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Untitled Trilogy #1
Boy Robot
In a single night, Isaak's life changed forever. His adoptive parents were killed, a mysterious girl saved him from a team of soldiers, and he learned of his own dark and destructive origin-an origin he doesn't want to believe, but one he cannot deny.Isaak is a a government-made synthetic human, produced as a weapon and now hunted, marked for termination.He and the Robots can only find asylum with the Underground-a secret network of Robots and humans working together to ensure a coexistent future.To be protected by the Underground, Isaak will have to make it there first. But with a deadly military force tasked to find him at any cost, his odds are less than favorable.Now Isaak must decide whether to hold on to his humanity and face possible death . . . or to embrace his true nature in order to survive, at the risk of becoming the weapon he was made to be.
Audio CD
First published October 25, 2016
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October 23, 2016
Boy Robot has been on my watch list for a while now. I had first heard about it a while back when a few other book blogger friends of mine had been discussing it. I was then offered the opportunity to read an advanced copy thanks to the lovely people over at Simon & Schuster Canada! I was way to excited when I found it in my mailbox and I absolutely could not wait to dive in. Boy Robot turned out to be more than I expected. I didn’t really want to know much about it before starting it and I’m glad that I decided to go in blind.
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What I Liked
The characters. Isaak is a sweetheart. I just want to hug him and tell him everything is going to be okay. It makes me sad knowing that he so harshly judges himself and questions his humanity…or lack thereof. We also meet some other fantastic characters that are there to help Isaak on his journey of self-discovery. There’s Azure, Kamea & JB who are all members of a secret organization that try to save each new manifested robot. While I wish we could have learned more about each of them, I’m sure we will in the future upcoming novels.
The vignettes. In between each chapter featuring Isaak, we see little snapshots of the lives of other robots through quick little vignettes. These were probably my favourite part of the entire novel. They showcase the struggle that each robot goes through as they discover what they are and the impact that it has on their family life. Some of these vignettes were so dark and pretty hard to read, but they were effective in really making you feel for these robots.
The deeper meaning. One of the biggest discussions throughout this novel is about humanity. What makes someone human? Is it biology? Is it the way that they think? These robots grew up living as humans, unaware of what they were until the age of 18. As they manifest they begin to question whether or not they are human. They have special abilities and other qualities that differ from humans, but they still have thoughts and emotions. I loved the deeper meaning within Boy Robot.
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What I Didn’t Like
The length. There were moments that just felt a little too dragged out. There were a few scenes that felt a little redundant and similar to other situations that happened throughout the book. I kind of wish a few of these were cut out.
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Overall, I really enjoyed reading Boy Robot by Simon Curtis! It was different from what I expected in the best way possible! I still have a lot of questions and there was a bit of a cliffhanger, but I’m super eager to continue on with this series as the new books are released!
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Initial Post Reading Thoughts:
Boy Robot was definitely an interesting and action packed read. I wasn't really sure what to expect when going into it, but it totally exceeded my expectations. Although there was a pretty interesting cliffhanger and although there are still a few questions that I would like answered, I'm confident that the future books in the series will give me all of the answers that I need. And I NEEEEED them right now.
June 28, 2016
I should probably vomit a list of trigger warnings attached to Boy Robot because there are things that happen that may be off-putting to the masses. And I will in due time.
For now, you can just enjoy this flatlay image as my means of promo:
--Actual review to come (in like 4 months?). Between a high 3/low 4 probably. TBD.
For now, you can just enjoy this flatlay image as my means of promo:
--Actual review to come (in like 4 months?). Between a high 3/low 4 probably. TBD.
March 14, 2017
Edited: TWs for abuse like whoa and a lot of transphobia - be kind to yourself reading the review (let alone the book).
Cross-posted from my blog where there's more information on where I got my copy and everything.
This is gonna be a long review. This book did not work for me and I have seven pages of notes on why. Go get a snack because we're gonna be here a while. There may be spoilers, depending on what you consider a spoiler... honestly there will probably be spoilers. If you want to avoid them, read my conclusion section. It'll sum everything up and probably not have any. Hopefully.
One of my very first notes is that the writing is very pretty, but it could get old. The prose tends to be very literary and honestly that doesn't work super well for me. This book should have a lot of action, and there are a fair amount of action scenes, but the voice doesn't gel in those scenes. They lack urgency. Some people will probably really like the voice, but for me, it really struggles in places. Yes, it's pretty writing - but it doesn't make me care about the characters.
Plot Talk: Plot is a pretty big problem for me. Giant, even. This part will probably have spoilers. The way the book is set up is that there's Isaak's point of view chapters, and there are chapters that are backstory/flashbacks(/possibly memories? it's not always clear) from other characters. I don't like the flashbacks. They start in the prologue, and the prologue starts with an action scene. The problem is, I don't know any of the characters in the prologue. They have no names. I don't know the context of the world. Why should I care about random people running away from other random people? There's really no reason that I should, and then it switches from that to Isaak's POV and they don't feel connected at all.
Also, the flashbacks (for lack of a better term, we'll stick with that) are in third person past tense, generally, and Isaak's POV is first person present tense. I've read that before, and I'm generally not a fan. This book has not convinced me otherwise. The flashbacks are very repetitive. There are times where you see something, and a few pages later, the book tells you the exact same thing again in Isaak's point of view. It does this very badly in one of them right the end, like page 380ish end, and it completely ruins the tension. It tells you the backstory of this character, goes back to Isaak's POV, and introduces that character. Well, besides the fact that the book literally spends two pages repeating everything that was said in the flashback almost word for word with no new information whatsoever, it would be so much better if I didn't know if Isaak could trust the character or not, if I didn't know if they were lying or telling the truth.
And they drag the pace down, since they often happen in the middle of action scenes. The characters I actually kind of care about could be dying! Things are exploding! Here, have some backstory of a character who won't show up for a hundred more pages and will only have two lines, or hey, how about the backstory of one who shows up in the next chapter only to die and is never mentioned again. Why. And they don't all connect to characters easily. I have guesses about which nameless character is which, but I don't know for sure for all of them. There's a couple I have no clue about when the book ends and - am I supposed to remember a half dozen backstories about nameless, not well described characters for another year until the second book comes out?
There's more about them I'll get to, but for now let's say - the plot in Isaak's POV isn't bad. It's pretty slow and not a ton happens since half the book is backstory, but it isn't awful. But half the book is backstory. Halfway through this, I felt like nothing had happened besides a road trip.
Characters: Isaak's kind of bland and I hate the love interest. Which, here's actually one thing I really liked. Isaak is queer, probably gay although he's not completely sure it seems and I hate labeling people without their consent even if they're fictional, but queer nonetheless. Awesome! I liked that. More queer protagonists in science fiction and fantasy, please. And I know that's gonna draw some people in no matter what else I say. Also awesome!! I genuinely hope you enjoy this more than I do, because I know what it means. And that is one thing that is handled well. Isaak is a boy with a crush on a boy, and it's not treated as weird or a big deal or anything the narrative or other characters. More of that, please.
Saying he's bland is a little harsh. We just don't get to spend enough time with him, and honestly this is the same of all the characters. Telling us their backstory isn't the same thing as developing their personality. There's a character who at one point Isaak says he regrets not getting to know better - yeah, me too! If the book had spend the chapter letting Isaak getting to know her within his POV scenes instead of telling us her backstory when we hadn't even met her, and had no reason to care, both their development would have been way better. And I swear, the kid spent more time asleep or unconscious in this book than actually doing anything.
Now this is the weirdest thing to type, but like - if Isaak was a girl, and nothing else changed, I feel like people wouldn't like this? Okay, like let me try and explain this clearly. You have a book where a white girl find out on her eighteenth birthday that she's some magical powerful creature and that's the reason she didn't fit in all her life. This comes with hot guy to kiss who's kind of a jerk, obviously. Then it turns out she's the most powerful of all the magical creatures and the one who's going to save them all and the world.
Tell me people don't make jokes about that.
And the thing is, if it was done well, I would think it was really cool. But it doesn't feel like it's done in a "this but queer" way like, I don't know, Empress of the World is a cute summer camp romance story, but with queer girls. There's a line where tropes become cliches and this doesn't come down on the good side of this. And I fully think that's because of the narrative choice to spend half the book away from the main character. For example, Isaak has almost no angst about being a Robot. There's a tiny bit attempted for a page or so, but then that's immediately forgotten, and honestly - why should I care as a reader? I spent almost no time with him when he was a human, and knew very little about his life before he knew he was a Robot. There's no sense of loss to make me care - if he can brush it off in a page, why should I care?
Besides that the love interest is a complete jerk and I hated him, and I don't care what the excuse is, he sucks, the villains are super underdeveloped. Like I'm legit not sure who the bad guys are? Please, feel free to tell me, because I honestly don't know. You'd think that would have shown up amongst all the backstory, but nah. We got to know a goon for a minute until he immediately died on screen basically as soon as he showed up, but the head honchos? No clue. Why did you tell me the backstory of a goon who immediately died in the next chapter, but not tell me who's running this whole thing? I don't understand.
PG-13 stuff: Tons and tons of trigger warnings here. Child abuse, child rape, rape in general, violence, transphobic violence, oodles of casual murder. And it's not that I think you can't do those things in YA because I do. But they feel incredibly gratuitous to me. They don't happen to Isaak. They only happen in the flashbacks to characters who are largely nameless and faceless. We have no reason to connect to these characters or their pain, and after the third or fourth nameless character gets abused for what seems like no reason, it starts to feel like tragedy porn. These things get fairly graphic, and the child rape especially is incredibly disturbing, and when we spend next to no time with these characters when they show up on screen in Isaak's POV, it feels... cheap. It feels like it is done for shock value, not to understand or emphasize with the characters.
