Mila 2.0 (Mila 2.0, #1)

by Debra Driza

[celinenyx]

I can't take any more... This review is only based on the first 160 pages of the book. Maybe Mila 2.0 all of a sudden gets super awesome on page 161 - I have no idea. All I know is that I don't want to waste my precious reading time on this book.

For me it almost felt like Mila 2.0 tried to collect all the young-adult clichés. Unrealistic high-school behaviour? Check. So-called best friend that in reality a psychotic bitch that actually almost killed you but apparently NO ONE sees this? Check. Boy that barely talks because awkward silences and staring ahead is totally connecting with someone? Check. Falling in love (love - not lust) in the space of two days? Check. Fear more about leaving the boy you love (and know for the insanely long while of one week) behind than losing your life? Check.

I was really looking forward to reading Mila 2.0 because lately science-fiction YA has been really good for me. With books like Cinder and Scarlet by Marissa Meyer or What's Left of Me by Kat Zhang, my expectations for this girl android story were high. Sadly, Mila doesn't even come near the awesomeness of Cinder (who is technically a cyborg - she's still part human, whereas Mila is supposedly fully synthetic).

Mila. If Mila had been kind-of okay then I would probably have finished the book for her sake. Instead, she should come with a huge stamp on her head stating "too stupid to live" in big capital letters. Seriously. It has been a while since I've read a heroine that rubbed me the wrong way this much. She just doesn't make any sense, especially in the context of the story. Basically, Mila is an android robot programmed as secret weapon; she's insanely strong. They gave her human feelings so she could fit in.

Why in the hells below and heavens above would scientists program a secret weapon to behave like a petulant, unpredictable and overly emotional teenager?

Mila's feelings are all over the place. One moment she's overwhelmed by finding out that she's an android and she spends her time crying, the other moment she runs off to go to school because that's a great thing to do when the army is after you and you're supposed to keep a low profile. None of her emotions or actions seemed rational or even realistic at all. When her mom tells her about who and what she is, instead of hearing her mom out she gets the information bit by bit, either because her mom is telling her that she's not ready yet, or because she's telling her mom that she doesn't want to hear it yet. I feel like there is absolutely no other reason for this spreading of information, other than that the author was scared of info-dumping. I get that - but pulling out the story for a hundred pages to avoid giving the reader too much information at once is even worse.

Mila, her mom, Hunter the love interest, Kaylee the best friend... Not a single one of these characters have redeeming qualities. They're all obnoxious for their own reasons, and I don't feel like continuing to read their story at all.

At the point I stopped reading Mila was finally on the run with mom, so probably the story becomes more interesting at this point, or at least more action-packed.

Mila 2.0 was not the book for me. I know a lot of people did enjoy it though, so if I haven't turned you off and you don't mind Mila acting crazy sometimes, you might enjoy Mila 2.0.