Review: Mila 2.0 by Debra Driza

Title: Mila 2.0

Author: Debra Driza

Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books

Publication Date: 3.12.2013

Pages: 480

Genre: SciFi

Series: Yes (Mila 2.0 #1)

Source: ARC from publisher

Rating: C-

Summary (from Goodreads):

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.

Review:

I’ve been dreading writing this review because I really just didn’t enjoy this book. Mila 2.0 is pitched as a YA spin on The Bourne Identity, and while I can see a few similarities, the book just fell flat for me.

Let’s start with Mila: She irritated me quite often. Maybe it’s because of what she is, but I felt very little emotion towards her at all. She felt stiff and brittle, and the way she handled things reminded me of my friend’s 4 year old throwing a tantrum. I really wanted to see more backbone and drive from her. She vacillated between whining and running into things without thinking. But, then again, this girl had no support system whatsoever. Her “mother” was a liar and I was never convinced she loved Mila at all. Her “friends” weren’t friends at all and turned on her the first part of the novel. Even the guy she liked was sketchy. Mila was extremely isolated and instead of that making me feel sympathy, this character only inspired apathy from me.

There was something about the pacing of the book that just felt off to me. Like it was more told and not shown. I can appreciate Debra Driza having a lot to do in a small amount of time, but there just never seemed to be any sort of flow in the narration. It was very stop and go. The other thing was it just seemed … predictable. I kept waiting to be a blown away, but it seemed so clichéd to have a misunderstood girl in a small town, surrounded by people who didn’t trust her.

I feel like this had so much potential, but that magic that makes a book come to life simply wasn’t there. At least, not for me. It felt like I was constantly waiting for this book into kick into the next gear, but it simply stalled.

Buy: Amazon | The Book Depository

Positive Reviews: Me, My Shelf, & I ; Reading Lark