Cons, complaints, bad stuff, etc.: Um, I think this entire review has been a complaint, hasn't it? Bad pacing that made it hard for me to connect with the characters, weird narrative thing with the flashbacks that I didn't like, and I felt that the violence was too over the top and wasn't handled well at all.
There wasn't a fat person to be seen in this book. No jokes about it, at least, but considering their bodies are supposed to basically be "perfect", that's a little messed up to me. I also found the skin descriptions a little odd. Almost nobody is described at all until probably three hundred pages in, and then people have various skin tones, but it takes three hundred pages to get there, and there's a couple of uses of food to describe skin which usually isn't a good idea. I dunno, I could be totally wrong, but it felt strange.
I also found the trans rep potentially problematic. I looked for reviews from trans reviewers, and asked on Twitter, but I didn't find anything. I wish I had something to link to, and learn from myself, but I would not be comfortable recommending this book to a trans kid. Most of the (only) trans character's time in the book is spent suffering in a flashback and then she only shows up for a minute or two and doesn't really do anything. She does not feel like a significant character, and probably 90% of her page-time is abuse. And it gets really graphic, and after a very, very graphic scene that I would never, ever recommend to a trans reader, the character gets maybe three lines of dialogue and disappears.
I'm cis and my word is obviously not final, but I don't want my trans friends to have to read this to say it's not okay. I want you to really understand this - I don't want to tell trans folk to go into this expecting a trans character, and have to read those scenes, because I think it would hurt them, and it feels incredibly invasive to have this character that you almost never see unless she's being abused.
Cover comments: The cover's great. Very simple and striking, and I like that it looks like computer parts. It would probably get disgusting as a library book, lol, but it's striking, and I like the little details of how the edges are kind of yellowed looking.
Conclusion: I liked about half this book, and that would be the half told from Isaak's POV. But the flashback chapters honestly have ruined it for me. I was considering giving this somewhere around a rating of two or so, but I keep typing and things just feel worse and worse. Large amounts of those flashback chapters are so graphic and violent in a way that feels both like it's for shock value, in the abuse the flashback characters suffer, and inconsequential, in the murders and deaths that occur constantly in those chapters.
I couldn't connect to the characters well including Isaak because of the narrative structure. I finished the book confused about a bunch of things. It's super repetitive. I felt like almost no actual plot occurred, and some of what did happen had ruined tension because of the flashbacks. And, most importantly, I think that the content could seriously hurt people. The only thing that keeps this from getting a straight-up zero is that I appreciate the queer protagonist and his chapters didn't have most of the problems that the flashback chapters did. One rose.
- I took this to work when it was -40 and my pen froze so much that it was actually really hard to write. And these are nice pens. Can it please be spring now?
- There's just a joke here that says, "You're a wizard, Harry," and I made myself laugh with that, at least.
- Another one of my notes says, "This is like watching an episode of a show I don't watch", and that's really true. The opening and a lot of the flashbacks are a lot of action, but no reason for me to care about the characters.
- Random place to put this, but there's a whole lot of info-dumping in characters' dialogue for a book that's half flashback.
- JB is the kind of douche who calls a group of girls, "Ladies". I absolutely hate that. Don't ever do that to me. It makes me snarl.
- There was a tiny subplot that felt a little disability inspiration porn? I dunno, could just be me being over-sensitive, but it felt a little cheesy. There's also a scene where a black woman's nose is made narrower through magic-science shapeshifting powers, and this is implied to make her more attractive. These things made me really uncomfortable.
- I have at least five notes that are just, "Why do I care?"
- Seriously, you had to kill a woman to get manpain for a character that immediately dies?? What was even the point of that?
Cross-posted from my blog where there's more information on where I got my copy and everything.
This is gonna be a long review. This book did not work for me and I have seven pages of notes on why. Go get a snack because we're gonna be here a while. There may be spoilers, depending on what you consider a spoiler... honestly there will probably be spoilers. If you want to avoid them, read my conclusion section. It'll sum everything up and probably not have any. Hopefully.
One of my very first notes is that the writing is very pretty, but it could get old. The prose tends to be very literary and honestly that doesn't work super well for me. This book should have a lot of action, and there are a fair amount of action scenes, but the voice doesn't gel in those scenes. They lack urgency. Some people will probably really like the voice, but for me, it really struggles in places. Yes, it's pretty writing - but it doesn't make me care about the characters.
Plot Talk: Plot is a pretty big problem for me. Giant, even. This part will probably have spoilers. The way the book is set up is that there's Isaak's point of view chapters, and there are chapters that are backstory/flashbacks(/possibly memories? it's not always clear) from other characters. I don't like the flashbacks. They start in the prologue, and the prologue starts with an action scene. The problem is, I don't know any of the characters in the prologue. They have no names. I don't know the context of the world. Why should I care about random people running away from other random people? There's really no reason that I should, and then it switches from that to Isaak's POV and they don't feel connected at all.
Also, the flashbacks (for lack of a better term, we'll stick with that) are in third person past tense, generally, and Isaak's POV is first person present tense. I've read that before, and I'm generally not a fan. This book has not convinced me otherwise. The flashbacks are very repetitive. There are times where you see something, and a few pages later, the book tells you the exact same thing again in Isaak's point of view. It does this very badly in one of them right the end, like page 380ish end, and it completely ruins the tension. It tells you the backstory of this character, goes back to Isaak's POV, and introduces that character. Well, besides the fact that the book literally spends two pages repeating everything that was said in the flashback almost word for word with no new information whatsoever, it would be so much better if I didn't know if Isaak could trust the character or not, if I didn't know if they were lying or telling the truth.
And they drag the pace down, since they often happen in the middle of action scenes. The characters I actually kind of care about could be dying! Things are exploding! Here, have some backstory of a character who won't show up for a hundred more pages and will only have two lines, or hey, how about the backstory of one who shows up in the next chapter only to die and is never mentioned again. Why. And they don't all connect to characters easily. I have guesses about which nameless character is which, but I don't know for sure for all of them. There's a couple I have no clue about when the book ends and - am I supposed to remember a half dozen backstories about nameless, not well described characters for another year until the second book comes out?
There's more about them I'll get to, but for now let's say - the plot in Isaak's POV isn't bad. It's pretty slow and not a ton happens since half the book is backstory, but it isn't awful. But half the book is backstory. Halfway through this, I felt like nothing had happened besides a road trip.
Characters: Isaak's kind of bland and I hate the love interest. Which, here's actually one thing I really liked. Isaak is queer, probably gay although he's not completely sure it seems and I hate labeling people without their consent even if they're fictional, but queer nonetheless. Awesome! I liked that. More queer protagonists in science fiction and fantasy, please. And I know that's gonna draw some people in no matter what else I say. Also awesome!! I genuinely hope you enjoy this more than I do, because I know what it means. And that is one thing that is handled well. Isaak is a boy with a crush on a boy, and it's not treated as weird or a big deal or anything the narrative or other characters. More of that, please.
Saying he's bland is a little harsh. We just don't get to spend enough time with him, and honestly this is the same of all the characters. Telling us their backstory isn't the same thing as developing their personality. There's a character who at one point Isaak says he regrets not getting to know better - yeah, me too! If the book had spend the chapter letting Isaak getting to know her within his POV scenes instead of telling us her backstory when we hadn't even met her, and had no reason to care, both their development would have been way better. And I swear, the kid spent more time asleep or unconscious in this book than actually doing anything.
Now this is the weirdest thing to type, but like - if Isaak was a girl, and nothing else changed, I feel like people wouldn't like this? Okay, like let me try and explain this clearly. You have a book where a white girl find out on her eighteenth birthday that she's some magical powerful creature and that's the reason she didn't fit in all her life. This comes with hot guy to kiss who's kind of a jerk, obviously. Then it turns out she's the most powerful of all the magical creatures and the one who's going to save them all and the world.
Tell me people don't make jokes about that.
And the thing is, if it was done well, I would think it was really cool. But it doesn't feel like it's done in a "this but queer" way like, I don't know, Empress of the World is a cute summer camp romance story, but with queer girls. There's a line where tropes become cliches and this doesn't come down on the good side of this. And I fully think that's because of the narrative choice to spend half the book away from the main character. For example, Isaak has almost no angst about being a Robot. There's a tiny bit attempted for a page or so, but then that's immediately forgotten, and honestly - why should I care as a reader? I spent almost no time with him when he was a human, and knew very little about his life before he knew he was a Robot. There's no sense of loss to make me care - if he can brush it off in a page, why should I care?
Besides that the love interest is a complete jerk and I hated him, and I don't care what the excuse is, he sucks, the villains are super underdeveloped. Like I'm legit not sure who the bad guys are? Please, feel free to tell me, because I honestly don't know. You'd think that would have shown up amongst all the backstory, but nah. We got to know a goon for a minute until he immediately died on screen basically as soon as he showed up, but the head honchos? No clue. Why did you tell me the backstory of a goon who immediately died in the next chapter, but not tell me who's running this whole thing? I don't understand.
