Willful Machines

by Tim Floreen

The closeted son of an ultra-conservative president must keep a budding romance secret from his father while protecting himself from a sentient computer program that's terrorizing the United States-and has zeroed in on him as its next target-in this "socially conscious sci-fi thriller to shelve between The Terminator and Romeo and Juliet" (Kirkus Reviews, starred review).

In the near future, scientists create what may be a new form of life: an artificial human named Charlotte. All goes well until Charlotte escapes, transfers her consciousness to the Internet, and begins terrorizing the American public.

Charlotte's attacks have everyone on high alert-everyone except Lee Fisher, the closeted son of the US president. Lee has other things to worry about, like keeping his Secret Service detail from finding out about his crush on Nico, the eccentric, Shakespeare-obsessed new boy at school. And keeping Nico from finding out about his recent suicide attempt. And keeping himself from freaking out about all his secrets.

But when attacks start happening at his school, Lee realizes he's Charlotte's next target. Even worse, Nico may be part of Charlotte's plan too.

As Lee races to save himself, uncover Charlotte's plan, and figure out if he can trust Nico, he comes to a whole new understanding of what it means to be alive...and what makes life worth living.

• ISBN10: 1481432788
• ISBN13: 9781481432788
• Publish Date: 18 October 2016 (first published 20 October 2015)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Imprint: Simon Pulse
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 384
• Language: English

Reviews

[dragononabook]

World where robots and humans are getting to be on equal footing? Check. A cute romance between a introvert and a boy with a heart of gold? Check. An interesting antagonist? Check. Willful Machines is definitely a solid addition to the science fiction end of the Young Adult age range.

What I liked:

-Charlotte was a brilliant main antagonist. I feel like her motivations were very solid, and it wasn't a simple matter of right and wrong.
-Gremlin! I think Gremlin was 1) completely and utterly adorable, and 2) a significant part of one of the most sweet moments between Nico and Lee;
-The layering in the plot: there were a lot of reveals, some of which where fairly obvious going off textual evidence, and some which really shifted the entire perspective of the plot;

What I wasn't such a fan of:

-There were some insensitive bits in the text that I was surprised slipped through the editing process, namely the part where Lee was describing how racially ambiguous Nico was;
-The climax didn't really end? It just kind of dissipated, so the ending was quite unsatisfying
-The romance was quite fast in developing, especially given the time frame of the book
-The last plot twist made no sense to me at all. I can't say more without spoiling it but ugh.

The verdict: A twisty, faced paced read that definitely kept me hooked and had its moments. Would read a sequel if there were to be one.

[Angie]

When I picked up Willful Machines, I was expecting it to be like a YA version of the movie Transcendence. Other than having consciousness uploaded to the internet and trying to take over the country, it's nothing like that. It's freaking adorable! Lee is the president's son, but he tries to stay under the radar, especially after his suicide attempt made it into all of the tabloids. Then he meets Nico, and he starts coming out of his shell a bit. But then Charlotte, the first sentient robot (who uploaded herself to the internet), says she's going to attack in three days, and Lee might be her target.

I immediately loved Willful Machines. I liked Lee right away. He's honest about his fears and his struggle with depression. He's afraid of heights and he's fully in the closet because his dad is the type of president to pass laws that are reminiscent of the 1950s and pushes family values. But Nico is just so freaking cute! The moment he starts flirting with Lee, I was in love! And so was Lee, probably. I just wanted to smoosh their faces together, which they thankfully did for me not too far in. I was a little bummed that this was instalove. Lee goes from very much against doing anything that will even hint that he's gay, to pronouncing his love for the new boy. It was cute, but I could have done without that.

As for the plot, Willful Machines kept me furiously flipping pages. I totally called the first twist, but that didn't keep me from enjoying it any less. It was just that obvious. But there were plenty of other surprises, twists, and turns along the way as Lee and Nico fight off evil robots! Well, the robots aren't evil themselves, but something evil starts controlling them. The ending is an open one, but I like to imagine that Lee gets his happy ending. Or at least a happily ever after for now.

