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Metal Bones #1
Sparked
They weren't supposed to have feelings.
Metal will Clash
In a not-too-distant future, robots composed of metal for bones, electric cords for veins, and synthetics for skin are now available. For purchase. Eighteen-year-old Vienna Avery’s home is going to change forever, now that her mom purchased a French Chef Robot to cook and reside in their house.
Secrets will Unfold
The government claimed robots were indifferent, unthinking pieces of metal and elastic—assistance for hire to humans. Vienna never believed much of what the government said. The pieces didn’t always fit. And now Vienna knows why, because she’s uncovered the government’s secret: that robots have emotions, sucking Vienna into the underground world of feeling, thinking, and sovereign robots.
Sparks will Fly
Alec Cypher is everything a robot is not supposed to be: deep, dark, and dangerously human. And for some reason, he wants to save Vienna from the government’s prying, vindictive eyes. Going forward, Vienna will have to learn to trust robots and battle the growing feelings she never thought possible . . . feelings for the green-eyed, soul-searching robot named Alec.
Metal will Clash
In a not-too-distant future, robots composed of metal for bones, electric cords for veins, and synthetics for skin are now available. For purchase. Eighteen-year-old Vienna Avery’s home is going to change forever, now that her mom purchased a French Chef Robot to cook and reside in their house.
Secrets will Unfold
The government claimed robots were indifferent, unthinking pieces of metal and elastic—assistance for hire to humans. Vienna never believed much of what the government said. The pieces didn’t always fit. And now Vienna knows why, because she’s uncovered the government’s secret: that robots have emotions, sucking Vienna into the underground world of feeling, thinking, and sovereign robots.
Sparks will Fly
Alec Cypher is everything a robot is not supposed to be: deep, dark, and dangerously human. And for some reason, he wants to save Vienna from the government’s prying, vindictive eyes. Going forward, Vienna will have to learn to trust robots and battle the growing feelings she never thought possible . . . feelings for the green-eyed, soul-searching robot named Alec.
317 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 16, 2015
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January 17, 2016
See this review in its natural environment, Dani Reviews Things.
I received this book for free from Bewitching Book Tours in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.This review pains me a little to write, so I'm going to rip the bandage off and make it quick. Simply put, this story was published too soon. Like a very premature baby, so much of it is underdeveloped and could have done with more editing and a round of proofreading. There was certainly potential, but it did not deliver. Read on carefully, as it's a little spoilery.
I'm hoping that the copy I received will go through some more editing before it gets published, as there were so many grammatical errors and inconsistencies. That's part of the reason I couldn't connect to this story. For example, the synopsis says the robot Vienna's family acquires is an Italian Chef Robot, but he's actually a French chef in the book (or at least for most of it). There's also a bit where Vienna refers to a robot as Bonnie...then gives the robot the name Bonnie later on... What?
There was one point where I got really excited. Vienna wakes up one morning, and she's suddenly in a lot of pain... period pain! She cries out, and Alec comes running in. He gets into the bed with her and heats up his hand and abdomen so that her core is warmed up – can I have that please???? BUT, it goes no further than that. She doesn't jump out of bed to check her sheets, and there is no mention of tampons or pads. Just pain for one morning and nothing more is said. Disappointing and gratuitous.
One of my biggest grievances in all of this is the lack of appropriate responses. Vienna has a normal seeming relationship with her mom in the beginning, and then it blows up in what I thought was a very mild argument but was apparently relationship-destroying. It confused the hell out of me, especially when Vienna obsessed over whether her mom loved her. There was so much telling and not nearly enough showing of this dynamic.
Then, despite her seeming distrust of robots, Vienna seems to fall in love with one in a matter of days?! Insta-love alert! I mean, I'm ok with insta-love if there's a good explanation for it, but this was just so unbelievable. There's this electron-sharing business, which is supposed to indicate that a robot has found their "soulmate" type person, but it's not explained how or why. At least in other stories, there is a reason for a bond to form between two people/creatures. However, it's never explained how or why robots have these matches. Do they even have the equipment for a sexual relationship? If so, why???
Even the fish has inappropriate reactions! As someone who has had many pets in my lifetime, including over fifty fish, I can tell you that fish do not respond to your presence like a dog or even a hamster would. But alas, Vienna seems to have a very special fish that recognises her and can tell her when it's hungry. What.
And then the kicker, which I'm going to hide for only those of you who want a real spoiler. Vienna gets kidnapped by the government, "tortured", then unexpectedly released in front of the press with something about how she's the researchers' greatest achievement. She's put into a black van without any explanation as to why they did any of these things and what was "achieved". I assume she either passes out or goes to sleep, as next thing you know, she's with Alec again. If I had been in her situation, I'd be panicking and questioning everything, but her reaction is massively underwhelming. There's some mention of Alec going crazy while she was being held for some unknown length of time; I wish the book had actually been written from his perspective, as I think his attempts to break into the facility would have been far more interesting!
The very last page was possibly the most exciting part of the whole book. However, unless I can be assured that any future books are more carefully edited, I will not be reading next book. I'm sorry, but this baby could have been left in the womb a lot longer.
December 12, 2015
I want to start by saying that I originally thought from the blurb that this was a romance novel and that’s why I decided to sign-up for a free ARC in exchange for my honest review. The moment I read the blurb, I began wondering about why and if a robot would be made with a ding-dong. Spoiler: you never find out.
For the first 20% of this novel, I had no idea how old the protagonist was (I noticed later from the original blurb that she is 18). She mentioned professors but she lives with her parents and acts like a young teenager throughout the book. She could have been thirteen until about halfway through when the relationship starts to heat up. She describes her parents as distant and yet they talk frequently and have family dinners every week. It appeared to be a pretty close family unit so the conflict between Vienna and her mother seemed to be overblown and contrived. Her mom acted oddly, especially when she tried to ground her from the internet for (justifiably) hitting the robot.
The pacing was way off. A lot of the novel was 1. Drive to a place. 2. Talk to a person and learn a new upsetting fact. 3. Confront Alec with new upsetting fact and have long talk that builds relationship. Rinse and repeat. It was such a frustrating way to advance the plot.
Once they got to Texas, I couldn’t tell what time of day it was. The sun shining off a gun barrel is mentioned only to talk about sounds filling the night minutes later. Spoiler: After Vienna is released, the story gets really confusing because it’s convoluted and all over the place. She sees a crowd of people cheering then is ushered to…another cheering crowd? Alec brings her to a place and washes her and then they sleep and then they go out to eat (oatmeal and salad whaaaaa?) and then they go home and then they…eat? Nothing of actual importance is happening, storyline-wise. I was already reeling from what the heck was going on at the place they were keeping her.
As for the actual writing, the author Kept. Using. This. Device. And needless to say it got. Very. Old. Very. Fast. The protagonist also pursed her lips so much I lost count. There were nit-picky problems, like T-29 being called Bonnie before the name is established and how the color of everyone’s eyes and hair is noted when it isn’t important at all. There are better ways to describe characters.
The worst thing was the redundancy. So many things were over-explained, which added to the plodding pace. For example:
"It was weird. It was odd. It was strange. I was walking around, like nothing was wrong—like I wasn’t being hunted, like I wasn’t walking around with a half-human half-robot thing-person."
"I would be the cause of their death. I would be the link. The cause for the effect. I would be their downfall."
"I’d defended him. I’d defended him against himself. I’d defended a robot. I’d defended a robot against himself."
"What a beautiful contradiction Alec was. What a beautiful juxtaposition. What a beautiful creation of Earth he always will be."
It’s as if the author was trying to get the word count up. I don’t mind a little redundancy for effect but a lot of this was over the top and unnecessary.
There were a few qualities I liked, which earned it the 2 star rating. The sexy stuff was indeed pretty sexy even though there wasn’t any actual deed done. It left me wanting more, which I consider a plus. The tension was also well done during the action scenes. I especially liked the making-out-to-shut-her-up in the tree moment. It was sexy and considering the dumb stuff that Vienna said, it should have happened more often throughout the story. I don’t understand how Alec could like Vienna as she came across as a spoiled child. I rolled my eyes at her behavior often.
I liked the idea of hot sentient robots and, with some character overhaul, severe cuts to the redundancy, and some added clarification of the second half, I would probably have thoroughly enjoyed this book. I’m most likely not going to read the next installment.
For the first 20% of this novel, I had no idea how old the protagonist was (I noticed later from the original blurb that she is 18). She mentioned professors but she lives with her parents and acts like a young teenager throughout the book. She could have been thirteen until about halfway through when the relationship starts to heat up. She describes her parents as distant and yet they talk frequently and have family dinners every week. It appeared to be a pretty close family unit so the conflict between Vienna and her mother seemed to be overblown and contrived. Her mom acted oddly, especially when she tried to ground her from the internet for (justifiably) hitting the robot.
The pacing was way off. A lot of the novel was 1. Drive to a place. 2. Talk to a person and learn a new upsetting fact. 3. Confront Alec with new upsetting fact and have long talk that builds relationship. Rinse and repeat. It was such a frustrating way to advance the plot.
Once they got to Texas, I couldn’t tell what time of day it was. The sun shining off a gun barrel is mentioned only to talk about sounds filling the night minutes later. Spoiler: After Vienna is released, the story gets really confusing because it’s convoluted and all over the place. She sees a crowd of people cheering then is ushered to…another cheering crowd? Alec brings her to a place and washes her and then they sleep and then they go out to eat (oatmeal and salad whaaaaa?) and then they go home and then they…eat? Nothing of actual importance is happening, storyline-wise. I was already reeling from what the heck was going on at the place they were keeping her.
As for the actual writing, the author Kept. Using. This. Device. And needless to say it got. Very. Old. Very. Fast. The protagonist also pursed her lips so much I lost count. There were nit-picky problems, like T-29 being called Bonnie before the name is established and how the color of everyone’s eyes and hair is noted when it isn’t important at all. There are better ways to describe characters.
The worst thing was the redundancy. So many things were over-explained, which added to the plodding pace. For example:
"It was weird. It was odd. It was strange. I was walking around, like nothing was wrong—like I wasn’t being hunted, like I wasn’t walking around with a half-human half-robot thing-person."
"I would be the cause of their death. I would be the link. The cause for the effect. I would be their downfall."
"I’d defended him. I’d defended him against himself. I’d defended a robot. I’d defended a robot against himself."
"What a beautiful contradiction Alec was. What a beautiful juxtaposition. What a beautiful creation of Earth he always will be."