PG-13 stuff: Tons and tons of trigger warnings here. Child abuse, child rape, rape in general, violence, transphobic violence, oodles of casual murder. And it's not that I think you can't do those things in YA because I do. But they feel incredibly gratuitous to me. They don't happen to Isaak. They only happen in the flashbacks to characters who are largely nameless and faceless. We have no reason to connect to these characters or their pain, and after the third or fourth nameless character gets abused for what seems like no reason, it starts to feel like tragedy porn. These things get fairly graphic, and the child rape especially is incredibly disturbing, and when we spend next to no time with these characters when they show up on screen in Isaak's POV, it feels... cheap. It feels like it is done for shock value, not to understand or emphasize with the characters.
Cons, complaints, bad stuff, etc.: Um, I think this entire review has been a complaint, hasn't it? Bad pacing that made it hard for me to connect with the characters, weird narrative thing with the flashbacks that I didn't like, and I felt that the violence was too over the top and wasn't handled well at all.
There wasn't a fat person to be seen in this book. No jokes about it, at least, but considering their bodies are supposed to basically be "perfect", that's a little messed up to me. I also found the skin descriptions a little odd. Almost nobody is described at all until probably three hundred pages in, and then people have various skin tones, but it takes three hundred pages to get there, and there's a couple of uses of food to describe skin which usually isn't a good idea. I dunno, I could be totally wrong, but it felt strange.
I also found the trans rep potentially problematic. I looked for reviews from trans reviewers, and asked on Twitter, but I didn't find anything. I wish I had something to link to, and learn from myself, but I would not be comfortable recommending this book to a trans kid. Most of the (only) trans character's time in the book is spent suffering in a flashback and then she only shows up for a minute or two and doesn't really do anything. She does not feel like a significant character, and probably 90% of her page-time is abuse. And it gets really graphic, and after a very, very graphic scene that I would never, ever recommend to a trans reader, the character gets maybe three lines of dialogue and disappears.
I'm cis and my word is obviously not final, but I don't want my trans friends to have to read this to say it's not okay. I want you to really understand this - I don't want to tell trans folk to go into this expecting a trans character, and have to read those scenes, because I think it would hurt them, and it feels incredibly invasive to have this character that you almost never see unless she's being abused.
Cover comments: The cover's great. Very simple and striking, and I like that it looks like computer parts. It would probably get disgusting as a library book, lol, but it's striking, and I like the little details of how the edges are kind of yellowed looking.
Conclusion: I liked about half this book, and that would be the half told from Isaak's POV. But the flashback chapters honestly have ruined it for me. I was considering giving this somewhere around a rating of two or so, but I keep typing and things just feel worse and worse. Large amounts of those flashback chapters are so graphic and violent in a way that feels both like it's for shock value, in the abuse the flashback characters suffer, and inconsequential, in the murders and deaths that occur constantly in those chapters.
I couldn't connect to the characters well including Isaak because of the narrative structure. I finished the book confused about a bunch of things. It's super repetitive. I felt like almost no actual plot occurred, and some of what did happen had ruined tension because of the flashbacks. And, most importantly, I think that the content could seriously hurt people. The only thing that keeps this from getting a straight-up zero is that I appreciate the queer protagonist and his chapters didn't have most of the problems that the flashback chapters did. One rose.
- I took this to work when it was -40 and my pen froze so much that it was actually really hard to write. And these are nice pens. Can it please be spring now?
- There's just a joke here that says, "You're a wizard, Harry," and I made myself laugh with that, at least.
- Another one of my notes says, "This is like watching an episode of a show I don't watch", and that's really true. The opening and a lot of the flashbacks are a lot of action, but no reason for me to care about the characters.
- Random place to put this, but there's a whole lot of info-dumping in characters' dialogue for a book that's half flashback.
- JB is the kind of douche who calls a group of girls, "Ladies". I absolutely hate that. Don't ever do that to me. It makes me snarl.
- There was a tiny subplot that felt a little disability inspiration porn? I dunno, could just be me being over-sensitive, but it felt a little cheesy. There's also a scene where a black woman's nose is made narrower through magic-science shapeshifting powers, and this is implied to make her more attractive. These things made me really uncomfortable.
- I have at least five notes that are just, "Why do I care?"
- Seriously, you had to kill a woman to get manpain for a character that immediately dies?? What was even the point of that?
October 14, 2016
Boy Robot by Simon Curtis is the first book in an untitled trilogy about a boy who finds out he was born a robot and now must go on the run to a safe haven or be executed by a secret government military unit.
The Good
Boy Robot was such a thrill to read. I loved the cat and mouse feel from beginning to end. As a reader you never felt like the characters were safe... because they weren't. With car chases, robotic super powers, dark and gritty backstories, Boy Robot has it all!
The best aspect of the story would have to be character development and backstory. Uniquely written, Boy Robot has alternating chapters. One chapter follows Isaac our MC and his story on the run, and the next chapter will give us a backstory of character or characters we have yet to meet.
Some of these back story's have violent upbringings, or sexual assault, bullying and overall unpleasant origins. I felt like it added a layer of reality to an overall story about robotic humanoids.
Isaac was a wonderful main protagonist. He was sweet and definitely deserved more love. His personality and thoughts really resonated with me and the kind of person I was in high school. My only issue was he never questioned anything. He just went with the flow like everything that was happening was totally normal. Of course some other characters that stuck out for me were Kamea, JB, the Twins, the Mute, and V.
I felt the progression of the story was great. At times the chapter were tad bit long, and there seemed to be a lot of the same things happening again and again, but I was constantly on the edge of my seat! There was a ton of action to keep me satisfied and I loved the cool robotic powers each one had unique to them. Don't get me started with that cliffhanger of an ending though! Where is book 2 when I need it most??
The Bad
My one tiny complaint or issue with Boy Robot was the last portion of the book. I felt like there was a lot revealed and too much going on at once. It felt a bit jumbled and took away from my overall enjoyment of the book. Although some of the twists and reveals were pretty cool, I was just a lot to handle for one ending.
P.S. JB is a butthead.
I seriously need book 2 in my hands ASAP. Me and cliffhangers don't get along. Why Simon, why??
December 2, 2016
Decent...if unspectacular take on gay science fiction.
Boy Robot is one of those books that pretty much does what it says on the tin. Our lead character here is a boy, and well, he's a robot. There by cue some secret government conspiracy wackiness ensues.
I will say straight up that there are elements of this book that really work. I found the action scenes to be well pretty done and interesting, they have a slight X-Men vibe with telekinesis and shielding powers that lead to some interesting ideas and sequences, but our main villains are basically nameless government agents in black suits and black SUV's. Not exactly screaming originality here.
As with most books in the genre though our main character doesn't just have one power, oh no no, he of course has ALL OF THEM, so the Mary Sue is definitely strong in this one. The resistance is looking for him to help them fight the government, the government wants him dead, it's one of those stories that has been done a dozen times before and plot wise there isn't anything completely new, well plot wise at least.
The area where it is new lies in the fact that our main character is gay, and probably the first gay robot to lead a book. [Strike that, I forgot Willfull Machines exists.]
Out of the gay led sci-fi YA books I've read recently, it doesn't quite reach the heights of Proxy (God bless Alex London) but you can certainly do worse. It can be a bit of a downer when it comes to the characters back stories though. It seems like every bad thing in the history of mankind has happened to them, to the point where I began rolling my eyes instead of feeling sympathy for them. (I'm a nice person I swear it!)
I'd consider the book to be an entirely passable form of entertainment if you're looking for a gay book with a more sci-fi or adventure style story. The trend in gay dystopias/sci-fi recently has been very good for diversity but I feel like we are still waiting for those stand out books. I will probably read the inevitable sequel, but probably won't be rushing out for it.
I forgot to mention the love story here, but that's because it seemed like the author forgot about it half the time too.
3 Stars ***
Boy Robot is one of those books that pretty much does what it says on the tin. Our lead character here is a boy, and well, he's a robot. There by cue some secret government conspiracy wackiness ensues.
I will say straight up that there are elements of this book that really work. I found the action scenes to be well pretty done and interesting, they have a slight X-Men vibe with telekinesis and shielding powers that lead to some interesting ideas and sequences, but our main villains are basically nameless government agents in black suits and black SUV's. Not exactly screaming originality here.
As with most books in the genre though our main character doesn't just have one power, oh no no, he of course has ALL OF THEM, so the Mary Sue is definitely strong in this one. The resistance is looking for him to help them fight the government, the government wants him dead, it's one of those stories that has been done a dozen times before and plot wise there isn't anything completely new, well plot wise at least.
The area where it is new lies in the fact that our main character is gay, and probably the first gay robot to lead a book. [Strike that, I forgot Willfull Machines exists.]
Out of the gay led sci-fi YA books I've read recently, it doesn't quite reach the heights of Proxy (God bless Alex London) but you can certainly do worse. It can be a bit of a downer when it comes to the characters back stories though. It seems like every bad thing in the history of mankind has happened to them, to the point where I began rolling my eyes instead of feeling sympathy for them. (I'm a nice person I swear it!)
I'd consider the book to be an entirely passable form of entertainment if you're looking for a gay book with a more sci-fi or adventure style story. The trend in gay dystopias/sci-fi recently has been very good for diversity but I feel like we are still waiting for those stand out books. I will probably read the inevitable sequel, but probably won't be rushing out for it.
I forgot to mention the love story here, but that's because it seemed like the author forgot about it half the time too.
3 Stars ***
February 19, 2016
Disclaimer: I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Full review to come closer to release date, but here is a sneak preview of what I thought.
Trigger warning for violence, rape, and general bad language.
Wow. This might be the best book I read this year. I know I only rated it four stars but that is for little things that didn't really detract from my reading but I wanted more from these pieces because the rest of the novel was SO good. There was the right mix of Science Fiction and Thriller in this one to keep me on the edge of my seat. I am so glad this is a planned trilogy because I NEED MORE from this world, these characters, and this author.