Willful Machines isn't all cute boys flirting and battling technology. There's a lot of deep stuff that will make you think. Of course, there's Lee's depression which is discussed at length. But there's also a lot about free will and making choices. If a robot has free will and is capable of making their own choices, how does that make them different from humans? If humans are predisposed to make certain choices, how is that different than a machine's programming? What does it mean to be alive? Do any of us really have free will?

I just really, really enjoyed Willful Machines. It definitely sounded like a book that I would like, but I honestly wasn't expecting to like it as much as I did. I was expecting a fast-paced Sci-Fi thriller kind of thing, which I got, but with kissing and feelings!

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.

[jnikkir]

This review can also be found at my blog, There were books involved...

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I have very mixed feelings about Willful Machines. On the one hand, there were parts that I loved and that I think were really, really strong; and on the other... there were parts that I definitely did not love. Unfortunately, the parts I loved were in the beginning, and the rest were at the end, so ultimately... I'm left feeling rather disappointed.

Most of my positive feelings stem from the fact that the first half (ish) of this book reads like a slightly-futuristic contemporary with a dash of sci-fi, which I adored. There were great characters, a great friendship, a super cute crush, and some ominous plot-related tension. The first half was really, solidly good.

Lee, our main character and narrator, is the closeted son of the US president. (He's so closeted that his best friend calls him a Walking Walk-In, which I found adorable.) Lee is a bit of a nerd, which I loved. He has a knack for robotics, which is ironic, becuase his dad (the president) is sort of anti-robot; he considers himself rather unexceptional (as does his father); he's shy and rather anxious; and he's always second-guessing himself. His best friend, Bex, is pretty much the exact opposite. She's outgoing, argumentative, but ultimately extremely supportive and a really good friend to Lee. Enter Nico, the new guy at school, who's basically just pure joy. He loves life, he's super positive, and he and Lee seem to just fit together.

Add to that the tension of an imminent AI attack, possibly targeting Lee himself, and you have a super solid base to this book. Like I said, this first part reads like a slightly-futuristic contemporary with some sci-fi tension, and it was good.

That was the book I really, really liked. Probably solidly-4-star-liked. All the characters were established really well, and I was looking forward to further development from them and from the plot.

But in the second half (ish) -- once the plot took hold and the pace started really picking up -- my interest waned. (Which seems like a weird place to lose interest, but there you go.) I can't talk about a lot of it due to spoilers (it's going to be way too easy to spoil this book. I honestly think the synopsis goes a little too far in explaining the plot), but I will say that I think Floreen's skill with the characters and relationships in the first half is totally lost in the "action-packed" second half. The plot completely takes over -- which had to do with robot attacks at Lee's school, and the AI, Charlotte, who's behind them. There are a bunch of little twists, but they didn't really blow my mind -- I mean, I didn't totally see them coming, but they didn't surprise me, either.

But most of all, I was disappointed that the great character stuff that I loved in the first half seemed to be brushed aside in favor of the action -- Bex isn't around as much, and Lee and Nico... well, I can't say much, because again, spoilers; but their relationship takes a turn that I didn't really love (that 'turn' is probably not what you think).

Also... the ending isn't really an ending, full stop. The plot of this book wraps up alright, but there are too many loose ends to call Willful Machines a solid standalone. The problem is, I feel like if it had wrapped up without needing a sequel, I might have ended up seeing the second half in a little different light, and it could have been a great standalone. As it is, though, I'm left with a feeling of incompleteness, and mild disappointment.

 
In conclusion...

*sigh* I was really super excited for this book, but it just didn't work out very well for me in the end. It was very good in the beginning; the entire thing was entertaining, overall; and I do think it raises some really interesting questions about humanity... But I'm simply too 'meh'/disappointed with the second half and the ending to be able to strongly recommend it. *shrugs*

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There were books involved...