It’s as if the author was trying to get the word count up. I don’t mind a little redundancy for effect but a lot of this was over the top and unnecessary.
There were a few qualities I liked, which earned it the 2 star rating. The sexy stuff was indeed pretty sexy even though there wasn’t any actual deed done. It left me wanting more, which I consider a plus. The tension was also well done during the action scenes. I especially liked the making-out-to-shut-her-up in the tree moment. It was sexy and considering the dumb stuff that Vienna said, it should have happened more often throughout the story. I don’t understand how Alec could like Vienna as she came across as a spoiled child. I rolled my eyes at her behavior often.
I liked the idea of hot sentient robots and, with some character overhaul, severe cuts to the redundancy, and some added clarification of the second half, I would probably have thoroughly enjoyed this book. I’m most likely not going to read the next installment.
February 6, 2016
Review posted also on Crazy Beautiful Reads
~Received an ARC in exchange of an honest review.~
Loved it.
Fast paced.Action packed. Mostly Unpredictable.Secrets.Betrayal
The book is well written and the characters are well defined. We have a very determined, charismatic and full of attitude protagonist, that will do anything to keep everyone out of harms way. And a robot squad that will play with your mind all the way through the entire story.
Okay. I am still a bit - okay, a bit more - shocked by how it all ended.
First off we have Vienna - a teenage girl who's against the use of robots -, her family and a world full of robots. A world which will be ruled by them...or not. We shall see about that. When she comes home from school and finds a robot in her kitchen she's even more contented to search deeper and deeper to find out what government's plans are. Besides the fact that he's a complete gorgeous and master chef, he's also put there to protect her and her family from an unknown danger. That's how she meets Green Eyes one day - the commander of Robotatuille's squad - standing in his car , observing everything she did.
Sparks were bound to come out at some point, and no, not love sparks. As more and more robots are coming after her, it becomes harder for Green Eyes and his squad to go unnoticed. Green Eyes feels it's time to warn Vienna about the danger she is in, but she doesn't understand and I don't blame her, since he doesn't give her the vital information as to why she is in danger.
Once she's exposed - because not every time does a robot come into your room using the window - starts fighting him back, but with her little resources and power it seem a futile attempt to discard of her attacker. That's when Robotatuille comes in and fights him, and for the first time ever since he's been in her house, he speaks. Finally. Sparks flight in her room and everything looks like after a tornado. Broken doors, shattered glass all around and a dead robot on her carpet.
From there everything starts changing for her and her family, as she has to leave them behind and go with Green Eyes. In some sort of attempt of hiding and keeping her safe somewhere in the mountains. That's where she meets the rest of the gang : Bonnie,Bear,Kyle and Peach. The last of them not liking her in the least. With each passing day there, she falls more and more for Green Eyes - which she named Alec. But can robots be able to love ? Are they capable of feelings ? That's something she'll learn in the time spent there. All the while, she keeps arguing with the voice in her head that keeps telling her that they are not to be trust. That they are nothing more than a pile of metal and wires.But she doesn't seem to care.
Things tend to get "messy" once she finds out that there's more to it than Alec lead her to believe, so she decides to take off running through the snow. Ultimately she gets caught by the so called enemies.
If you want to know if she escapes them and if she forgives everyone in her life for all the wrongs they did, than you MUS READ THIS BOOK.
I NEED THE SEQUEL ASAP, Sheena !!!! A-S-A-P
~Received an ARC in exchange of an honest review.~
Loved it.
Fast paced.Action packed. Mostly Unpredictable.Secrets.Betrayal
The book is well written and the characters are well defined. We have a very determined, charismatic and full of attitude protagonist, that will do anything to keep everyone out of harms way. And a robot squad that will play with your mind all the way through the entire story.
Okay. I am still a bit - okay, a bit more - shocked by how it all ended.
First off we have Vienna - a teenage girl who's against the use of robots -, her family and a world full of robots. A world which will be ruled by them...or not. We shall see about that. When she comes home from school and finds a robot in her kitchen she's even more contented to search deeper and deeper to find out what government's plans are. Besides the fact that he's a complete gorgeous and master chef, he's also put there to protect her and her family from an unknown danger. That's how she meets Green Eyes one day - the commander of Robotatuille's squad - standing in his car , observing everything she did.
Sparks were bound to come out at some point, and no, not love sparks. As more and more robots are coming after her, it becomes harder for Green Eyes and his squad to go unnoticed. Green Eyes feels it's time to warn Vienna about the danger she is in, but she doesn't understand and I don't blame her, since he doesn't give her the vital information as to why she is in danger.
Once she's exposed - because not every time does a robot come into your room using the window - starts fighting him back, but with her little resources and power it seem a futile attempt to discard of her attacker. That's when Robotatuille comes in and fights him, and for the first time ever since he's been in her house, he speaks. Finally. Sparks flight in her room and everything looks like after a tornado. Broken doors, shattered glass all around and a dead robot on her carpet.
From there everything starts changing for her and her family, as she has to leave them behind and go with Green Eyes. In some sort of attempt of hiding and keeping her safe somewhere in the mountains. That's where she meets the rest of the gang : Bonnie,Bear,Kyle and Peach. The last of them not liking her in the least. With each passing day there, she falls more and more for Green Eyes - which she named Alec. But can robots be able to love ? Are they capable of feelings ? That's something she'll learn in the time spent there. All the while, she keeps arguing with the voice in her head that keeps telling her that they are not to be trust. That they are nothing more than a pile of metal and wires.But she doesn't seem to care.
Things tend to get "messy" once she finds out that there's more to it than Alec lead her to believe, so she decides to take off running through the snow. Ultimately she gets caught by the so called enemies.
If you want to know if she escapes them and if she forgives everyone in her life for all the wrongs they did, than you MUS READ THIS BOOK.
I NEED THE SEQUEL ASAP, Sheena !!!! A-S-A-P
August 24, 2016
* Disclaimer: I received a free copy in exchange for an honest review. *
" Sometimes it takes certain things, certain events, to make you realize what you forgot—to make you realize what’s important, to make you realize what it is you truly want. ".
Vienna Avery has always hated robots, she constantly feared the fact that she didn't know why the government released them to the public. Now her worst fear has come to her home; her mother has bought a robot chef to stay with them. While trying to figure out how to deal with this new situation, a greater deceit rises and threatens Vienna's life. In a society were robots and humans coexist, who should Vienna trust amongst the trails of betrayals and lies?
Today, I'm in no mood to write a full fledged review, so I'll keep things short and simple.
Vienna:
•The MC was acceptable to a certain point.
•Although she's a college student, she acts like a whinny 13 year old.
•Her best tactic for facing her problems is run, run, and run. Pretty pathetic and is repeated much throughout the whole novel.
•Have I mentioned she's whinny?
•Didn't like her much
Alec:
•SUPER HOT alert!!
•Liked him!!!
•But then during the last parts of the novel, he kept shoving baby into EACH FREAKING SENTENCE he used when talking to Vienna, to the point it became disgusting.
•During the last part, he literally treated the MC as if she were a baby, which was uncomfortable and unlikeable.
The twist:
Saw it coming. But actually my favorite part of the novel is throughout the twist. I liked the what happened there, and would have preferred if the Mrs.Sheena had explained things more.
The romance:
•NO COMPLAINS AT ALL
•I was swooning at times
•Liked it!
The robot concept:
•Underdeveloped
•Not explained throughly (I'm not asking for a full scientific research, but for more info since the concept has potential)
•Could have been improved largely
Character development:
•The characters grew marginally
The side characters:
•They were all there for Vienna's mere existence
•They had their stories, but didn't have the chance to develop
•Didn't stand on their own
•For some of them I couldn't understand their purpose of being present. They were unecessary and lacking depth
The 'betrayals' and 'lies':
*Yawns*
Basically the first half was 'meh, okay', yet the second was, at first, 'ooh, good', but then it became 'ugh, seriously?!'. The last page suddenly and finally sparked sincere interest in me, but it felt as if the writer threw that event in there as a last attempt to attract the reader.
Overall, it was okay but could have been better. It is more of a romance novel than a sci-fi dystopian one.
" Sometimes it takes certain things, certain events, to make you realize what you forgot—to make you realize what’s important, to make you realize what it is you truly want. ".
Vienna Avery has always hated robots, she constantly feared the fact that she didn't know why the government released them to the public. Now her worst fear has come to her home; her mother has bought a robot chef to stay with them. While trying to figure out how to deal with this new situation, a greater deceit rises and threatens Vienna's life. In a society were robots and humans coexist, who should Vienna trust amongst the trails of betrayals and lies?
Today, I'm in no mood to write a full fledged review, so I'll keep things short and simple.
Vienna:
•The MC was acceptable to a certain point.
•Although she's a college student, she acts like a whinny 13 year old.
•Her best tactic for facing her problems is run, run, and run. Pretty pathetic and is repeated much throughout the whole novel.
•Have I mentioned she's whinny?
•Didn't like her much
Alec:
•SUPER HOT alert!!
•Liked him!!!
•But then during the last parts of the novel, he kept shoving baby into EACH FREAKING SENTENCE he used when talking to Vienna, to the point it became disgusting.
•During the last part, he literally treated the MC as if she were a baby, which was uncomfortable and unlikeable.
The twist:
Saw it coming. But actually my favorite part of the novel is throughout the twist. I liked the what happened there, and would have preferred if the Mrs.Sheena had explained things more.
The romance:
•NO COMPLAINS AT ALL
•I was swooning at times
•Liked it!
The robot concept:
•Underdeveloped
•Not explained throughly (I'm not asking for a full scientific research, but for more info since the concept has potential)
•Could have been improved largely
Character development:
•The characters grew marginally
The side characters:
•They were all there for Vienna's mere existence
•They had their stories, but didn't have the chance to develop
•Didn't stand on their own
•For some of them I couldn't understand their purpose of being present. They were unecessary and lacking depth
The 'betrayals' and 'lies':
*Yawns*
Basically the first half was 'meh, okay', yet the second was, at first, 'ooh, good', but then it became 'ugh, seriously?!'. The last page suddenly and finally sparked sincere interest in me, but it felt as if the writer threw that event in there as a last attempt to attract the reader.
Overall, it was okay but could have been better. It is more of a romance novel than a sci-fi dystopian one.
December 9, 2015
*I recieved a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*
Where to start? I wanted to like this book. I really did. It just never hit the mark for me.
