now, the only thing that annoyed me was that until way past the halftime mark, Mila was constantly whining about her android-ness. It was the same inner monologue the whole time, this "my fake heart did a double take", "I'm not a human anyway" etc etc it got annoying. The same whinery again and again, it was sweet freedom when she finally accepted her non-human features and started to fucking use them. They were helpful and made her such a badass, I mean, I can understand the initial drama at discovering that she's not human, but really? Stretching her pity party over 250 pages is a little too much.
Besides that one thing I'm grumbling about, this was really good. I loved the concept, everything was properly explained — actually, my biologist's heart swelled because of the accurate descriptions and usages of human anatomy and how the android vs. human things were done and explained — I marveled at the android features and how well Driza managed to incorporate them in the story and bring them to the best possible use, and I liked the features they were. She didn't include some completely unnecessary or illogical ones, ones that were impossible and so on; everything was sound and reasonable. Like I said, the whole android thing in general was handled masterfully.
The characters were also very nice, at first they seemed quite shallow and 2-D, but soon after, they almost all got their own personalities. At least those that stayed after Part 1. Especially Mila undergoes such drastic character development, I am seriously impressed by how far she's come since the story started out. Extremely well done, Mrs Driza. And I liked the other ones as well, with the exception of maybe Hunter (and obviously Kaylee but I don't think she really counts) because the guy's still too shady for my tastes, I mean we barely know the guy and Mila is pining after him like her life depends on it (another little thing that made me ground my teeth, by the way), but what the hey. I'll forgive for it because she's a total BAMF otherwise.
All in all, a very nice sci-fi novel about androids and humanity, about secret military and private organizations, as well as what it means to be a human and to feel, with mostly great characters along for the ride, an interesting plot and engaging, kickass fighting scenes. If that's your thing, totally go for it. If it's not, maybe you might want to give this a try anyway, see if you'll like it anyway — I could imagine so, if you're able to overlook the few flaws, like Mila's slight pining and whining at the beginning. I definitely liked it, sign me on for the sequel.
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