I highly recommend this one. There is so much on screen diversity and representation, a great setting, and a girl whose vagina KILLS PEOPLE. Really what more could you ask for out of a novel?
Books and Ladders | Books Are My Fandom | Twitter | Instagram | Bloglovin'
Full review to come closer to release date, but here is a sneak preview of what I thought.
Trigger warning for violence, rape, and general bad language.
Wow. This might be the best book I read this year. I know I only rated it four stars but that is for little things that didn't really detract from my reading but I wanted more from these pieces because the rest of the novel was SO good. There was the right mix of Science Fiction and Thriller in this one to keep me on the edge of my seat. I am so glad this is a planned trilogy because I NEED MORE from this world, these characters, and this author.
I highly recommend this one. There is so much on screen diversity and representation, a great setting, and a girl whose vagina KILLS PEOPLE. Really what more could you ask for out of a novel?
Books and Ladders | Books Are My Fandom | Twitter | Instagram | Bloglovin'
do-not-read
February 22, 2017I am choosing not to read this book, because of the trans representation, child abuse and sexual assault content. I found this review especially helpful in making this decision: http://lainahastoomuchsparetime.blogs...
This description of the trans representation made it clear the book is not for me, and something other trans readers need to know about:
"Most of the trans character's time in the book is spent suffering in a flashback and then she only shows up for a minute or two and doesn't really do anything. She does not feel like a significant character, and probably 90% of her page-time is abuse. And it gets really graphic, and after a very, very graphic scene that I would never, ever recommend to a trans reader, the character gets maybe three lines of dialogue and disappears."
This description of the trans representation made it clear the book is not for me, and something other trans readers need to know about:
"Most of the trans character's time in the book is spent suffering in a flashback and then she only shows up for a minute or two and doesn't really do anything. She does not feel like a significant character, and probably 90% of her page-time is abuse. And it gets really graphic, and after a very, very graphic scene that I would never, ever recommend to a trans reader, the character gets maybe three lines of dialogue and disappears."
June 21, 2016
This book was an emotional roller that pulls at your heartstrings just before igniting into a science fiction action sequence. It addresses some very hard issues but in a very non-preaching way ...yet this book leaves you excited about the amazing adventure you know is about to come. Love this book.
August 26, 2017
I adored this book! It’s so much fun to read, and it's such an interesting and different take on robots. The characters are also great, and the action scenes are seriously next level. I can’t wait for book 2!!
January 1, 2017
Empezamos flojo el año de lectura.
Un libro de 500 páginas en el que se la pasan huyendo de acá para allá sin explicarte demasiado y recién en el último capítulo llegan algunas explicaciones, justito cuando se termina. Garronete total.
Un libro de 500 páginas en el que se la pasan huyendo de acá para allá sin explicarte demasiado y recién en el último capítulo llegan algunas explicaciones, justito cuando se termina. Garronete total.
January 11, 2017
Dear lord this was amazing. I almost want to read it again right now. Seriously, I can't even believe the freaking cliff I am dangling on right now! This is a terrifyingly beautiful sci-fi world that feels all too realistic & quite possibly already true!
December 4, 2016
In the highly imaginative novel, "Boy Robot" Isaak's life changes on his eighteenth birthday when he suffers the excruciating pain of a headache that results in a freak accident, instant healing and being kicked out of the only home he's ever known. Given one more night in his familiar surroundings he's pulled from his bed by Azure an enigmatic girl with incredible power who saves him from the Sheriffs, a team of soldiers sent to kill him.
Fleeing from a secret military organization and questioning his inception, Isaak and Azure join forces with Kamea and JB crossing the country, seeking the safe haven of the "Underground," a covert network of Robots and Unions working together and existing in a landscape where death lurks as SHRF ( Synthetic Humanoid Reclamation Force) seek to annihilate them. In an action-packed adventure Isaak struggles to hold on to his humanity, as he searches for clues to the mystery of his existence as a Robot, discovering the truth in the inaccuracies he's been fed.
Set in the future after a brilliant scientist and his colleagues sabotaged a military initiative to create a lethal weapon, infecting women with synthetic cells so that they bear synthetic offspring with powers that the government must eradicate. In a plot that mixes snapshots of the lives of other robots and even a disillusioned soldier, Isaak not only struggles to survive SHRF's hunt to kill him, but must face the reality of his existence as a Robot and adjust to his emerging power that kills without compunction.
Fast-paced and dark as Isaak's life is filled with violence, frightening nightmares and his burgeoning sexuality Simon Curtis explores what it is to be human and the essence of human emotions as Isaak becomes aware of his unusual ability and is forced into a battle that mankind may not survive. Gritty and dark the book must be closely read as the flow of the main plot is continually broken with snapshots of other Robots' lives.
What makes this science fiction novel extremely entertaining and hard to put down are the characters who infuse the plot with energy, passion and drama like Isaak a teen who feels different and unloved until meeting Azure. Incompetent, careless and afraid through much of the story his vulnerability and insecurity make him a touching and unforgettable figure. Azure his hard, ferocious and aloof protector is hyper and brave when facing off with the Sheriffs. Of the other characters Kamea is secretive, trustworthy and loyal while good-looking JB is an overly- confident, self-absorbed operator who tends to sugar-coat his true feelings with humor.
A uniquely gay scify story, " Boy Robot" is an imaginative and engaging story that keeps you on the edge of your seat and climaxes with a cliff-hanger that makes you wonder where Simon Curtis will take this story next.
Fleeing from a secret military organization and questioning his inception, Isaak and Azure join forces with Kamea and JB crossing the country, seeking the safe haven of the "Underground," a covert network of Robots and Unions working together and existing in a landscape where death lurks as SHRF ( Synthetic Humanoid Reclamation Force) seek to annihilate them. In an action-packed adventure Isaak struggles to hold on to his humanity, as he searches for clues to the mystery of his existence as a Robot, discovering the truth in the inaccuracies he's been fed.
Set in the future after a brilliant scientist and his colleagues sabotaged a military initiative to create a lethal weapon, infecting women with synthetic cells so that they bear synthetic offspring with powers that the government must eradicate. In a plot that mixes snapshots of the lives of other robots and even a disillusioned soldier, Isaak not only struggles to survive SHRF's hunt to kill him, but must face the reality of his existence as a Robot and adjust to his emerging power that kills without compunction.
Fast-paced and dark as Isaak's life is filled with violence, frightening nightmares and his burgeoning sexuality Simon Curtis explores what it is to be human and the essence of human emotions as Isaak becomes aware of his unusual ability and is forced into a battle that mankind may not survive. Gritty and dark the book must be closely read as the flow of the main plot is continually broken with snapshots of other Robots' lives.
What makes this science fiction novel extremely entertaining and hard to put down are the characters who infuse the plot with energy, passion and drama like Isaak a teen who feels different and unloved until meeting Azure. Incompetent, careless and afraid through much of the story his vulnerability and insecurity make him a touching and unforgettable figure. Azure his hard, ferocious and aloof protector is hyper and brave when facing off with the Sheriffs. Of the other characters Kamea is secretive, trustworthy and loyal while good-looking JB is an overly- confident, self-absorbed operator who tends to sugar-coat his true feelings with humor.
A uniquely gay scify story, " Boy Robot" is an imaginative and engaging story that keeps you on the edge of your seat and climaxes with a cliff-hanger that makes you wonder where Simon Curtis will take this story next.
January 7, 2017
This book actually doesn't deserve any stars at all. Initially, I didn't want to read it. The synopsis didn't draw me in, didn't seem like my kind of thing. I only picked it up for the sake of my book club.
But holy crap, this book was BAD. I only made it as far as the second chapter (page 63, holy crap) before I quit. The pacing was bad: everything that's written is way too rushed and it feels like every disaster that happens is for the sake of plot points and not actually weaving a good story. Nothing's believable and the author does more telling instead of showing, leaving me feeling like I'm not involved in the story. I'm being told what to feel and not actually feeling it. There isn't much detail to this either. Most of the characters are referred to with only pronouns. No names, no descriptions. It makes it really difficult to picture anything that happens or get emotionally invested in the characters.
A lot of things don't even make sense like how Isaak's mom hates him and denies being his mom despite him being her miracle child, and it never gets explained before she dies. His best friend doesn't make sense or affect the story. You could replace him with a sexy lamp and nothing would change. Then Isaak leaves forever which takes away any importance his friend had. Lastly, Punching Bag. Even though she was a main character and even got her own perspective, she doesn't get a proper name. Then she dies and it makes you wonder if her perspective meant anything at all or if it just wasted your time.
This book is poorly written and a waste of time. Do yourself a favor and skip this book. Don't let it waste your time.
But holy crap, this book was BAD. I only made it as far as the second chapter (page 63, holy crap) before I quit. The pacing was bad: everything that's written is way too rushed and it feels like every disaster that happens is for the sake of plot points and not actually weaving a good story. Nothing's believable and the author does more telling instead of showing, leaving me feeling like I'm not involved in the story. I'm being told what to feel and not actually feeling it. There isn't much detail to this either. Most of the characters are referred to with only pronouns. No names, no descriptions. It makes it really difficult to picture anything that happens or get emotionally invested in the characters.
