UPDATE: 30/01/2021 - Review added

CW: Mother is killed (OP), gun violence, fight scenes, kidnapping

3.5 Stars

Well. I have things to say.

Okay, the first 20% is among the most annoying reading experiences I have had in the last few years. It wasn't just 'mean girls'. It was like a caricature of 'mean girls'. All exaggerated and out of proportion to reality. As an adult reading YA fiction I recognise that there will be aspects that I don't relate to anymore, and sitting quietly while 'cool mean girl' talk is happening around me is one of those things. I also have huge issues with instalove and this is one of the quickest examples I have ever seen. However, in my job I have to focus on what might make this an engaging read for teenagers, so I look past that and think of who might relate well to these characters, enjoy the plot, appreciate the writing, and connect with the themes in the novel. I call it "Pollyannering". That is, looking for things I imagine Readers will be "glad" about in the book.

Okay, onto the good stuff. It's not a new premise, but I really enjoyed Debra's take on the 'android struggles to work out who/what they are' storyline. I won't give away any spoilers but I really liked Mila's origin story and could understand the decisions her mother made. The intensity picked up quite significantly as they were on the run, and Mila working out her capabilities during these action sequences was done really well. There was one fight scene that was particularly interesting, Mila 2.0 versus Mila 3.0! Hence, I could look past the angst ridden and over the top yearning that happened at the beginning and, full disclosure, throughout the entire series. On to book 2's review!

UPDATE: 25/01/2021 -Rereading before I read book two and three

3.5 Stars ( )

3.5*
this book had an interesting concept and it's been awhile since I've read any science fiction. While it was an interesting read it's still lacked some of the depth and maturity that I've seen in other young adult novels. Mila is a young girl or so she thinks and finds out within the first couple chapters of the book that everything is not as it seems. after a freak accident that sends her flying out of the bed of a truck with minor injuries she has to go on the run with her "mom" to escape the bad guys that are following them and Mila finds out she is actually a form of artificial intelligence created by the government. Craziness ensues. This is a fast-paced book that you don't necessarily want to put down but like I mentioned earlier I found a lack of depth of all the characters including Mila. because of this I had to give it a bit lower of a rating and I don't feel invested enough in the story to continue on reading this trilogy. ( )

Good sci fi, but a lot of teenage angst

The sci fi and tech is quite good, but for me it was ruined somewhat by the teenage girl act and her issues... ( )

Mila was a great protagonist. Her emotions, doubts and sorrows seem more real than most teen's in YA literature which says a lot about how great an author Debra Driza really is. Making an android seem human and still never letting the reader forget that it is in fact an android is kind of awesome. Unfortunately, I had some problems with, well, almost all other characters in the book and their relationship with Mila.

The love interest in the story starts out great, but I never really got to know the boy, Hunter. Yet throughout the entire book Mila keeps obsessing about him and missing him. I kept hoping for him to have a bigger role and actually be part of the story, but alas! I assume it's because Mila tries to hang on to something normal and teenage love is certainly normal, but come on - she just found out she can't trust anything or anyone, but for some reason she trusts Hunter. It just isn't right.

The mother-daughter relationship is somewhat shallow and the evil guy is kind of cliché, although he is more cruel than most bad guys. The only character I like, except from Mila, is Lucas. He is interesting and quite adorable and I loved his relationship with Mila.

The story is very well written and I especially loved the fighting scenes - they were riveting and Mila kicks some serious ass! I loved reading about her thoughts and concerns about her humanity, particularly when she encounters Holland (the very bad-ass bad guy).

I adored the humor. Mila is very sarcastic and so funny and I laughed out loud several times! When is the next book published? I want to know what happens to Lucas!! Driza's debut novel is an amazing story about what makes a human and what doesn't and if you like reading about androids and awesome fighting scenes, you should really check it out. ( )

I vacillated between thinking Mila 2.0 was all right and absolutely hating it, so I'm going to land on 1.5 stars. Most of it I did not like (the hateful "friends," the overdependence on some boy Mila met two days ago, and her overdramatic emotional responses--does the author think all sixteen-year-old girls are like this?? Jesus, it was more stereotypical than anything I've seen on the CW), but there were some redeeming features.

First and foremost among those was Mila's relationship with her mother. ("Mother".) It was tender and more realistic than any of the other relationships (save for perhaps the depiction of Lucas' surprise at finding how human-like Mila is compared to Three). Mila's admiration and love for her mother, even when they were fighting, rang true, as did their reconciliation. The airport scene where they reaffirm that they're a team was a moving calm-before-the-storm.

All in all, however, "Mila 2.0" was a huge letdown. I had hoped for something that could encourage female YA readers to consider science fiction as a genre that they could turn to, but this "Mila 2.0" is science fiction only in that some of the characters are androids. Mila spent so much time and effort (well over a hundred pages!) fretting over how human she was when it was obvious that her machine-ness wasn't an issue that honestly held water.

So, "Mila 2.0" might masquerade as science fiction, but it's only lowbrow YA rubbish. Fans of science fiction will be disappointed and so will any romance fans. ( )