It has a good base for a story. I like her idea, even where she is going with it. The execution is...not there yet.
To start, the main character is beyond obnoxious. She's extremely self centered. Demanding of others without ever giving anything in return. She kept telling us Vienna was so giving & selfless & this or that but you never see it in any of her actions. She ran away from anything she didn't like. She kept demanding everyone tell her all their deepest fears & their whole life story without doing so herself. When they would start to open up, she'd yell, call them liars for not saying it all the moment they met, then run, run, run. Her immaturity was more fitting for a 13 year old, not someone supposed to be in college.
The plot is riddled with holes. She jumps around & writes like you should already know things she hasn't explained. And I think whole sentences are literally missing in a few places. Actions or places that were never written but are all of a sudden there.
I've read a lot of ya, some romances are to die for they are so well written, others are forced but ok & then there is this kind. The other person is perfect! Can do no wrong! Instantly in love because they stared longingly into each other's eyes. The eye rolling moments became just annoying as I read. It is so far from anything with any depth.
I think she could have a great story here with a good editor. They are worth their weight in gold. To help give it some meat. Some depth. To guide. Don't tell us who the characters are, show us as the story unfolds. Let the relationship unfold as they get to know each other. yes, instant attraction is very real & fun to read about but the most riveting love stories *develop* from that instant attraction.
In the end, I had to force myself to finish the book.
Where to start? I wanted to like this book. I really did. It just never hit the mark for me.
It has a good base for a story. I like her idea, even where she is going with it. The execution is...not there yet.
To start, the main character is beyond obnoxious. She's extremely self centered. Demanding of others without ever giving anything in return. She kept telling us Vienna was so giving & selfless & this or that but you never see it in any of her actions. She ran away from anything she didn't like. She kept demanding everyone tell her all their deepest fears & their whole life story without doing so herself. When they would start to open up, she'd yell, call them liars for not saying it all the moment they met, then run, run, run. Her immaturity was more fitting for a 13 year old, not someone supposed to be in college.
The plot is riddled with holes. She jumps around & writes like you should already know things she hasn't explained. And I think whole sentences are literally missing in a few places. Actions or places that were never written but are all of a sudden there.
I've read a lot of ya, some romances are to die for they are so well written, others are forced but ok & then there is this kind. The other person is perfect! Can do no wrong! Instantly in love because they stared longingly into each other's eyes. The eye rolling moments became just annoying as I read. It is so far from anything with any depth.
I think she could have a great story here with a good editor. They are worth their weight in gold. To help give it some meat. Some depth. To guide. Don't tell us who the characters are, show us as the story unfolds. Let the relationship unfold as they get to know each other. yes, instant attraction is very real & fun to read about but the most riveting love stories *develop* from that instant attraction.
In the end, I had to force myself to finish the book.
January 3, 2016
3.75 stars
Are you tired reading about vampires. werewolves, angels, aliens.... ??
Then this book is for you :D
This was a refreshing read! The hero is half human/robot ! He looks like a human being ! Also he is muscular and has amazing green eyes *wink* :P (what's not to like ;) )
He was very caring and really loved the heroine <3
The heroine was not selfish , a girl who is ready to risk her life and protect a loved one is clearly not selfish to me.
But yeah there were times she was being immature but by the end of the book i could see her starting to change so hopefully we'll continue to see her character growth and see her become more mature in the upcoming books of the series :D
Thankfully there's no love triangle in this book :D :D
Before meeting the hero, she goes on a date but this was arranged by her friends, they wanted her to be happy so she did not refuse them ! However she did not like the guy and does not see him again !
Overall i enjoyed this book!
looking forward to read the next book ;)
Are you tired reading about vampires. werewolves, angels, aliens.... ??
Then this book is for you :D
This was a refreshing read! The hero is half human/robot ! He looks like a human being ! Also he is muscular and has amazing green eyes *wink* :P (what's not to like ;) )
He was very caring and really loved the heroine <3
The heroine was not selfish , a girl who is ready to risk her life and protect a loved one is clearly not selfish to me.
But yeah there were times she was being immature but by the end of the book i could see her starting to change so hopefully we'll continue to see her character growth and see her become more mature in the upcoming books of the series :D
Thankfully there's no love triangle in this book :D :D
Before meeting the hero, she goes on a date but this was arranged by her friends, they wanted her to be happy so she did not refuse them ! However she did not like the guy and does not see him again !
Overall i enjoyed this book!
looking forward to read the next book ;)
August 14, 2016
I'm not exactly sure what I just finished reading. That book was a major hot mess. The basic premise has a lot of potential. The idea of robots having feelings, a secret government operation, and the heroine falling in love with the robot. However, it was poorly executed.
There is a lot of detail missing from this book. We have no clue what Vienna's big problem is with robots other than they aren't human and potentially take away jobs. Which is a logical argument but nothing that others wouldn't be thinking. Nothing for her to have a mental breakdown when she meets the robots, or to justify the government kidnapping her. We don't really know anything about Vienna, other than she has emotional problems and flips her moods to the point where I got whiplash trying to keep up.
This dramatic scene was about her goldfish. Her fucking goldfish. The extend of their relationship was her feeding him and watching him swim sometimes. I also I couldn't figure her weird inner monologue/alternate personality/voice thing that was telling her not to trust the robots. Where did that come from? It was very Gollum/Smeagol esque.
She also has a boatload of family issues which are hardly explored other than her constantly being angsty to her mom. She's not artistic, so naturally this means that her mother has been secretly planning ways on how to get rid of her from birth, when in reality, her mom is like "Hey, how was school?"
There is literally no history or backstory on this girl. It took me until a third of the way through the book to realize she was a college student. I thought she was 15. I think this is a justifiable conclusion as her friends are playing make up party, her mom is grounding her, and she generally acts like an immature high schooler.
Then there is the whole instalove situation with Alec, the robot android. There are a lot of Gollum moments as she struggles through her feelings for this supa hot robot.
Since he's hot and means well, then everything is ok. They also have this magic electrical connection where she literally feels sparks when they touch. It means they are meant to be. No really. She also is constantly trying to tell him he's not a monster and is really more human than she is because he has a heart of gold. She's knows this because of her dark past is full of dark secrets. She has walls that she hides in order to escape from the pain. Honestly the worse thing this girl ever experienced is a cache of white girl problems.
During all of this emotional confusion, Vienna is on the run with the robot hunk and his troupe as they try to avoid the government. You see, there's this plot (you might have missed it with all the angst) where people are going missing. Vienna is supposed to be one of these people because for some reason she's valuable to government. We never really learn why other than the vague notion that she was one of the few people to speak out against the robots when they were first released and she dared to do some researching. Eventually she gets kidnapped and tortured/hypnotized. While she's in this prison, she takes the other prisoners' fate very personally. People who she literally met for an hour, she believes it is her fault for them not coming back, because she didn't raise some insurrection against the very large prison guard (while she's still fighting off the tranquilizer they gave her). She dwells on these people for the rest of this book, because Vienna likes to make every situation as intense as possible. This is the part of the book when things get really weird. It was kind of like trying to write down your dreams. Where nothing truly makes sense or connects together, and your left standing there like huh? What's real? What's not? When Vienna gets released, I thought it was a trick. The government broke her mind and she thought it was real so she would give them her secrets. That's how odd everything felt. But it's true. All of a sudden Alec called her babe/baby after every word (I thought this was a signal that it was a dream), she goes home and back to her life like no big deal. I know this leads into the plot of the next book, but it was a weak ending.
The problem with this book is a total lack of character history and personality development. The story's foundation is there. This book really needs to be completely ripped apart and worked on. Vienna needs to stop repeating nonsense, useless sentences and actually give the reader something of substance.
There is a lot of detail missing from this book. We have no clue what Vienna's big problem is with robots other than they aren't human and potentially take away jobs. Which is a logical argument but nothing that others wouldn't be thinking. Nothing for her to have a mental breakdown when she meets the robots, or to justify the government kidnapping her. We don't really know anything about Vienna, other than she has emotional problems and flips her moods to the point where I got whiplash trying to keep up.
"He's gone," I whispered. The one thing that was always there for me, the one thing that always cared. The one thing I could always depend upon, gone."
This dramatic scene was about her goldfish. Her fucking goldfish. The extend of their relationship was her feeding him and watching him swim sometimes. I also I couldn't figure her weird inner monologue/alternate personality/voice thing that was telling her not to trust the robots. Where did that come from? It was very Gollum/Smeagol esque.
She also has a boatload of family issues which are hardly explored other than her constantly being angsty to her mom. She's not artistic, so naturally this means that her mother has been secretly planning ways on how to get rid of her from birth, when in reality, her mom is like "Hey, how was school?"
There is literally no history or backstory on this girl. It took me until a third of the way through the book to realize she was a college student. I thought she was 15. I think this is a justifiable conclusion as her friends are playing make up party, her mom is grounding her, and she generally acts like an immature high schooler.
Then there is the whole instalove situation with Alec, the robot android. There are a lot of Gollum moments as she struggles through her feelings for this supa hot robot.
Do not forget what he is, the voice whispered. Do not forget what he's capable of.
Of stroking my hair? Of saving my life? Of saving my parents' lives?
You know nothing! Nothing. Only what you see.
Since he's hot and means well, then everything is ok. They also have this magic electrical connection where she literally feels sparks when they touch. It means they are meant to be. No really. She also is constantly trying to tell him he's not a monster and is really more human than she is because he has a heart of gold. She's knows this because of her dark past is full of dark secrets. She has walls that she hides in order to escape from the pain. Honestly the worse thing this girl ever experienced is a cache of white girl problems.
During all of this emotional confusion, Vienna is on the run with the robot hunk and his troupe as they try to avoid the government. You see, there's this plot (you might have missed it with all the angst) where people are going missing. Vienna is supposed to be one of these people because for some reason she's valuable to government. We never really learn why other than the vague notion that she was one of the few people to speak out against the robots when they were first released and she dared to do some researching. Eventually she gets kidnapped and tortured/hypnotized. While she's in this prison, she takes the other prisoners' fate very personally. People who she literally met for an hour, she believes it is her fault for them not coming back, because she didn't raise some insurrection against the very large prison guard (while she's still fighting off the tranquilizer they gave her). She dwells on these people for the rest of this book, because Vienna likes to make every situation as intense as possible. This is the part of the book when things get really weird. It was kind of like trying to write down your dreams. Where nothing truly makes sense or connects together, and your left standing there like huh? What's real? What's not? When Vienna gets released, I thought it was a trick. The government broke her mind and she thought it was real so she would give them her secrets. That's how odd everything felt. But it's true. All of a sudden Alec called her babe/baby after every word (I thought this was a signal that it was a dream), she goes home and back to her life like no big deal. I know this leads into the plot of the next book, but it was a weak ending.