A lot of things don't even make sense like how Isaak's mom hates him and denies being his mom despite him being her miracle child, and it never gets explained before she dies. His best friend doesn't make sense or affect the story. You could replace him with a sexy lamp and nothing would change. Then Isaak leaves forever which takes away any importance his friend had. Lastly, Punching Bag. Even though she was a main character and even got her own perspective, she doesn't get a proper name. Then she dies and it makes you wonder if her perspective meant anything at all or if it just wasted your time.
This book is poorly written and a waste of time. Do yourself a favor and skip this book. Don't let it waste your time.
Read
October 10, 2016DNF. I hate not finishing books. But I've been reading this one for 3 days now and I'm still not hooked. Plus I'm only 100 pages in.
I love science fiction. It's my fav genre. But I just can't get into Boy Robot. Maybe it's timing or maybe it's the wishy washy writing style? It's had alternating POV's which would be fine if it was between characters generally. But it's between characters where Issac is in first person and the other, which I believe are flash backs to Azure's changing, are in third person. I hate it when a writer does that. It also happens in weird spot. Full dedicated chapters to the flashes in third person but they also happen mid chapter in Isaacs chapters. It's an odd style that I just couldn't get into.
I love science fiction. It's my fav genre. But I just can't get into Boy Robot. Maybe it's timing or maybe it's the wishy washy writing style? It's had alternating POV's which would be fine if it was between characters generally. But it's between characters where Issac is in first person and the other, which I believe are flash backs to Azure's changing, are in third person. I hate it when a writer does that. It also happens in weird spot. Full dedicated chapters to the flashes in third person but they also happen mid chapter in Isaacs chapters. It's an odd style that I just couldn't get into.
November 15, 2016
There is no point to a great deal of this book. Ridiculous amounts of brutality coupled with no reason for this brutality makes a superfluous amount of unsettling situations that are clearly only designed to make the reader uncomfortable.
Literally the second-ish chapter follows a robot girl being bullied by a group of guys and girls. They violently abuse her both verbally and physically, to the point that her secret superpowers surface and blast all of them to smithereens. Frankly, it was a pretty awesome scene that had nothing but redemption and karma. It also confused the hell out of me.
Why? Because no reason is ever given for why these people hate this girl. They call her a piece of shit and hate her so much that they brutalize her--kick her, punch her, choke her. No reason is given for this treatment.
The author also seems to have a very low opinion of parents. All of our robots are emotionally damaged by whatever guardian is watching them. For our main character, Izaak, his mother HATES him. Like how is it that this woman hates him so much when he has done nothing to deserve it? He's a fundamentally good kid and he never causes problems but he is ostracized in his own household because.... he's adopted. Okay. The girl who got the shit kicked out of her? Her grandmother is her guardian and all she does is relentlessly remind the girl that her mother died in childbirth and it's all her fault and she ruined everyone's lives by being born. Why? Why the hell is there so much animosity?
It's also stupid that they're called Robots. Just saying. I won't bother going to the rape issues or the total lack of real characterization or even the excessively purple prose used by the author. Just all around bad.
Literally the second-ish chapter follows a robot girl being bullied by a group of guys and girls. They violently abuse her both verbally and physically, to the point that her secret superpowers surface and blast all of them to smithereens. Frankly, it was a pretty awesome scene that had nothing but redemption and karma. It also confused the hell out of me.
Why? Because no reason is ever given for why these people hate this girl. They call her a piece of shit and hate her so much that they brutalize her--kick her, punch her, choke her. No reason is given for this treatment.
The author also seems to have a very low opinion of parents. All of our robots are emotionally damaged by whatever guardian is watching them. For our main character, Izaak, his mother HATES him. Like how is it that this woman hates him so much when he has done nothing to deserve it? He's a fundamentally good kid and he never causes problems but he is ostracized in his own household because.... he's adopted. Okay. The girl who got the shit kicked out of her? Her grandmother is her guardian and all she does is relentlessly remind the girl that her mother died in childbirth and it's all her fault and she ruined everyone's lives by being born. Why? Why the hell is there so much animosity?
It's also stupid that they're called Robots. Just saying. I won't bother going to the rape issues or the total lack of real characterization or even the excessively purple prose used by the author. Just all around bad.
December 20, 2016
"I have this human heart
My mother told me so
She said, 'This shit can go to pieces, boy, be careful...'"
-OneRepublic, "Lift Me Up"
Enough book bloggers were raving about this book that after months of my library not ordering it, I finally special-ordered it from Sacramento. Worth it.
It's a commanding read, completely unputdownable, even when the story shifts into horrifying violence - which it often does, especially when digging into the backstories of the other Robots besides our protagonist, Isaak. Hell, all the Robots have had some damage inflicted on them in their time, whether physical or psychological (Isaak mostly got the latter himself.) Be warned that there's considerable violence in some of these scenes, up to and including rape.
While the book does suffer from a pretty confusing second half (confusing mostly because of an onslaught of other Robots' nightmares), it's also got a ton of excellent sci-fi world-building, taking inspiration from X-Men, Star Trek, and so much more. Including, unless I miss my guess, Margaret Stohl's Icons. You'll know the Icons reference when you see it, and it threw me for a loop when it showed up because I recently wrote a similar reference in my own book.
At least now I know I've got another potential comp title for queries in Boy Robot, at least in terms of weird science, artificially-engineered "chosen one" protagonists (though mine is at least more inspired by The Amazing Spider-Man than Icons), and diversity of cast.
After that cliffhanger ending, though, I desperately need the sequel.
My mother told me so
She said, 'This shit can go to pieces, boy, be careful...'"
-OneRepublic, "Lift Me Up"
Enough book bloggers were raving about this book that after months of my library not ordering it, I finally special-ordered it from Sacramento. Worth it.
It's a commanding read, completely unputdownable, even when the story shifts into horrifying violence - which it often does, especially when digging into the backstories of the other Robots besides our protagonist, Isaak. Hell, all the Robots have had some damage inflicted on them in their time, whether physical or psychological (Isaak mostly got the latter himself.) Be warned that there's considerable violence in some of these scenes, up to and including rape.
While the book does suffer from a pretty confusing second half (confusing mostly because of an onslaught of other Robots' nightmares), it's also got a ton of excellent sci-fi world-building, taking inspiration from X-Men, Star Trek, and so much more. Including, unless I miss my guess, Margaret Stohl's Icons. You'll know the Icons reference when you see it, and it threw me for a loop when it showed up because I recently wrote a similar reference in my own book.
At least now I know I've got another potential comp title for queries in Boy Robot, at least in terms of weird science, artificially-engineered "chosen one" protagonists (though mine is at least more inspired by The Amazing Spider-Man than Icons), and diversity of cast.
After that cliffhanger ending, though, I desperately need the sequel.
May 9, 2019
I really liked this book it was different than anything I have read recently a good kind of different. The only thing I have a small issue with was the change in POVs it was a little jarring and mostly unnecessary I still liked those parts of the story as well. I really liked the characters especially Issac he was a well thought out and interesting character his struggles make sense and make you really feel for him and many of the other characters as well. I liked the plot of the story it was well written I liked how the plot flowed for the most part. I liked how it started pretty much with a bang that just got more and more action packed as the plot continued I really liked the idea of a group of people secretly being robots and how their lives go downhill or end when that happens. So overall I really liked this book will read the sequel for sure.
November 21, 2016
Smart, electric debut with fast-paced action, solid characters, and great setup. About 2/3 through the book I realized this would not be a standalone novel. However, enough details were given and back story and reasoning explained to make this a thrilling first effort. Looking forward to the next installment.
June 12, 2016
Just finished. Where can I sign up to be a Robot? Full review to come!
May 18, 2018
I despise this book. I am LGBT. Let me tell you why. This review is rife with spoilers, but I suggest you read it anyways so you know exactly why you shouldn't waste even a dollar on this absolute garbage. My review is organized by section so you can see what I'm talking about.
PLOT AND PROTAGONIST:
Just to start from the absolute basics of writing and literature, the plotting for this story is nonexistent. Its pacing is horrible and there's no real sense of an antagonist or what the climax will be. The characters don't seem to have any real goals and those that are hinted to have shady goals are never expanded upon. The book makes you suspect betrayal, but doesn't ever really explain who betrayed who. There are 8-9 (I can't recall exactly) different POV characters, but you don't really need... any of them except the protagonist?
Speaking of the protagonist: He's flat, he's dry, and he has no personality. We get no real sense of what Isaak looks like or his values. The fact that he writes poetry means nothing to me and tells me nothing except that he's kind of sentimental (and his poetry is bad). He's bi, or maybe gay, but it's never made clear which. He acts like a child and every move he makes is predictable. I'd argue he's a textbook Mary Sue, as well: He's blessed with powers that get the characters out of any hard situation and, as a result, we (as readers) are never actually worried during tense scenes. We know he will get out of the situation. The story is boring, that's just the facts of it. I'm baffled people are viewing this as dynamic. I would encourage you to read almost any other book. There are many better sci-fi/dystopia books with LGBT characters as protagonists and that says a lot, because the pickings are slim.
LGBT REPRESENTATION:
It's true that almost every guy in this novel seems gay or MLM-coded or at least is someone the protagonist seems attracted to, but that doesn't seem to go anywhere. The primary love interest is a man named JB, but he gives off untrustworthy vibes and regularly lies to the main character, Isaak. It's revealed later on that he's even cheating on his boyfriend, Malek, in the way that he interacts with Isaak. At least, that's the conclusion the reader is led to. JB also treats Isaak like a child and consistently both bosses him around and is rude to him. I was incapable of rooting for this relationship, and I am a bisexual man. I get it. I wanted to like them, but the writing gave me no reason to. Even if I did like their relationship or care about it, every time they got close to having a moment or kissing or understanding each other or developing as people, the plot interrupted them with a fight scene or another character or something else ridiculous and unnecessary.
