{Review} Mila 2.0 - Debra Driza

Mila 2.0 by Debra Driza
Release Date: Mar 12 /2013
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books

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. Mila 2.0 is Debra Driza’s bold debut and the first book in a Bourne Identity-style trilogy that combines heart-pounding action with a riveting exploration of what it really means to be human. Fans of I Am Number Four will love Mila for who she is and what she longs to be—and a cliffhanger ending will leave them breathlessly awaiting the sequel.

Thank you to HarperCollins Canada for this book!

I was really excited for Mila 2.0 (I mean, it's got a badass cover) but I am kind of disappointed. The synopsis promised "an electrifying sci-fi thriller series about a teenage girl who discovers that she is an experiment in artificial intelligence". The android is fun and all but there were just some things that I didn't get and there were also a few factors that I thought made this unrealistic.

Let's start with the positives, shall we? I mentioned that I really liked the idea of android. She's this super ninja killer machine but she has emotions of a sixteen y/o girl. That's pretty awesome. It's gotta hard to program though and I think the author got the emotions down. I also really liked the action. Through the book, Mila was running away from the bad guys but she got caught. I liked the inhumane things that Holland (bad guy #1) was challenging her to do. Not that I'm sadistic or anything but it was entertaining to see what she would do. I really liked the villains as well. Holland is this sadistic head scientist that created her. He's provided much of the action so I liked him. There were also the bad guys that weren't with the government. Though we didn't see much of them, I hope we would in the second book.

Now, let's talk about the things I didn't like so much. One word. Mila. I just didn't get her as a character. I mean, I know she's got the emotions of a sixteen y/o girl but we don't whine and we're not as emotional like that. Some people would be but they're the more sensitive people. I also didn't get why Mila would think about her kinda-boyfriend of one week when she's on the run from people that would LOVE to sell her off or terminate her. I mean, can we check the priority list please? I also felt like the characters were underdeveloped and really flat. We didn't see many sides of Mila and I hope she would get better in the sequel.

Overall, I was a bit disappointed but I hope the sequel would be better. I really liked the ideas and enjoyed reading about all the cool things that her android nature allows her to do. 

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