The problem with this book is a total lack of character history and personality development. The story's foundation is there. This book really needs to be completely ripped apart and worked on. Vienna needs to stop repeating nonsense, useless sentences and actually give the reader something of substance.
December 26, 2015
Posted originally on my blog: The Writer's Inkwell
It’s not often that I read book descriptions, but this was one of the few times when I did. The book cover immediately caught my attention and when I read the description I was really intrigued. But no matter how good the cover is or how interesting the description may be, this book failed to be worth the time I spent trying to read it.
I hate to put it like that, because I felt there was a lot of potential here. But honestly, halfway through the book, I still wasn’t even sure what the real plot was and that was only one of the many issues I had with this book. I think this book was in desperate need of an editor or at least a few decent beta readers who could point out that there was something missing in this book. When the book begins, you’re introduced to Vienna, who for some reason, has a large distrust and hatred for robots. With the little background information that is actually provided in this book, you don’t actually understand why she feels the way she does. Also, I might add, she reacts irrationally. Constantly balling up her fists and ready to throw punches without giving any reason for why this supposedly normal college girl would react this way. You’re informed that she protested robots, but never know why. She’s being hunted down by robots and randomly protected by a team of robots and yet, unless she too, is part human/robot, none of this makes sense.
Also, can I point out, that a part human/robot is called an android. I’m not sure why there isn’t this distinction in the story and maybe it was explained after I quit reading. But this was yet another factor for why this book doesn’t make sense. If I’m correct, than the news story about yet another missing person is proof these “robots” are just humans who’ve been experimented on. But if not, then I can’t honestly explain what the hell was going on in this story. Between the constant assumption that I as a reader would understand and know what was going on, without ever actually revealing or explaining things and the constant need for poorly written dialogue (which I know can always be hard to write for any author), I was far too disinterested to push past the 50% mark.
I really dislike doing negative reviews, but this is not a book I could recommend to anyone. I can’t only hope that the book gets better in the second half of the book. But I have a sneaking suspicion that it didn’t and sadly, I just didn’t care enough to find out for myself. So, if you’ve read the book and you think it gets better, please let me know. Maybe I’ll pick it up and try again in the future. But I really don’t think I will unless an editor gets put onto the project to fix the glaring mistakes and help bring to light the focus of the story. Because as it stands, this is just another YA love story, which conveniently makes a random girl a target for danger for no other reason than a literary ploy to put the two characters together. Her life being in danger should have been the plot, not the background story.
Reviewer's note: I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
It’s not often that I read book descriptions, but this was one of the few times when I did. The book cover immediately caught my attention and when I read the description I was really intrigued. But no matter how good the cover is or how interesting the description may be, this book failed to be worth the time I spent trying to read it.
I hate to put it like that, because I felt there was a lot of potential here. But honestly, halfway through the book, I still wasn’t even sure what the real plot was and that was only one of the many issues I had with this book. I think this book was in desperate need of an editor or at least a few decent beta readers who could point out that there was something missing in this book. When the book begins, you’re introduced to Vienna, who for some reason, has a large distrust and hatred for robots. With the little background information that is actually provided in this book, you don’t actually understand why she feels the way she does. Also, I might add, she reacts irrationally. Constantly balling up her fists and ready to throw punches without giving any reason for why this supposedly normal college girl would react this way. You’re informed that she protested robots, but never know why. She’s being hunted down by robots and randomly protected by a team of robots and yet, unless she too, is part human/robot, none of this makes sense.
Also, can I point out, that a part human/robot is called an android. I’m not sure why there isn’t this distinction in the story and maybe it was explained after I quit reading. But this was yet another factor for why this book doesn’t make sense. If I’m correct, than the news story about yet another missing person is proof these “robots” are just humans who’ve been experimented on. But if not, then I can’t honestly explain what the hell was going on in this story. Between the constant assumption that I as a reader would understand and know what was going on, without ever actually revealing or explaining things and the constant need for poorly written dialogue (which I know can always be hard to write for any author), I was far too disinterested to push past the 50% mark.
I really dislike doing negative reviews, but this is not a book I could recommend to anyone. I can’t only hope that the book gets better in the second half of the book. But I have a sneaking suspicion that it didn’t and sadly, I just didn’t care enough to find out for myself. So, if you’ve read the book and you think it gets better, please let me know. Maybe I’ll pick it up and try again in the future. But I really don’t think I will unless an editor gets put onto the project to fix the glaring mistakes and help bring to light the focus of the story. Because as it stands, this is just another YA love story, which conveniently makes a random girl a target for danger for no other reason than a literary ploy to put the two characters together. Her life being in danger should have been the plot, not the background story.
Reviewer's note: I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
February 25, 2016
The first in the series, SPARKED starts off with a bang. Vienna is anti-robots. She is also girl with mommy issues. Vienna is the only one who possesses no artistic talent like the rest of her mother's family. When her famous mother brings home a robot to be their new French Chef, Vienna is not happy. Within a few days, her world turns into a freaking nightmare. Robots talk and feel. Not only that, but a faction of them want Vienna for nefarious purposes.
The characters in this story are interesting. Vienna is young and a bit foolish. The different Robots under the command of Alec Cypher are the interesting characters. Each one is unique and together, they are a pretty awesome team of protectors. As one would expect, the idiot eighteen year old Vienna is the one who causes the problems. This is to be expected from a young foolish teenager with authority issues and low self-esteem. Whilst the robots seem to be more mentally stable, Vienna comes across as a rebellious angry child. It was hard to connect with Vienna or feel sorry for her.
This story is messy in the world building. I think it is purposely done this way to generate confusion. Because Vienna does not understand what is happening, thus the reader must suffer with her. There are two opposing robot factions: one tries to kidnap her; one tries to protect her. From a world building perspective, this story is all over the place. One would hope it becomes clear as the story progress. It does not and in fact ends with more chaos.
The concept of this story is interesting. Robots who are part human and part robot, how can this be? What are the secrets the government is trying to prevent from being exposed? Why is Vienna so important? Why is her imprisonment so odd? The last few chapters of the book makes a reader feel as though they are on drugs. Nothing makes sense. The outcome leaves a reader with more questions than answers. It appears to be a cliffhanger to pull the reader into the next book. I am intrigued enough to want to read the next one. I want to know what is going on and why Vienna is so important. Recommended for young adult readers who enjoy government conspiracies.
December 19, 2015
You can find this review on my blog: https://makingdaysbetter.wordpress.co...
I liked Vienna a lot, she was sweet,kind with everyone and a really cool friend :D . However, sometimes she was kinda selfish and childish in the way she saw the problems and reacted to them. But is true that she grows a lot throughout the book. What I liked the most about her was that she would realise how many people loved and worry about her. <3
Alec is a protective, intelligent and real guy/robot. He’s real because he had done bad things that shamed him and he also had done good things but he doesn’t know if he’s a good or bad person, and I think people have those moments when they don’t know what kind of people are. :)
Sparked is a really interesting reading because of all the things about robots and because Vienna have to learn to get on well with them if she wants to live. The romance between Vienna and Alec is sweet and comprehensive, they both have their time to comfort or be comforted. <3 However, there were times where Alec talked or did some things that made me feel like he was the Alpha in the relationship and I didn’t like that. :/
I have to tell this: Vienna, Alec and his path remember me the characters in Twilight, like they had almost the same personality but with their one characteristic. :P
I liked Vienna a lot, she was sweet,kind with everyone and a really cool friend :D . However, sometimes she was kinda selfish and childish in the way she saw the problems and reacted to them. But is true that she grows a lot throughout the book. What I liked the most about her was that she would realise how many people loved and worry about her. <3
Alec is a protective, intelligent and real guy/robot. He’s real because he had done bad things that shamed him and he also had done good things but he doesn’t know if he’s a good or bad person, and I think people have those moments when they don’t know what kind of people are. :)
Sparked is a really interesting reading because of all the things about robots and because Vienna have to learn to get on well with them if she wants to live. The romance between Vienna and Alec is sweet and comprehensive, they both have their time to comfort or be comforted. <3 However, there were times where Alec talked or did some things that made me feel like he was the Alpha in the relationship and I didn’t like that. :/
I have to tell this: Vienna, Alec and his path remember me the characters in Twilight, like they had almost the same personality but with their one characteristic. :P
February 3, 2016
For full review please go to: 5girlsbookreviews.blogspot.com, Twitter @camartinez and Facebook "5 Girls Book Reviews"
REVIEW BY: Arianna, age 13 years, 1 month
MAY CONTAIN SPOILER:
This book was intense and had me interested at the opening line!
My favorite character is Bonnie because she is so happy and optimistic, even after she lost those that she loved.
My favorite part is when Bonnie shares what happened to her because Vienna and her share a warm/heartfelt sisterly moment.
REVIEW BY: Arianna, age 13 years, 1 month
MAY CONTAIN SPOILER:
This book was intense and had me interested at the opening line!
My favorite character is Bonnie because she is so happy and optimistic, even after she lost those that she loved.
My favorite part is when Bonnie shares what happened to her because Vienna and her share a warm/heartfelt sisterly moment.
December 9, 2015
If you liked Twilight, you'll like Sparked by Sheena Snow.
I LOVED Twilight. It was one of the original YA series that got me hooked and I still look back on it with fond memories. This is a more modern Twilight type book, no vamps. We have robots. Hot. Perfect. Robots.
This is Sheena’s first book. It’s a really unique concept. The government is creating robots that look and feel like humans. They have special skills and can be bought to perform specific tasks, like cooking, or chauffeuring a car, for instance. They are very expensive. They aren’t supposed to have any emotions, they’re just perfect workhorses for real human beings.
Except….
They DO have emotions. The government is hiding this little tidbit. And, btw, some of them are really great looking with deep beautiful green eyes and completely flawless, with many super robot powers. Yaas….now you’re getting the picture.
Vienna is the h. One day she comes home from college and her mom shows her the robot chef she just bought. Vienna is not a big fan of robots. She’s more than a bit creeped out, and worries that they’re dangerous. What if this chef poisons their food? The struggle is real, my friends.
She starts to see a couple different things happening.