The transgender representation in this novel is BEYOND abhorrent. As a trans man reader, I was horrified to get through the character with the trans woman. I hope no trans girl ever reads this book. The trans girl's story is told through the eyes of her twin brother, giving her no voice. She's physically abused and called slurs literally every page of her chapter, and she goes out late at night to do sex work. Her pastor step-father eventually snaps and sends her to a conversion therapy camp, but somehow this gets EVEN WORSE! The camp she's been at for months is barely even a camp. She's kept trapped in shipping containers and whipped and assaulted and called slurs. It comes across more as a sex trafficking ring than a conversion therapy camp and I found myself repulsed and nauseated.
Given that Simon Curtis is distinctly NOT TRANS and that the trans woman character wasn't even tied in later on in a significant way, this is absolutely ridiculous. He has no right to tell this story and had no reason other than author sadism to treat his character like this. Unbelievable.
TRIGGER WARNINGS:
This book features multiple episodes of rape, including gang rape. A teenage girl is assaulted nightly and this is watched by another character, who is not relevant later on. Her character is a background character, and her POV chapter wasn't necessary. It only serves to confuse and distract the readers, and perhaps to pad word count for this demonically awful, apparently un-plotted novel.
Multiple characters are physically and verbally abused on the regular and called slurs constantly. We are given POV chapters that look into the lives of severely abused characters, but those characters are never really brought in later on. In fact, there were so many characters (both POV and not) that I had no clue who was who at a certain point and no reason to feel attached to them or their deaths. These extra POV chapters seem only to be tragedy porn, and I found myself depressed and jaded.
OVERALL:
Simon Curtis doesn't even seem to care about his characters, as hardly any of them are developed. None of them really have any character arcs. I really don't even know what to say. I had no idea who was who and so many characters went unnamed in their POV chapters that I didn't know how to differentiate them later when I believe I was supposed to know who was who. I wasted hours on this book I'll never get back, and I'm begging you not to make the same mistake.
I've followed Simon Curtis' music for years, but now I'm actually going to have to reconsider that. This book is ableist, it's transphobic (really, speaking as a trans writer and reader), and it isn't even gay enough to make me care! It's a bad book through and through. It relies on tired YA tropes and doesn't have an original bone in it. Normally I'd say, "Sure, it doesn't have to be totally original if it's LGBT. We should be allowed to have frivolous YA lit, too," but this book is just a blatant copy of books before it.
It's so dull I found myself wanting to put it down for sheer mind-numbing boredom. I feel like this book actually made me lose brain cells.
In all seriousness, I felt damaged by the transgender representation and appalled by the repulsive way in which Simon Curtis tortures his characters without reason. It's a horrible, confusing book, and I'm so depressed that it's getting a sequel that I've circled OUT of depression and into jaded laughter. I wish I could say I'd read the sequel to give that an equally scathing review, but I think I've tortured myself enough. I want a refund. Oh my god.
I am honestly baffled that people like this book, especially LGBT people. Profoundly disappointed by the LGBT rep as well as, uh, every other aspect of this book. I encourage you to seek out any other book.
If you want good MLM rep, "Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe" by Benjamin Alire Saenz. For trans woman characters that are #ownvoices, try "Dreadnought: Nemesis" by April Daniels. For LGBT sci-fi, try Malinda Lo's work. For diverse/dark sci-fi in YA, try Paolo Bacigalupi. When I was a kid (11-15), I really loved the "Gone" series by Michael Grant. It has a pretty diverse cast and some LGBT characters (though they're pretty background). I'd encourage you to try any of these. I'm sure there are plenty more books by both POC, LGBT, and QPOC authors--seek them out.
Don't buy this book. Don't read this book. Purge it from your memory now.
PLOT AND PROTAGONIST:
Just to start from the absolute basics of writing and literature, the plotting for this story is nonexistent. Its pacing is horrible and there's no real sense of an antagonist or what the climax will be. The characters don't seem to have any real goals and those that are hinted to have shady goals are never expanded upon. The book makes you suspect betrayal, but doesn't ever really explain who betrayed who. There are 8-9 (I can't recall exactly) different POV characters, but you don't really need... any of them except the protagonist?
Speaking of the protagonist: He's flat, he's dry, and he has no personality. We get no real sense of what Isaak looks like or his values. The fact that he writes poetry means nothing to me and tells me nothing except that he's kind of sentimental (and his poetry is bad). He's bi, or maybe gay, but it's never made clear which. He acts like a child and every move he makes is predictable. I'd argue he's a textbook Mary Sue, as well: He's blessed with powers that get the characters out of any hard situation and, as a result, we (as readers) are never actually worried during tense scenes. We know he will get out of the situation. The story is boring, that's just the facts of it. I'm baffled people are viewing this as dynamic. I would encourage you to read almost any other book. There are many better sci-fi/dystopia books with LGBT characters as protagonists and that says a lot, because the pickings are slim.
LGBT REPRESENTATION:
It's true that almost every guy in this novel seems gay or MLM-coded or at least is someone the protagonist seems attracted to, but that doesn't seem to go anywhere. The primary love interest is a man named JB, but he gives off untrustworthy vibes and regularly lies to the main character, Isaak. It's revealed later on that he's even cheating on his boyfriend, Malek, in the way that he interacts with Isaak. At least, that's the conclusion the reader is led to. JB also treats Isaak like a child and consistently both bosses him around and is rude to him. I was incapable of rooting for this relationship, and I am a bisexual man. I get it. I wanted to like them, but the writing gave me no reason to. Even if I did like their relationship or care about it, every time they got close to having a moment or kissing or understanding each other or developing as people, the plot interrupted them with a fight scene or another character or something else ridiculous and unnecessary.
The transgender representation in this novel is BEYOND abhorrent. As a trans man reader, I was horrified to get through the character with the trans woman. I hope no trans girl ever reads this book. The trans girl's story is told through the eyes of her twin brother, giving her no voice. She's physically abused and called slurs literally every page of her chapter, and she goes out late at night to do sex work. Her pastor step-father eventually snaps and sends her to a conversion therapy camp, but somehow this gets EVEN WORSE! The camp she's been at for months is barely even a camp. She's kept trapped in shipping containers and whipped and assaulted and called slurs. It comes across more as a sex trafficking ring than a conversion therapy camp and I found myself repulsed and nauseated.
Given that Simon Curtis is distinctly NOT TRANS and that the trans woman character wasn't even tied in later on in a significant way, this is absolutely ridiculous. He has no right to tell this story and had no reason other than author sadism to treat his character like this. Unbelievable.
TRIGGER WARNINGS:
This book features multiple episodes of rape, including gang rape. A teenage girl is assaulted nightly and this is watched by another character, who is not relevant later on. Her character is a background character, and her POV chapter wasn't necessary. It only serves to confuse and distract the readers, and perhaps to pad word count for this demonically awful, apparently un-plotted novel.
Multiple characters are physically and verbally abused on the regular and called slurs constantly. We are given POV chapters that look into the lives of severely abused characters, but those characters are never really brought in later on. In fact, there were so many characters (both POV and not) that I had no clue who was who at a certain point and no reason to feel attached to them or their deaths. These extra POV chapters seem only to be tragedy porn, and I found myself depressed and jaded.
OVERALL:
Simon Curtis doesn't even seem to care about his characters, as hardly any of them are developed. None of them really have any character arcs. I really don't even know what to say. I had no idea who was who and so many characters went unnamed in their POV chapters that I didn't know how to differentiate them later when I believe I was supposed to know who was who. I wasted hours on this book I'll never get back, and I'm begging you not to make the same mistake.
I've followed Simon Curtis' music for years, but now I'm actually going to have to reconsider that. This book is ableist, it's transphobic (really, speaking as a trans writer and reader), and it isn't even gay enough to make me care! It's a bad book through and through. It relies on tired YA tropes and doesn't have an original bone in it. Normally I'd say, "Sure, it doesn't have to be totally original if it's LGBT. We should be allowed to have frivolous YA lit, too," but this book is just a blatant copy of books before it.
It's so dull I found myself wanting to put it down for sheer mind-numbing boredom. I feel like this book actually made me lose brain cells.
In all seriousness, I felt damaged by the transgender representation and appalled by the repulsive way in which Simon Curtis tortures his characters without reason. It's a horrible, confusing book, and I'm so depressed that it's getting a sequel that I've circled OUT of depression and into jaded laughter. I wish I could say I'd read the sequel to give that an equally scathing review, but I think I've tortured myself enough. I want a refund. Oh my god.
I am honestly baffled that people like this book, especially LGBT people. Profoundly disappointed by the LGBT rep as well as, uh, every other aspect of this book. I encourage you to seek out any other book.
If you want good MLM rep, "Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe" by Benjamin Alire Saenz. For trans woman characters that are #ownvoices, try "Dreadnought: Nemesis" by April Daniels. For LGBT sci-fi, try Malinda Lo's work. For diverse/dark sci-fi in YA, try Paolo Bacigalupi. When I was a kid (11-15), I really loved the "Gone" series by Michael Grant. It has a pretty diverse cast and some LGBT characters (though they're pretty background). I'd encourage you to try any of these. I'm sure there are plenty more books by both POC, LGBT, and QPOC authors--seek them out.
Don't buy this book. Don't read this book. Purge it from your memory now.
