Willful Machines by Tim Floreen

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.

Reviewed by jnikkir on

3 of 5 stars

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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...

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  • Started reading
  • 23 September, 2015: Finished reading
  • 23 September, 2015: Reviewed