1 The chef appears to show emotions. He smirks, he scowls.
2 Someone is watching her.
The bad robots are after Vienna. We’re not sure why and truthfully after reading the book…it’s still a bit of a mystery. The previously mentioned great looking green eyed robot runs into Vienna and warns her cryptically. She’s not sure what to believe and doesn’t get what he’s talking about. She also doesn’t pick up on the fact that HE’S a robot, too. THEN… a really horrible big robot gets into her house and tries to kidnap her. The robot chef saves her. It’s an ugly violent fight with the chef killing the evil robot and basically blowing his cover altogether. Vienna and her family didn’t realize the chef robot could talk, let alone fight like the bad ass robot he is. It turns out that the chef’s boss is green eyes. He convinces Vienna and her family that he can save her, she just needs to come with him and he’ll keep her safe until it all blows over. At this point, I’m like, sign me up. Forget Vienna, you’re hot, I’m going with you.
Instead of me, Vienna goes with him. She meets his whole fighting crew. And with the exception of one female bot, they’re all great and get along well with her. She gives them human names. Green eyes is now Alec. He’s pretty perfect. He also has some nasty secrets he’s hiding. Hmmm…..
There’s more. The romance is a slow burn between Alec and Vienna and the government is VERY persistent to get Vienna in it’s clutches.
I really enjoyed this book! I liked Vienna a lot. She grew to be more kick ass as the story developed, which I appreciated. There’s an interesting way Alec connects with Vienna, how he knows she’s the one for him. This is definitely a YA read. The romance is light and teasey, friendly and fun. Lots of action, and there’s a big old cliffhanger at the end. #FairWarning
A quick plug just for Sheena Snow in general. Check out her video interview. Is she not adorable? What a super fun new author!
I LOVED Twilight. It was one of the original YA series that got me hooked and I still look back on it with fond memories. This is a more modern Twilight type book, no vamps. We have robots. Hot. Perfect. Robots.
This is Sheena’s first book. It’s a really unique concept. The government is creating robots that look and feel like humans. They have special skills and can be bought to perform specific tasks, like cooking, or chauffeuring a car, for instance. They are very expensive. They aren’t supposed to have any emotions, they’re just perfect workhorses for real human beings.
Except….
They DO have emotions. The government is hiding this little tidbit. And, btw, some of them are really great looking with deep beautiful green eyes and completely flawless, with many super robot powers. Yaas….now you’re getting the picture.
Vienna is the h. One day she comes home from college and her mom shows her the robot chef she just bought. Vienna is not a big fan of robots. She’s more than a bit creeped out, and worries that they’re dangerous. What if this chef poisons their food? The struggle is real, my friends.
She starts to see a couple different things happening.
1 The chef appears to show emotions. He smirks, he scowls.
2 Someone is watching her.
The bad robots are after Vienna. We’re not sure why and truthfully after reading the book…it’s still a bit of a mystery. The previously mentioned great looking green eyed robot runs into Vienna and warns her cryptically. She’s not sure what to believe and doesn’t get what he’s talking about. She also doesn’t pick up on the fact that HE’S a robot, too. THEN… a really horrible big robot gets into her house and tries to kidnap her. The robot chef saves her. It’s an ugly violent fight with the chef killing the evil robot and basically blowing his cover altogether. Vienna and her family didn’t realize the chef robot could talk, let alone fight like the bad ass robot he is. It turns out that the chef’s boss is green eyes. He convinces Vienna and her family that he can save her, she just needs to come with him and he’ll keep her safe until it all blows over. At this point, I’m like, sign me up. Forget Vienna, you’re hot, I’m going with you.
Instead of me, Vienna goes with him. She meets his whole fighting crew. And with the exception of one female bot, they’re all great and get along well with her. She gives them human names. Green eyes is now Alec. He’s pretty perfect. He also has some nasty secrets he’s hiding. Hmmm…..
There’s more. The romance is a slow burn between Alec and Vienna and the government is VERY persistent to get Vienna in it’s clutches.
I really enjoyed this book! I liked Vienna a lot. She grew to be more kick ass as the story developed, which I appreciated. There’s an interesting way Alec connects with Vienna, how he knows she’s the one for him. This is definitely a YA read. The romance is light and teasey, friendly and fun. Lots of action, and there’s a big old cliffhanger at the end. #FairWarning
A quick plug just for Sheena Snow in general. Check out her video interview. Is she not adorable? What a super fun new author!
July 8, 2017
+Received a copy in exchange for an honest review. Thank you Kathy!
I received a copy thanks to Kathy at Ebooks for Review in exchange for an honest review. The summary sounded interesting and I like the futuristic version of humans and human-like robots living together.
THE WORLD: In the near future the Government (of US of course) has been working on producing human-like robots without public knowledge. However, one day robots escape and the Government is forced to recognize what they've done but because they won't recognize they've done wrong they start selling the robots to families as "helpers"... they have cooking robots, cleaning robots, etc.
CHARACTERS: The main character is Vienna Avery, 18 year old girl with mommy issues and very sneaky friends who set blind dates on her behalf. The story starts with Vienna coming home one day and finding out that her mom has bought an Italian Chef robot, not the small machines, but an actual humanoid robot without even telling her. At first Vienna doesn't trust or care for Robotatuille (her mother chose the name haha) since she is actually quite anti-robot but it changes when she discovers that robots have emotions and think "on their own". We soon meet Robotauille's squad when Vienna is attacked by an evil robot and the leader of the squad saves her and explains that Vienna must come with him and the rest of the robots so they can protect her. Surprisingly, her parents agree easily and Vienna goes with the robot squad. Now, robots don't have names so Vienna gives them some: the hot leader with green eyes is named Alec, the giant and muscly one gets the name Bear, the bitter girl with dyed hair is Peach, and Vienna's new bff is named Bonnie. From then on the whole novel consists on driving from place to place so that the evil robots don't find them (do you think they manage to stay safe in the end?) and Alec-Vienna's relationship issues, both good and bad.
LOVE: There is definitely romance and it's the insta-love type. Not a big fan.
PLUS: I was really enjoying it up until the first half more or less. It was very interesting and looked like it was going to have a lot of action since Vienna is being chased by evil robots but it didn't exactly go as expected...
MINUS: The second half consisted on Vienna trying to convince Alec that he was good and awesome while Alec thought he was a monster, all very Twilight-like right? There was one part where Vienna and Alec were separated as well and all she could think of was "omg no, how am I going to survive? save me! please come!" ugh, it was annoying and it really took off points from the book quickly. More mystery and less romance would've been great.
OVERALL: 3.5 stars. It wasn't that bad either because like I said the first half was enjoyable and the story has potential so I will probably read the sequel as well once it comes out but the second half... erase and move on. It never happened.
—P.S. I Love That Book!
I received a copy thanks to Kathy at Ebooks for Review in exchange for an honest review. The summary sounded interesting and I like the futuristic version of humans and human-like robots living together.
THE WORLD: In the near future the Government (of US of course) has been working on producing human-like robots without public knowledge. However, one day robots escape and the Government is forced to recognize what they've done but because they won't recognize they've done wrong they start selling the robots to families as "helpers"... they have cooking robots, cleaning robots, etc.
CHARACTERS: The main character is Vienna Avery, 18 year old girl with mommy issues and very sneaky friends who set blind dates on her behalf. The story starts with Vienna coming home one day and finding out that her mom has bought an Italian Chef robot, not the small machines, but an actual humanoid robot without even telling her. At first Vienna doesn't trust or care for Robotatuille (her mother chose the name haha) since she is actually quite anti-robot but it changes when she discovers that robots have emotions and think "on their own". We soon meet Robotauille's squad when Vienna is attacked by an evil robot and the leader of the squad saves her and explains that Vienna must come with him and the rest of the robots so they can protect her. Surprisingly, her parents agree easily and Vienna goes with the robot squad. Now, robots don't have names so Vienna gives them some: the hot leader with green eyes is named Alec, the giant and muscly one gets the name Bear, the bitter girl with dyed hair is Peach, and Vienna's new bff is named Bonnie. From then on the whole novel consists on driving from place to place so that the evil robots don't find them (do you think they manage to stay safe in the end?) and Alec-Vienna's relationship issues, both good and bad.
LOVE: There is definitely romance and it's the insta-love type. Not a big fan.
PLUS: I was really enjoying it up until the first half more or less. It was very interesting and looked like it was going to have a lot of action since Vienna is being chased by evil robots but it didn't exactly go as expected...
MINUS: The second half consisted on Vienna trying to convince Alec that he was good and awesome while Alec thought he was a monster, all very Twilight-like right? There was one part where Vienna and Alec were separated as well and all she could think of was "omg no, how am I going to survive? save me! please come!" ugh, it was annoying and it really took off points from the book quickly. More mystery and less romance would've been great.
OVERALL: 3.5 stars. It wasn't that bad either because like I said the first half was enjoyable and the story has potential so I will probably read the sequel as well once it comes out but the second half... erase and move on. It never happened.
—P.S. I Love That Book!
April 10, 2016
*2.5 stars*
I had such a love-hate relationship with this book the entirety of reading it. It's one of those books, like John Green's is for me, where I like the idea of the book but the execution of it just wasn't there. I love that it's written about robots and that's something pretty unique among the young adult sci-fi genre. I've personally only read one other YA book with robots in it and that one just didn't do it for me either. Bottom line for this one is that I just wanted more. More feeling. More explanation. It just needed to be deeper.
The main character had me wanting to shake her practically the entire book. She jumped to odd conclusions and sometimes even leaped to them where you found yourself wondering how she even came up with that. She has a deep distrust for robots from the beginning of the book but she never really says why just that she thinks it's wrong for them to exist and to be so commonplace in their society. I would've wanted her to have a backstory maybe. She had a bad experience with a robot; she doesn't trust technology, etc, something other than her just freaking out and saying "Robots!!!!" over and over in her head.
I also found the story to be a little on the repetitive side. Example: Vienna distrusts robots (Robots!!!!) but does get involved with a group of them. Vienna gets upset with aforementioned robot from withholding information from her. Vienna runs away. Repeat. When the main twist happens in the story, she surprised me from her reactions. If I had been in the same situation as she and had suddenly been released from said situation, I would be asking questions. Yet for once Vienna doesn't ask any questions, she just walks away and then tortures herself with the people she left behind. She was just a difficult character to get on with and to understand. I also found her relationship to be a little nauseating after she is released. If I had to read "baby" one more time...