November 11, 2016
Boy robot the book that will give light in your darkest days"
When Simon Curtis announced that he was writing a book my mind raced of all the possibilities. What was released was nothing I ever expected! (This is a good thing folks) when boy robot came out all the anticipation finally to get my hands on this Book with that gorgeous beautiful cover. Simply amazing. I read the excerpts online and couldn't wait to binge this book!! As much as an avid reader I am I wanted to truly feel this book for what it had to offer. And let me tell you it offered everything sadness, shock, excitement, thrilling HOPE. From the very beginning on page one Simon being the selfless most genuine loving person I know who I am lucky to call my friend dedicated this book to the pulse victims and others who have suffered for being who they truly are. Starting with the pulse poem (cue tears) including the very special heartbeat on the corner of the book. This book has a pulse all on its own and as you read you can feel It. Simon who is a proud member of the LGBTQ community dedicated this book to anyone who needs hope and partnering with the it gets better project and spreading the message of hope does just that.
The first page the Running Girl gets your heart racing the detail Simon is able to capture puts you in the book with the characters. This is one of the things I loved about this book the most, he is able to capture you in the moment and make you exist in their world.
This book mainly Is about a boy named Isaak whose world gets turned upside down at the age of 18. Isaak is not human he was created he is a robot. Can you imagine the life you know is completely ripped away from you? And ending up traveling across states to a place a safe haven for your own "kind"all the while being blindsided of the knowledge of "your kind" and being hunted for being different. The book initially cues you in on an action scene where robots are running from SHRFS (secret government agency killing robots) We don't know why or who they are but Simon intrigues your curiosity as the reader to continue to read to find out why? I will not be revealing huge spoilers in this post because 1) I want you to be able to feel the whole book just as I did. 2) ugh spoilers 3) read the book and find out why ;)
While reading boy robot two great books come to mind and they are a Boy called it and she Said Yes. Both of these books are powerful. The reason i mention this is because Simon has always been one who forges his own path and this book does just that he brings taboo subjects that happen everyday around you to the light for good reason. Given all the violence in this world we all can use HOPE and Love. He focuses his stories on the horrors of the LGBTQ community as well as humans in general because we all are human people. we all have a pulse and a heartbeat. And the ability to feel love, hope, empathy etc.
You intrigued yet? If not you will meet several awesome characters in this book did I mention awesome powers and scenes that will make you not want to put the book down? Along with the awesomeness of the fight scenes we have multiple stories of vignettes robots coming of age and their stories ( heart wrenching stories be prepared for tissues people don't say I didn't warn you) that make you wonder what and how they all relate back to Isaak and his journey.
BoyRobot is the beginning of something new and needed in our world today. It inspires hope and love and let's the outcasts (anyone who feels alone) know to never give up fighting for acceptance. It is a universal thing and you're not alone in that fight. So never give up because with out hope what do we as humans truly have left?....
*the only negative thing I can say about this book is... I have to wait till next year for the sequel Robot Army!
BoyRobot is available at book stores, online, ebook, audiobook.
When Simon Curtis announced that he was writing a book my mind raced of all the possibilities. What was released was nothing I ever expected! (This is a good thing folks) when boy robot came out all the anticipation finally to get my hands on this Book with that gorgeous beautiful cover. Simply amazing. I read the excerpts online and couldn't wait to binge this book!! As much as an avid reader I am I wanted to truly feel this book for what it had to offer. And let me tell you it offered everything sadness, shock, excitement, thrilling HOPE. From the very beginning on page one Simon being the selfless most genuine loving person I know who I am lucky to call my friend dedicated this book to the pulse victims and others who have suffered for being who they truly are. Starting with the pulse poem (cue tears) including the very special heartbeat on the corner of the book. This book has a pulse all on its own and as you read you can feel It. Simon who is a proud member of the LGBTQ community dedicated this book to anyone who needs hope and partnering with the it gets better project and spreading the message of hope does just that.
The first page the Running Girl gets your heart racing the detail Simon is able to capture puts you in the book with the characters. This is one of the things I loved about this book the most, he is able to capture you in the moment and make you exist in their world.
This book mainly Is about a boy named Isaak whose world gets turned upside down at the age of 18. Isaak is not human he was created he is a robot. Can you imagine the life you know is completely ripped away from you? And ending up traveling across states to a place a safe haven for your own "kind"all the while being blindsided of the knowledge of "your kind" and being hunted for being different. The book initially cues you in on an action scene where robots are running from SHRFS (secret government agency killing robots) We don't know why or who they are but Simon intrigues your curiosity as the reader to continue to read to find out why? I will not be revealing huge spoilers in this post because 1) I want you to be able to feel the whole book just as I did. 2) ugh spoilers 3) read the book and find out why ;)
While reading boy robot two great books come to mind and they are a Boy called it and she Said Yes. Both of these books are powerful. The reason i mention this is because Simon has always been one who forges his own path and this book does just that he brings taboo subjects that happen everyday around you to the light for good reason. Given all the violence in this world we all can use HOPE and Love. He focuses his stories on the horrors of the LGBTQ community as well as humans in general because we all are human people. we all have a pulse and a heartbeat. And the ability to feel love, hope, empathy etc.
You intrigued yet? If not you will meet several awesome characters in this book did I mention awesome powers and scenes that will make you not want to put the book down? Along with the awesomeness of the fight scenes we have multiple stories of vignettes robots coming of age and their stories ( heart wrenching stories be prepared for tissues people don't say I didn't warn you) that make you wonder what and how they all relate back to Isaak and his journey.
BoyRobot is the beginning of something new and needed in our world today. It inspires hope and love and let's the outcasts (anyone who feels alone) know to never give up fighting for acceptance. It is a universal thing and you're not alone in that fight. So never give up because with out hope what do we as humans truly have left?....
*the only negative thing I can say about this book is... I have to wait till next year for the sequel Robot Army!
BoyRobot is available at book stores, online, ebook, audiobook.
July 15, 2017
Boy Robot by Simon Curtis
Boy Robot is a unique read by Simon Curtis that should be a must read for young readers everywhere.
I would like to start off by saying this is not my favourite book - but it is good. Recently I've been finding more and more books I'm reading are fantastic, but just not in my wheelhouse. I did enjoy this book and I think it'd be a fantastic addition to another Young Adult/Young Reader bookshelf (whether personal or in a school) but I personally won't be grasping and holding it dear to my heart.
This book has lovable characters, easy to follow story lines, deeper meanings and themes (I love a good theme <3) and a unique plot. The characters actually grow throughout the story, which is also nice to see in a YA novel. I find too often characters don't grow, but this book fit this fantastic writing device perfectly into the story. There are layers of real things that happen to real people - not just cookie cutter back stories.
I also like that this book includes some LGBTQ+ into it. I won't spoil, but it truly made my heart feel warm knowing that FINALLY books are realizing everyone is not a heterosexual male or female. Normalizing reality is fantastic, and Simon Curtis is earning bonus points for that alone. There are some reviews that seem to point at transphobia in this book - I didn't read it this way, but be wary. If you need trigger warnings, then maybe this book isn't for you? There's rape, transgender individuals and general topics that some people just aren't okay with. I was on the edge about reading about the rape, etc, and I still kinda am (I'm wobbling on the fence of unsure) - but I don't see this as Simon Curtis attacking anyone purposely. I think it's a plot device (maybe not the best plot devices...but that's for you to decide).
I did find this book way to long. Personally, I would rather a book be shorter and end perfectly with everything that needs to be there rather than longer, more substance but not worth it. There were some story lines that were dragged out WAY to long. Some of the scenes were exhausting to read because I knew the story would be fine without it being there. But some readers absolutely LOVE substance, so take that with a grain of salt. I prefer a book that gets to the point or only leaves what's essential.
I'm pretty sure this book will be a series. The way it left off just seems like it will continue on, or at least I hope so for other readers sake.
Overall, this book kinda left me confused. While it was absolutely fantastic, I do agree with some readers that some of the back story was a little brutal to be put in a YA. That doesn't mean this can't be one of the first novels to start introducing deeper/rougher content into YA but I just don't know where I want to stand on it...
Three out of five stars.
I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.
Boy Robot is a unique read by Simon Curtis that should be a must read for young readers everywhere.
I would like to start off by saying this is not my favourite book - but it is good. Recently I've been finding more and more books I'm reading are fantastic, but just not in my wheelhouse. I did enjoy this book and I think it'd be a fantastic addition to another Young Adult/Young Reader bookshelf (whether personal or in a school) but I personally won't be grasping and holding it dear to my heart.
This book has lovable characters, easy to follow story lines, deeper meanings and themes (I love a good theme <3) and a unique plot. The characters actually grow throughout the story, which is also nice to see in a YA novel. I find too often characters don't grow, but this book fit this fantastic writing device perfectly into the story. There are layers of real things that happen to real people - not just cookie cutter back stories.
I also like that this book includes some LGBTQ+ into it. I won't spoil, but it truly made my heart feel warm knowing that FINALLY books are realizing everyone is not a heterosexual male or female. Normalizing reality is fantastic, and Simon Curtis is earning bonus points for that alone. There are some reviews that seem to point at transphobia in this book - I didn't read it this way, but be wary. If you need trigger warnings, then maybe this book isn't for you? There's rape, transgender individuals and general topics that some people just aren't okay with. I was on the edge about reading about the rape, etc, and I still kinda am (I'm wobbling on the fence of unsure) - but I don't see this as Simon Curtis attacking anyone purposely. I think it's a plot device (maybe not the best plot devices...but that's for you to decide).
