Book Review (Mila 2.0)

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.

To be honest with you, I didn't like this book for the first few chapters. I thought it was neat that it started out in the country and that Mila was a normal girl because that's unusual for sci-fi, but the author took too long showing us Mila's normal (or not so normal) life.

Until chapter fourteen.

From there, the chase picked up and it's non-stop action and finding a way to escape. I need to warn you that there are probably going to be a few spoilers. I can't seem to do a good a review without popping a few of them in. The book is like a combination of the Bourne movies (which I love) and iROBOT (which I really like). There is no love triangle despite the two boys. And Mila's emotions are so... raw and powerful. The author does an amazing job of describing the struggle Mila goes through as she fights to keep her humanity. She should not feel, but she does. She should not love, but she does. She should not cry, but she does.

Mila represents the impossible made possible. The love for her mom that permeates every cell in her being is shown so beautifully. I just can't even express the perfection of that part of this book. The antagonist was sufficiently cold and heartless. The way he treated human life was disgusting. Mila's "mom" was strong, and despite being her creator, loved her like a mother. Hunter, a high school hottie but loner, and Lucas, a guy with a bad leg who works at the military project headquarters, were the two guys. They both were pretty crucial to the book, but Lucas played a much more important role for a longer period of time. Both were well-rounded secondary characters with backstories and conflicts and emotions of their own.

The characters were awesomely crafted, the plot and action were heart-pounding (after the little lull in the beginning), and you have to admit that the cover is pretty darn awesome.

It's a 4.5/5 from me (hehe. hello, X-Factor).

                                                  May the good guys (and girls) always win,
                                                                                          X