Lastly, I was just plain confused a lot of the book and found it hard to follow, especially at the end. I'm not sure why her parents' house changed colors. I had a theory about what was really going on since we had yet to get an explanation of the entire bizarre twist situation mentioned above, and yet there is never an explanation of her parents' house. So...while your only child is on the run for her life, you decide to do some home improvement? Okay. My theory wasn't correct by the way so I still have no idea what that part was about. However, I did really enjoy the actual ending in the last couple pages. I thought it was a very interesting twist and was glad to FINALLY get a bit of an explanation. The last couple pages of the book was the best part of it in my opinion. I wish the entire book had been written that way.
Likes: The idea is very interesting. Robots were pretty interesting as well with their half-human, half-robot stuff and the way they're made. The ending was very good.
Dislikes: Hard to follow. I just couldn't get on with the main character. Just wanted more explanation and for the book to dig a little deeper.
*I received this e-book for free in exchange for an honest review*
I had such a love-hate relationship with this book the entirety of reading it. It's one of those books, like John Green's is for me, where I like the idea of the book but the execution of it just wasn't there. I love that it's written about robots and that's something pretty unique among the young adult sci-fi genre. I've personally only read one other YA book with robots in it and that one just didn't do it for me either. Bottom line for this one is that I just wanted more. More feeling. More explanation. It just needed to be deeper.
The main character had me wanting to shake her practically the entire book. She jumped to odd conclusions and sometimes even leaped to them where you found yourself wondering how she even came up with that. She has a deep distrust for robots from the beginning of the book but she never really says why just that she thinks it's wrong for them to exist and to be so commonplace in their society. I would've wanted her to have a backstory maybe. She had a bad experience with a robot; she doesn't trust technology, etc, something other than her just freaking out and saying "Robots!!!!" over and over in her head.
I also found the story to be a little on the repetitive side. Example: Vienna distrusts robots (Robots!!!!) but does get involved with a group of them. Vienna gets upset with aforementioned robot from withholding information from her. Vienna runs away. Repeat. When the main twist happens in the story, she surprised me from her reactions. If I had been in the same situation as she and had suddenly been released from said situation, I would be asking questions. Yet for once Vienna doesn't ask any questions, she just walks away and then tortures herself with the people she left behind. She was just a difficult character to get on with and to understand. I also found her relationship to be a little nauseating after she is released. If I had to read "baby" one more time...
Lastly, I was just plain confused a lot of the book and found it hard to follow, especially at the end. I'm not sure why her parents' house changed colors. I had a theory about what was really going on since we had yet to get an explanation of the entire bizarre twist situation mentioned above, and yet there is never an explanation of her parents' house. So...while your only child is on the run for her life, you decide to do some home improvement? Okay. My theory wasn't correct by the way so I still have no idea what that part was about. However, I did really enjoy the actual ending in the last couple pages. I thought it was a very interesting twist and was glad to FINALLY get a bit of an explanation. The last couple pages of the book was the best part of it in my opinion. I wish the entire book had been written that way.
Likes: The idea is very interesting. Robots were pretty interesting as well with their half-human, half-robot stuff and the way they're made. The ending was very good.
Dislikes: Hard to follow. I just couldn't get on with the main character. Just wanted more explanation and for the book to dig a little deeper.
*I received this e-book for free in exchange for an honest review*
December 9, 2015
I wanted to give this book a good score. This is my first book I have gotten for free in exchange for a review and I wanted to love it. Sadly I cannot say that I did.
The first half of the book was at least interesting. It was kind of like McDonald's chicken nuggets, addicting even though it doesn't really taste good. During the first half of the book, I read obsessively, even though I didn't understand what was happening half of the time and I never really liked the main character. Mainly I was impressed that there wasn't insta love. But it turned out that I was wrong. There was insta love, the main guy just didn't appear until later on. But I was willing to put up with insta love-because we all secretly love it. But at the halfway point things took a turn for the worse.
It was like the author wanted to add plot to the story so it wouldn't be just another teen romance, but she didn't really know how to do that so she just randomly tortured the MC and NEVER explained why it was happening.
Then the worst happened. The MC is released and returned to her love, who has now taken to calling her BABY. UGH. And if that isn't bad enough he calls her that like every five seconds, at the beginning and end of each sentence. Gross.
And briefly a word about the "steaminess". IT was ridiculous. At one point they were running away from bad guys, hiding in a tree, and they suddenly start making out. Gross again. There are many more examples of this type of thing happening, but I can't bring myself to relive those moments.
The only characters in the whole story that I remotely liked were Robotatoille and Bonnie. They seemed interesting. But they barely had any back story, so there is no knowing if I would still like them once I got to know them better.
Oh well. Perhaps this is exactly the kind of book some people love. It just wasn't for me.
Just to be clear: I am super grateful for the opportunity to read this book. I finished it even though I didn't love it, or understand the plot for half of the time. I think the author has potential. But maybe not with dystopian societies perhaps, because those require a lot of world building that was sadly lacking in this book.
The first half of the book was at least interesting. It was kind of like McDonald's chicken nuggets, addicting even though it doesn't really taste good. During the first half of the book, I read obsessively, even though I didn't understand what was happening half of the time and I never really liked the main character. Mainly I was impressed that there wasn't insta love. But it turned out that I was wrong. There was insta love, the main guy just didn't appear until later on. But I was willing to put up with insta love-because we all secretly love it. But at the halfway point things took a turn for the worse.
It was like the author wanted to add plot to the story so it wouldn't be just another teen romance, but she didn't really know how to do that so she just randomly tortured the MC and NEVER explained why it was happening.
Then the worst happened. The MC is released and returned to her love, who has now taken to calling her BABY. UGH. And if that isn't bad enough he calls her that like every five seconds, at the beginning and end of each sentence. Gross.
And briefly a word about the "steaminess". IT was ridiculous. At one point they were running away from bad guys, hiding in a tree, and they suddenly start making out. Gross again. There are many more examples of this type of thing happening, but I can't bring myself to relive those moments.
The only characters in the whole story that I remotely liked were Robotatoille and Bonnie. They seemed interesting. But they barely had any back story, so there is no knowing if I would still like them once I got to know them better.
Oh well. Perhaps this is exactly the kind of book some people love. It just wasn't for me.
Just to be clear: I am super grateful for the opportunity to read this book. I finished it even though I didn't love it, or understand the plot for half of the time. I think the author has potential. But maybe not with dystopian societies perhaps, because those require a lot of world building that was sadly lacking in this book.
December 17, 2015
This is a fantastic sci-fi YA, easy to read and full of action and romance.
The Writing:
I loved how this was written. It was easy to read and really fast paced. I read the 317 pages in one day. Its all in Vienna's POV however I would love to read a short-not-so-short story/POV from Alec. Towards the end of the book there are these chapters that are one page or less, with words, if you read this book (which you totally should) you will see, were great and refreshing from the long-we-are-used-to chapters.
The Story:
I loved it. I think everyone who liked Cinder by Marissa Meyer would like this book.
This book has a world where robots are living with humans. But what happens when robots have feelings? When they feel things, emotions? That makes them humans?
So this book goes through these questions and shows how one person can change all he/she belives.
It has an amazing romance. I liked how is not rushed. It takes time. It was slowly beautiful burning but not too slow to be screaming like 'come on,action plase'.
It has good action scenes. And survival scenes too. In one part, all the limits are tested,all fears and mind games come to life.
And of course, robots. I haven't read lots of books with robots and in this book, they are main protagonists. And I loved it.
It also leaves many questions so... I want the next book!
The Characters:
Vienna: At the beginning I wasn't sure about her but now I really like her. She is strong, fights for what she wants and believes.
Alec: He is so sweet and kind of broken. He has done bad things but now he realises that. He loves and protects Vienna everytime. He is patient with her but not scared to show his feelings, to show her that he wants him.
The relationship between Vienna and Alec is so beautiful! I can't wait too read more.
Bonnie: Aw, she was so sweet. And she has all this pain inside her. I can't wait to see more of her relationship with Vienna.
Peach,Bear,Kyle: Part of the squad. We get to see a little about them. I want more scenes from all the squad, all together.
Fascinating, fast, easy read with unexpected events and sweet relationships.
Sometimes you don't click, no matter how hard you try.
The Writing:
I loved how this was written. It was easy to read and really fast paced. I read the 317 pages in one day. Its all in Vienna's POV however I would love to read a short-not-so-short story/POV from Alec. Towards the end of the book there are these chapters that are one page or less, with words, if you read this book (which you totally should) you will see, were great and refreshing from the long-we-are-used-to chapters.
The Story:
I loved it. I think everyone who liked Cinder by Marissa Meyer would like this book.
This book has a world where robots are living with humans. But what happens when robots have feelings? When they feel things, emotions? That makes them humans?
So this book goes through these questions and shows how one person can change all he/she belives.
It has an amazing romance. I liked how is not rushed. It takes time. It was slowly beautiful burning but not too slow to be screaming like 'come on,action plase'.
It has good action scenes. And survival scenes too. In one part, all the limits are tested,all fears and mind games come to life.
And of course, robots. I haven't read lots of books with robots and in this book, they are main protagonists. And I loved it.
It also leaves many questions so... I want the next book!
The Characters:
Vienna: At the beginning I wasn't sure about her but now I really like her. She is strong, fights for what she wants and believes.
Alec: He is so sweet and kind of broken. He has done bad things but now he realises that. He loves and protects Vienna everytime. He is patient with her but not scared to show his feelings, to show her that he wants him.
The relationship between Vienna and Alec is so beautiful! I can't wait too read more.
Bonnie: Aw, she was so sweet. And she has all this pain inside her. I can't wait to see more of her relationship with Vienna.
Peach,Bear,Kyle: Part of the squad. We get to see a little about them. I want more scenes from all the squad, all together.
Fascinating, fast, easy read with unexpected events and sweet relationships.
Sometimes you don't click, no matter how hard you try.
December 31, 2015
I was so excited to read Sparked as soon as I saw the description. The book sounded right up my alley of things I liked to read, and Snow does not disappoint. Sparked had me enthralled from the very beginning, and I had no intention of stopping till I finished.
Vienna is right to think something was strange with the government basically selling its precious secret. That's just how it goes in books. I found her rage at robots somewhat funny at first, but relatable. I would be feeling just as she did if my parents bought a programmed machine to cook my food. Oh her friends.I'm sure we all have that one friend who thinks they are doing us a favor when it isn't in the slightest, such as determining our Wednesday night plans. I feel like Vienna is a well-rounded character. Real people can relate to her and understand her situations to some extent and she has her flaws. Her relationship with her mom is cracked and there are boys problems just to name two. She makes stupid mistakes just as well.
