Review of Mila 2.0 by Debra Driza

Release Date: March 12, 2013

Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books

Page Count: 470

Format: Hardcover

Genre: YA/Sci-Fi

Mila 2.0 is the first book in an electrifying sci-fi thriller series about a teenage girl who discovers that she is an experiment in artificial intelligence.Mila was never meant to learn the truth about her identity. She was a girl living with her mother in a small Minnesota town. She was supposed to forget her past—that she was built in a secret computer science lab and programmed to do things real people would never do.Now she has no choice but to run—from the dangerous operatives who want her terminated because she knows too much and from a mysterious group that wants to capture her alive and unlock her advanced technology. However, what Mila’s becoming is beyond anyone’s imagination, including her own, and it just might save her life. Mila 2.0 is Debra Driza’s bold debut and the first book in a Bourne Identity-style trilogy that combines heart-pounding action with a riveting exploration of what it really means to be human. Fans of I Am Number Four will love Mila for who she is and what she longs to be—and a cliffhanger ending will leave them breathlessly awaiting the sequel.

Mila 2.0 was a spectacular and action-packed debut novel by Debra Driza, it had all the elements of a great novel. Interesting characters, light romance, action, and a cliffhanger were all part of the pages of Mila 2.0.

The plot is kind of straight-forward but action-packed and interesting, Mila is a teenage girl who has moved to Clearwater after her father supposedly died in a fire. She can't remember a portion of her memories and her mother seems much different than she remembered. She finds out that she is actually an android, made by the military for their use. Her mother stole her away from the facility and gave her fake memories so that she could live a normal life. However, as soon as Mila finds out she's an android her home is attacked by the military and she and her mom have to flee. It starts off kind of slow but after Mila finds out she's an android the action and suspense definitely ramp up. Mila is put into several different situations and has to face multiple obstacles. Toward the end the action starts to wind down but a plot twist is thrown at you and ends in a cliffhanger. All I can say is that the plot was interesting and amazing, throwing all kinds of things at you to make you want (and I mean WANT) the sequel really bad.

Another thing I loved about Mila 2.0 was its characters, specifically Mila and Hunter. Even though Mila found out she was an android, in no way at all did she act like one. She had real feelings and emotions. Even some HUMAN flaws like insecurities and stubbornness. Even when she was told over and over again by scientists that her emotions were a flaw she didn't listen to them and continued acting like a human. Even though she had the ability to kill she listened to her conscience and didn't. She faces a lot in Mila 2.0, finding out her whole life was a lie and losing her mother but stays strong through it all. We didn't get to see a lot of Hunter in Mila 2.0 but I really liked him. When Mila was starting to feel insecure at school he was the first person to understand her and actually befriend her (Kaylee and the others were FAKE). I really hope we see more of him in the sequel, I have a feeling we will since the book ends with him meeting up with Mila. Other important characters were Mila's mom, Lucas, and Holland (leader of the military that was after Mila). They all played specific roles in the book and made the plot much more interesting. There was a lack of secondary characters but Debra wrote the major ones so spectacularly that their absence wasn't felt. Mila 2.0 had some great characters, and they contributed so much to the book, pushing it up to five stars worthy material.

The sequel to Mila 2.0, Mila 2.0 Renegade is coming out in May BUT I have an ARC (YES!) so I won't have to wait as long. The people who didn't receive ARC's should definitely stick around for the sequel because it just gets better. If you liked the Lunar Chronicles, Sci-Fi, and androids than you should try out the amazing Mila 2.0.

5/5 - Amazing book