Feb 5, 2013

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.


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

17 comments:

  1. I had such high hopes for this one Hannah! Look at that cover! *sigh* I have a feeling Mila will be a problem for me as well, I like my heroines to come with a spine of steel, or if they don't, at least grow into one as the story progresses. And whining doesn't sit well with me at all, so I think I'm going to pass. Thanks for your thoughts, you are made of win:)

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  2. Oh no! This makes me sad! I pretty much begged for this ARC and though I haven't read it yet I was so excited! This is very disappointing. I'll probably still read it but now I'm going to have this in the back of my mind. Great review :)

    Crystal @ Elegantly Bound Books

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  3. I'm so glad to hear you feel this way about Mila 2.0. I feel the same way! This is The Selection for me all over again. Hype/tv deal/gorgeous cover....I wanted this book to be SO good. And it's just ok. You gotta do better with a premise like that. I still love the cover, and just hope the TV show will be better than the book.

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  4. Thanks for the review. I thought this book would be good because I love SciFi, but it sounds like this book isn't something I would want to read.

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  5. I wasn't too excited for this one, but I had high hopes... (hope that makes sense) - I'll definitely be reading this book sometime, but I'm not going to rush to stores to buy it. Great review!

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  6. Thank you for an honest review. It is much appreciated. The cover is enough to get my attention but I need to stay away from books that have too stubborn and annoying characters.

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  7. Oh, this is disappointing, I was looking forward to this book. Maybe I'll just borrow it someday.. loved your review.

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  8. I really love the premise of this book, but I'm a very character-driven reader and I don't think I would like Mila very much. I might give it a try if I find it at the library though.

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  9. WHY do authors tell and not show? That peeves me! Also, heroines with no backbone kinda bug me, but I guess I can see why she would be so weak the way you describe her past. So sorry you didn't love this one! It's been so hyped up that I bet it would be disappointing to not love it like you thought. Great honest review, Hannah! Love ya!

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  10. Sad to be hearing such bad things, but if Mila isn't a character with much feeling then I can't really see myself connecting to her either. Still may give it a whirl one day. Thanks for your review!

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  11. I was so intrigued when I first heard of this book. I had it on my TBR
    and downlaoded the a free kindle copy for Amazon recently. I still intend to read it but after reading your review I guess I will hold off a bit longer. Thanks for your honesty.

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  12. This book sounds so interesting so I am disappointed that you didn't like it! I prefer a strong, determined heroine and a book with a good pace and from your comments, that wasn't the case with this story. I may read it anyway to see for myself but I appreciate your feedback!

    Suz Reads

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  13. That's too bad that you didn't like it. I thought it had an intriguing premise, but I haven't decided for sure whether or not I will read it. It's the worst when you can see the potential a story has, but then it falls short :(.

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  14. I'm sorry to hear you didn't like this book. I have to say I prefer more mature characters myself. Thanks for your thoughts!

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  15. I've read many disappointing reviews and it sucks this book didn't end up as good as it sounded. I was really looking forward to this one but I think I'll just read it if my library gets it in. Thanks for the review.

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  16. Great review, although I'm pretty bummed that you didn't like it that much. I'm holding out hope that I'll like it!

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