The robotic world that Snow has depicted is beautiful writing, and while there is romance it fits right on in with the plot very well. Vienna's relationship is full of bumps. Her boyfriend is keeping secrets that involve her, and while they may hurt she deserves to know. I am so glad to read an accurate portrayal of a relationship, though I have been lucky and never read a false one. There were a few points in the book I didn't approve of. One of them is undressing your girlfriend. That is her body and not yours to look at yet Alec. The kissing scenes could have been a bit less descriptive, but other than that were fine.
Overall Sparked was a great read and I cannot wait to find out what happens in the second book!
Vienna is right to think something was strange with the government basically selling its precious secret. That's just how it goes in books. I found her rage at robots somewhat funny at first, but relatable. I would be feeling just as she did if my parents bought a programmed machine to cook my food. Oh her friends.I'm sure we all have that one friend who thinks they are doing us a favor when it isn't in the slightest, such as determining our Wednesday night plans. I feel like Vienna is a well-rounded character. Real people can relate to her and understand her situations to some extent and she has her flaws. Her relationship with her mom is cracked and there are boys problems just to name two. She makes stupid mistakes just as well.
The robotic world that Snow has depicted is beautiful writing, and while there is romance it fits right on in with the plot very well. Vienna's relationship is full of bumps. Her boyfriend is keeping secrets that involve her, and while they may hurt she deserves to know. I am so glad to read an accurate portrayal of a relationship, though I have been lucky and never read a false one. There were a few points in the book I didn't approve of. One of them is undressing your girlfriend. That is her body and not yours to look at yet Alec. The kissing scenes could have been a bit less descriptive, but other than that were fine.
Overall Sparked was a great read and I cannot wait to find out what happens in the second book!
December 22, 2015
*I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Sparked is one of the very few books that have left me with mixed feelings; and not in a completely bad way…
Vienna doesn’t like robots, and so when her mum buys a chef-robot, things start to look bad. When she starts to feel like she’s being watched, and it becomes clear that some of these robots have feelings, everything goes downhill from there. Vienna is in danger; and Alec, the person who has taken it upon himself to help her, is a robot.
Vienna seems like a cool person. She’s smart, loyal to her friends and her beliefs, a bit tolerant, and very tenacious. One thing, though, that confused me about Vienna in the course of reading this book is the fact that she alternated between acting like a fourteen year old and a perfectly mature adult. Also, she did seem to have some overwhelming and underwhelming reactions to different situations. What really kept me reading the story (apart from the cool storyline) is the fact that Vienna never lost her determination to find out what was going on.
I do like the story, especially the pacing and the characterization; even though there are one or two things that happened out of no where, and with no proper build up. There are a few things that I feel the story can do without (the robot imprinting, aka “electron sharing”), and I never got to find out why some things happened the way they did; but I think the major selling point of this book is the plot, because it’s different and interesting.
Overall, Sparked is an interesting read with a plot that is good enough to overshadow all the little flaws.
Sparked is one of the very few books that have left me with mixed feelings; and not in a completely bad way…
Vienna doesn’t like robots, and so when her mum buys a chef-robot, things start to look bad. When she starts to feel like she’s being watched, and it becomes clear that some of these robots have feelings, everything goes downhill from there. Vienna is in danger; and Alec, the person who has taken it upon himself to help her, is a robot.
Vienna seems like a cool person. She’s smart, loyal to her friends and her beliefs, a bit tolerant, and very tenacious. One thing, though, that confused me about Vienna in the course of reading this book is the fact that she alternated between acting like a fourteen year old and a perfectly mature adult. Also, she did seem to have some overwhelming and underwhelming reactions to different situations. What really kept me reading the story (apart from the cool storyline) is the fact that Vienna never lost her determination to find out what was going on.
I do like the story, especially the pacing and the characterization; even though there are one or two things that happened out of no where, and with no proper build up. There are a few things that I feel the story can do without (the robot imprinting, aka “electron sharing”), and I never got to find out why some things happened the way they did; but I think the major selling point of this book is the plot, because it’s different and interesting.
Overall, Sparked is an interesting read with a plot that is good enough to overshadow all the little flaws.
January 30, 2016
Overall I really enjoyed the concept of the story but it seems to me Sheena Snow’s editing team let her down overlooking some errors.
A few examples:
“… French cruise chef…” I believe it should have been “French Cuisine Chef”.
“…robot’s hallow eyes…” I believe it should have been “hollow”.
“…the scene enfolded…” I believe it should have been “unfolded”.
“…scrimmaged through my backpack…” I believe it should have been “rummaged”.
At one point a character’s eyes were described as 3 different colours in relatively quick succession.
It's pretty typical YA lit with the "quickly falling madly in love despite significant differences" storyline. At times I struggled with the lead character’s immaturity – young preteen/teen behaviour from a first-year college student... There were moments of over-dramatic statements that didn’t seem to fit. I found the over-use of “Achilles heel” (for referring to the human equivalent location of the Achilles tendon as well as the concept of an area of weakness in something that was otherwise incredibly strong) to be jarring. There were a few other things that were overused as well but I'll leave it at that.
Another minor blunder: referring to a robot as "Bonnie" a few pages before the lead character takes it upon herself to give the robots human names.
Lots of little things that irked me unfortunately.
All of that said – I liked the overall theory of the feeling-robots and think the future of the series could have promise if Ms Snow takes the time to provide details where they are needed and reduce redundant and repetative details - and maybe help her lead character act her age.
A few examples:
“… French cruise chef…” I believe it should have been “French Cuisine Chef”.
“…robot’s hallow eyes…” I believe it should have been “hollow”.
“…the scene enfolded…” I believe it should have been “unfolded”.
“…scrimmaged through my backpack…” I believe it should have been “rummaged”.
At one point a character’s eyes were described as 3 different colours in relatively quick succession.
It's pretty typical YA lit with the "quickly falling madly in love despite significant differences" storyline. At times I struggled with the lead character’s immaturity – young preteen/teen behaviour from a first-year college student... There were moments of over-dramatic statements that didn’t seem to fit. I found the over-use of “Achilles heel” (for referring to the human equivalent location of the Achilles tendon as well as the concept of an area of weakness in something that was otherwise incredibly strong) to be jarring. There were a few other things that were overused as well but I'll leave it at that.
Another minor blunder: referring to a robot as "Bonnie" a few pages before the lead character takes it upon herself to give the robots human names.
Lots of little things that irked me unfortunately.
All of that said – I liked the overall theory of the feeling-robots and think the future of the series could have promise if Ms Snow takes the time to provide details where they are needed and reduce redundant and repetative details - and maybe help her lead character act her age.
December 7, 2015
Sparked is about a time when robots are used in the everyday workplace and you can buy them for your home. They even
look human. The government also has a secret agenda and they kidnap people. The girl of the story is targeted to be
kidnapped but is rescued by their house robot but finds out he is really part of a unit of secret robots sent to save her. She is
sent off with other robots for her safety. She has no love for robots prior to this but gets to understand and see that these
robots have feelings and emotions like she does. They also have choices. I won't give away any spoilers but she finds out
many secrets about the robots. She is kidnapped from the robots and finally released after long periods of torture and
attempted brainwashing. She won't give in but is released anyway. Her home life prior to this was lonely and she felt
unloved, and dating was downhill. With the robots she fell in love, had friends, and felt excepted. The book is full of great
developed characters, good plot, but the ending was a let down. I enjoyed it up to the end. I would have given it a 5 star but the reason for the kidnapping seemed odd and the ending was out of place with the character.
look human. The government also has a secret agenda and they kidnap people. The girl of the story is targeted to be
kidnapped but is rescued by their house robot but finds out he is really part of a unit of secret robots sent to save her. She is
sent off with other robots for her safety. She has no love for robots prior to this but gets to understand and see that these
robots have feelings and emotions like she does. They also have choices. I won't give away any spoilers but she finds out
many secrets about the robots. She is kidnapped from the robots and finally released after long periods of torture and
attempted brainwashing. She won't give in but is released anyway. Her home life prior to this was lonely and she felt
unloved, and dating was downhill. With the robots she fell in love, had friends, and felt excepted. The book is full of great
developed characters, good plot, but the ending was a let down. I enjoyed it up to the end. I would have given it a 5 star but the reason for the kidnapping seemed odd and the ending was out of place with the character.
January 6, 2016
This book introduces you to Vienna Avery - she does not trust robots in the least; it does not come as a surprise that she doesn't approve of her mother's hiring a robot chef. Monitoring and research do not prepare her for the events to come.
With Sparked, Sheena Snow has created a quite different science fiction novel. It starts as a compelling read, made me chuckle among the way, drew me in as I learned more about Vienna and her entourage. A turn of events and the accelerated pace after about two-thirds of the story left some major blanks for me; the blanks will hopefully be filled with the second book in the series. Sheena Snow paints a pretty clear picture of the Vienna's mind while the story evolves. The characters are of sufficient depth and quite interesting. The story is a nicely woven combination of the world as we know it and science fiction; the twists are sometimes surprising, the last chapters left too many open questions. I am going to read the next book in the series as well, hoping to find the missing answers.
This is a book for you if you like young adult science fiction series with an urban touch.
3.6 stars
With Sparked, Sheena Snow has created a quite different science fiction novel. It starts as a compelling read, made me chuckle among the way, drew me in as I learned more about Vienna and her entourage. A turn of events and the accelerated pace after about two-thirds of the story left some major blanks for me; the blanks will hopefully be filled with the second book in the series. Sheena Snow paints a pretty clear picture of the Vienna's mind while the story evolves. The characters are of sufficient depth and quite interesting. The story is a nicely woven combination of the world as we know it and science fiction; the twists are sometimes surprising, the last chapters left too many open questions. I am going to read the next book in the series as well, hoping to find the missing answers.
This is a book for you if you like young adult science fiction series with an urban touch.
3.6 stars
January 12, 2016
Rating: 3.5
This book was different, not your typical dystopian/ ya/ sci-fi. I loved the plot and the characters, but I didn’t really connect to Vienna. The book was fast paced, and I mean very fast paced, making it sort of difficult to get to know Vienna. She adapted almost too quickly at some points, and the book just seemed to keep going, never pausing to let something sink in. Some parts were very confusing because one second she’s fine and the next she’s in some cell that we have no clue about. There was enough background information to understand and follow the story line, but barely enough. I would’ve liked to know more about the robot’s and the government and the story behind what they did to Vienna and why they took her. I’m still sort of confused on a few things, but it was overall a good book. I mean, how can you resist the super sexy green eyed robot Adrian? *swoon* I will definitely be reading the next book and hope for more info on Vienna and the world she lives in.
This book was different, not your typical dystopian/ ya/ sci-fi. I loved the plot and the characters, but I didn’t really connect to Vienna. The book was fast paced, and I mean very fast paced, making it sort of difficult to get to know Vienna. She adapted almost too quickly at some points, and the book just seemed to keep going, never pausing to let something sink in. Some parts were very confusing because one second she’s fine and the next she’s in some cell that we have no clue about. There was enough background information to understand and follow the story line, but barely enough. I would’ve liked to know more about the robot’s and the government and the story behind what they did to Vienna and why they took her. I’m still sort of confused on a few things, but it was overall a good book. I mean, how can you resist the super sexy green eyed robot Adrian? *swoon* I will definitely be reading the next book and hope for more info on Vienna and the world she lives in.
February 24, 2016
The reason I chose this read was because of the blurb. It looked like it would be a good sci-fi story and I always like reading about robots that search/want to be human (you can thank Star Trek's Data for that).
I wanted to like this one, really I did. And there were moments that were good. But so many were not. The confusing POV, the internal stream of Vienna's thoughts which were a jumbled mess, and the constant shifting of locations gave me whiplash.
Character development was uneven though I felt that the robots had more depth to them than the main character. The concept of human cyborgs is not new and I wish the author had done more with it.
Would I recommend this book? I'm on the fence. There is a sequel. I might reserve judgment until after I read it. Or I might not. I'm not sure.
I wanted to like this one, really I did. And there were moments that were good. But so many were not. The confusing POV, the internal stream of Vienna's thoughts which were a jumbled mess, and the constant shifting of locations gave me whiplash.
Character development was uneven though I felt that the robots had more depth to them than the main character. The concept of human cyborgs is not new and I wish the author had done more with it.
Would I recommend this book? I'm on the fence. There is a sequel. I might reserve judgment until after I read it. Or I might not. I'm not sure.
December 6, 2015
I received Sparked as an ARC (advance reader's copy) book from the author. The gifting did not determine the review/rating, which reflects my honest opinion. This little gem surprised me with some unexpected depth-- of course, as a YA read, it also had it's eye-roll moments of teen drama, but for the most part, I enjoyed this story-line. My surprise was for the insights into robots and AI; at what point do the robots become 'human'? What are the consequences? The story ended abruptly, but it was a great set up into further continuation of the plot thread. There were parts which felt disassociated and random, taking me out of the reading experience. I'm betting they would make sense added to the next book in the series, but on their own, they dropped the rating for lack of clarity.
Shelved as 'did-not-finish'
December 18, 2015DNF 25%
I no longer post negative reviews. Please PM me for details.
I no longer post negative reviews. Please PM me for details.
November 7, 2018
Eighteen-year-old Vienna Avery’s life is irrevocably changed in this YA Sci-Fi Romance when her mom introduces a surprisingly hot new robot chef into their family’s home. Vienna distrusts him at once, and as events unfold, discovers her online activity as part of the robot resistance has made her a target. On the run, she discovers Alec Cypher is capable of so much more than she thought, including real emotion. To uncover the government’s secret plans, she will have to take sides and join the robots she’s been fighting against.
April 21, 2018
Is it possible to give negative stars? This was abysmal writing and word choice.
August 20, 2018
DNF 25% Chapter 13
April 24, 2020
Ugh. You really need to warn a girl before you trick her into reading Twilight fan fiction.
March 13, 2016
My Impressions: Great premise…Robots with feelings walking among us, with a hidden agenda. Very interesting. Also, the hint of some government conspiracy, oohh. Robots and Humans…in emotional relationships. I could dig it.
World-Building: Not much world-building here, but then again, the world that the author is writing within is not that different from the real world. Just add robots and shake to activate, so to speak. This is not a bad thing. The book is, after all, listed as a “light” Sci-fi. Although, I do think that the story could have benefited from more backstory and explanation on how and why the robots were created. All the reader is told is that the government did it. We are not told how, why, when…and who is “the government”? There is some vague implication that its not a government like we are used to here in the US (as we know it in the real world). But there is no tangible explanation of how it works exactly. The whole thing of the shadowy G-men was a little too X-files for me (nothing against X-Files, love that series!).
The Love Story: A little too quick…and not quite convincing. It had potential though, Vienna and Alec do have chemistry…but when did they have time to fall in love?? They only have a short stretch of time that they are together, during that time there’s no room to get to know each other. I mean, they are on the run so, every other second there’s a chase, fight, or disaster happening. Just seemed a little forced to me. Also…Vienna is not that likable. I would think a mature man (robot or whateva) like Alec would find her annoying rather than lovable.
Major Beefs: I had three major beefs with the book. First, as I just stated, Vienna is not likable. Honestly, she comes off as a spoiled, self-centered drama queen to me. Everything going on in her life, that’s right…every, freaking thing is the worse horror…or the greatest tragedy. She has an emotional blow-up or breakdown every five minutes. Her emotions apparently only have one setting…overload. At one point I was like…geez, take a pill or something. The melodrama is grating. Also, she keeps begging everyone to tell her the truth and be completely honest, but then when they are, she has a hissy fit and runs off…or makes some stupid decision. Seriously, she ping-pongs back and forth between bliss and misery with an amazing speed and frequency. Its dizzying. Its ironic really, because I liked all the other characters: Bonnie, Alec, her parents, etc.
Second, there is not enough explanation for what’s going on. I mean, its to the point where I was actually confused. I had no clue what was going on. The entire second half of the book is a mystery to me. Nothing is explained…NOTHING. We, the readers, are left with the half-wit ramblings of Vienna’s inner voice.
Lastly, the Mother thing…Huh? The author only vaguely alludes to their relationship. She hasn’t really developed it well enough for the reader to even know what kinda relationship they do…or don’t have. So, the fight came out of nowhere in my eyes. I was like…what? I didn’t even realize they were out of sync. She claims her mother ignores her to do her own thing, but I never saw any instances where she shows much interest in spending time with or hanging out with her moms. Vienna does her own thing and seems content in doing so. There is no real reason given for the rift between them. *hunches up shoulders*
Minor Beef: Ok…minor thing…not sure if this was meant to be funny or not, but I found it amusing how attached she is to her pet fish. Seriously? She’s grieving for the thing…tee hee hee. Ok, admittedly I kinda have a sick sense of humor sometimes.
Cliffhanger: Yes, the reader is left hanging. Although, since the whole book is left unexplained this is not a shocker. I normally don’t mind cliffhangers, but this one annoyed me because it just didn’t make sense. But then again, the whole second half of the book was a cliffhanger if you ask me.
The Verdict: Flawed, but has/had potential. Not for everyone though…I’m not even sure I will read the sequel. Likely I won’t. Its kinda hard when I don’t like the main character. It’s a shame though, the premise is interesting, and I think this could be a really good book/series (eh, with some re-writes).
World-Building: Not much world-building here, but then again, the world that the author is writing within is not that different from the real world. Just add robots and shake to activate, so to speak. This is not a bad thing. The book is, after all, listed as a “light” Sci-fi. Although, I do think that the story could have benefited from more backstory and explanation on how and why the robots were created. All the reader is told is that the government did it. We are not told how, why, when…and who is “the government”? There is some vague implication that its not a government like we are used to here in the US (as we know it in the real world). But there is no tangible explanation of how it works exactly. The whole thing of the shadowy G-men was a little too X-files for me (nothing against X-Files, love that series!).
The Love Story: A little too quick…and not quite convincing. It had potential though, Vienna and Alec do have chemistry…but when did they have time to fall in love?? They only have a short stretch of time that they are together, during that time there’s no room to get to know each other. I mean, they are on the run so, every other second there’s a chase, fight, or disaster happening. Just seemed a little forced to me. Also…Vienna is not that likable. I would think a mature man (robot or whateva) like Alec would find her annoying rather than lovable.
Major Beefs: I had three major beefs with the book. First, as I just stated, Vienna is not likable. Honestly, she comes off as a spoiled, self-centered drama queen to me. Everything going on in her life, that’s right…every, freaking thing is the worse horror…or the greatest tragedy. She has an emotional blow-up or breakdown every five minutes. Her emotions apparently only have one setting…overload. At one point I was like…geez, take a pill or something. The melodrama is grating. Also, she keeps begging everyone to tell her the truth and be completely honest, but then when they are, she has a hissy fit and runs off…or makes some stupid decision. Seriously, she ping-pongs back and forth between bliss and misery with an amazing speed and frequency. Its dizzying. Its ironic really, because I liked all the other characters: Bonnie, Alec, her parents, etc.
Second, there is not enough explanation for what’s going on. I mean, its to the point where I was actually confused. I had no clue what was going on. The entire second half of the book is a mystery to me. Nothing is explained…NOTHING. We, the readers, are left with the half-wit ramblings of Vienna’s inner voice.
Lastly, the Mother thing…Huh? The author only vaguely alludes to their relationship. She hasn’t really developed it well enough for the reader to even know what kinda relationship they do…or don’t have. So, the fight came out of nowhere in my eyes. I was like…what? I didn’t even realize they were out of sync. She claims her mother ignores her to do her own thing, but I never saw any instances where she shows much interest in spending time with or hanging out with her moms. Vienna does her own thing and seems content in doing so. There is no real reason given for the rift between them. *hunches up shoulders*
Minor Beef: Ok…minor thing…not sure if this was meant to be funny or not, but I found it amusing how attached she is to her pet fish. Seriously? She’s grieving for the thing…tee hee hee. Ok, admittedly I kinda have a sick sense of humor sometimes.
Cliffhanger: Yes, the reader is left hanging. Although, since the whole book is left unexplained this is not a shocker. I normally don’t mind cliffhangers, but this one annoyed me because it just didn’t make sense. But then again, the whole second half of the book was a cliffhanger if you ask me.
The Verdict: Flawed, but has/had potential. Not for everyone though…I’m not even sure I will read the sequel. Likely I won’t. Its kinda hard when I don’t like the main character. It’s a shame though, the premise is interesting, and I think this could be a really good book/series (eh, with some re-writes).
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