I did find this book way to long. Personally, I would rather a book be shorter and end perfectly with everything that needs to be there rather than longer, more substance but not worth it. There were some story lines that were dragged out WAY to long. Some of the scenes were exhausting to read because I knew the story would be fine without it being there. But some readers absolutely LOVE substance, so take that with a grain of salt. I prefer a book that gets to the point or only leaves what's essential.
I'm pretty sure this book will be a series. The way it left off just seems like it will continue on, or at least I hope so for other readers sake.
Overall, this book kinda left me confused. While it was absolutely fantastic, I do agree with some readers that some of the back story was a little brutal to be put in a YA. That doesn't mean this can't be one of the first novels to start introducing deeper/rougher content into YA but I just don't know where I want to stand on it...
Three out of five stars.
I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.
May 9, 2016
The copy I received was a Riveted at YallWest exclusive ARC or bound manuscript (there's no label on it). I wasn't quite sure what I was expecting when I picked up a ticket for it, but from the title, I would've guessed sci-fi. I eventually looked it up on GR when I got home, and it seemed intriguing (despite my pickiness about sci-fi), so I dove into it.
In some ways, it was both predictable (in the part-human, part-robot, non-humans being hunted down by the government sort of way) and surprising (which you'll have to read the book to find out).
What I appreciate about this book is its relevance in theme. The entire book as a whole is about identity (personal, gender, sexual, etc.), primarily; who were we and how we identify ourselves against how the world defines us. Secondarily, it is about what it means to be human.
The main thing that confused me was the switching of character's points of views. They were all so interesting in their own way, but at the same time there were so many that I lost count of how many POVs there were! It was a bit of a headache to follow, but it made sense towards the end of the book, and I can see how Simon makes it work together.
Overall, this book was a (sci-fi) glimpse at a worst-case scenario, in a world where technology becomes so advanced that it turns on mankind. If you're a huge sci-fi fan, this is most definitely your type of book. If you're not or still new to it (like me on both accounts), I would still say give it a chance, because you might end up liking it like I did!
Warnings: sexual references (both sex and rape).
In some ways, it was both predictable (in the part-human, part-robot, non-humans being hunted down by the government sort of way) and surprising (which you'll have to read the book to find out).
What I appreciate about this book is its relevance in theme. The entire book as a whole is about identity (personal, gender, sexual, etc.), primarily; who were we and how we identify ourselves against how the world defines us. Secondarily, it is about what it means to be human.
The main thing that confused me was the switching of character's points of views. They were all so interesting in their own way, but at the same time there were so many that I lost count of how many POVs there were! It was a bit of a headache to follow, but it made sense towards the end of the book, and I can see how Simon makes it work together.
Overall, this book was a (sci-fi) glimpse at a worst-case scenario, in a world where technology becomes so advanced that it turns on mankind. If you're a huge sci-fi fan, this is most definitely your type of book. If you're not or still new to it (like me on both accounts), I would still say give it a chance, because you might end up liking it like I did!
Warnings: sexual references (both sex and rape).
March 16, 2017
(review from March 16 2017)
I didn't finish this book. I got 100 pages in and figured I would quit.
This was not an enjoyable book. I found myself questioning how this got through publishing. The story feels as if someone made it up as they went along. The writing style is confusing and repetitive, not to mention cheesy. Whenever a new chapter started, I couldn't tell if a new character was being introduced or a previously existing one was having a flashback. There are completely pointless bits of information, like a character arch that added nothing to the story, not to mention a r*pe scene that was completely unneeded in a young adult novel.
The pacing was also extremely inconsistent; all the information was presented much too fast. I couldn't picture where anything or anyone was, and there was little to no description of what the environments looked like.
The whole story was just so uncreative, which made me sad because the idea itself had some potential.
I didn't finish this book. I got 100 pages in and figured I would quit.
This was not an enjoyable book. I found myself questioning how this got through publishing. The story feels as if someone made it up as they went along. The writing style is confusing and repetitive, not to mention cheesy. Whenever a new chapter started, I couldn't tell if a new character was being introduced or a previously existing one was having a flashback. There are completely pointless bits of information, like a character arch that added nothing to the story, not to mention a r*pe scene that was completely unneeded in a young adult novel.
The pacing was also extremely inconsistent; all the information was presented much too fast. I couldn't picture where anything or anyone was, and there was little to no description of what the environments looked like.
The whole story was just so uncreative, which made me sad because the idea itself had some potential.
January 14, 2017
Couldn't finish, sorry. The pacing was distractingly awful, either moving at breakneck spread or pulling me out of the action entirely to tell stories through memories/flashbacks. None of the characters are really that likable or have enough of a personality for me to even determine whether I like them or not. I think it is a great thing that Simon Curtis wanted to tell some of the truly awful true stories that happen every day to LGBTQ kids around the world, but those stories and memorials got lost in the genre he chose to write the book in, I think. If he'd compiled a book of stories and published it as a cultural study, well, probably the only people who would read it would be the ones already invested in this topic anyway. There really is no right answer, I guess. Again, I admire what he's doing here, but ultimately I don't think it worked.
June 16, 2016
Awful! Really awful! It's violent and gruesome and unredeemable. The chapters are very oddly organized and the character POV changes at random in mid chapter multiple times. It has disjointed writing and is hard to follow. And it takes until page 290 for any character to question whether mass murder was really the only solution! There is rape, gang rape, and the single consensual sex scene ends with a completely nasty death. Every single robot character endures horrific, brutal bullying and eventually retaliates with incredible and fatal violence. Overall, just a poorly written, yucky book that I would never ever recommend or buy for my library.
December 18, 2016
Intense, brutal and brilliant.
I finished it in one sitting because once I started I couldn't put it down. This has got to be at the top of the list for my favourite books of 2016.
There seems to be a lot of comments on the violence. It dealt with some dark themes but I didn't feel like the violence was gratuitous and it would have been an injustice to the characters and the story to brush over it or do a 'fade to black' kinda thing. These stories need to be told and I think Simon handled it brilliantly.
I'm looking forward to getting my hands on book 2.
I finished it in one sitting because once I started I couldn't put it down. This has got to be at the top of the list for my favourite books of 2016.
There seems to be a lot of comments on the violence. It dealt with some dark themes but I didn't feel like the violence was gratuitous and it would have been an injustice to the characters and the story to brush over it or do a 'fade to black' kinda thing. These stories need to be told and I think Simon handled it brilliantly.
I'm looking forward to getting my hands on book 2.
February 6, 2017
This was literally the dumbest book. From the extremely long chapters about useless characters who had no part in the book to the laughable awkward love scenes that were cringe worthy to ready...it was all over the place. The theme seemed promising at first but it was so poorly written it didn't make it far. The overall theme/action from each character was to literally brutality kill your enemies and those who hurt you to get revenge and then live with those who accept you and you'll be good. Like every single side character killed their enemies to escape...fantastic message.
November 14, 2016
DNF. Sloppily written and vulgar at times. Not for me.
June 9, 2017
Wish I could get 400 pages of my life back.
UPDATE: Here I am, 2 years after I first read this book, writing an updated review. No matter what I did, this book wouldn't leave my head. It followed me like a nightmare.
I've never given a book a one-star rating before, and I think my distain for it caused me to block most of its contents out of my mind. I'm not sure if I just enjoy torturing myself or if my own curiosity got the best of me, but I decided to give this book a second go and to give it an ACTUAL review. Giving a book a 1-star rating and not giving so much as a paragraph review is a bit unfair to the author.
With that said, you've probably noticed that I've kept my 1 star rating for this book after my second read. That's because I still hate this book. And it's honestly one of the worst books I've ever read. BUT I actually wrote down some notes on why I hated it. After all, the purpose of art (I think) is to illicit a response in an audience. And boy, did this book achieve that.
Let's start off with the good:
- The diverse cast. There's LGBT characters, and it's very normalized in the story, which is super cool. BUT this definitely comes with a caveat -- specifically with a transgender character who pops up for a few pages halfway through the book. But, since this is the "positive" section of this review, I'll have to bring that up later.
- The premise. Well, not really the premise per-say. It's pretty generic and has a weird 2012 NBC-show vibe to it. I know that sounds oddly specific, but if you were to look at a good portion of the canceled NBC shows from around 2011-2013, you'll see that they all have this same kind of vibe. They're amazing premises but the execution sucks, and they get canceled after 1 season. Yeah, that's this book. But with that said, the whole "biological robot" thing is pretty cool.
Time for the bad:
- The characters are static. No growth ever happens in any of the characters -- though the author does try at times to "tell" us that they've changed. I'm sorry, Simon Curtis, but the only way to convince readers that a character has developed at all is by showing us through their actions. There was one time at the end of the novel where the main character said he wished he got to know a particular side character more. I feel like if you have a main character say something like that, that's a sign that the author should've instead gone back and rewritten or edited the book in a way that developed that side character in a more substantial way. Felt very bizarre and lazy to me.
- The whole book is stuck in a reactive state. In other words, the characters are never "proactive". They're just running away from this mysterious government agency that's out to get them, the goal being to get to a robot sanctuary. As a result, every scene feels inconsequential. They feel exactly like the other, and they do little to propel the story. The chase scenes (which are plentiful and repetitive) simply move the main characters from one place to the next.
- Just because you're planning on making this book a part of a larger series DOESN'T mean you can't give us a satisfying ending! Ending with major cliff-hangers (which is just unresolved issues that have been developed over the course of this entire 400-page novel) is a major pet-peeve of mine, especially if the book is a part of a series. It just seems like an excuse to give us a lazy conclusion.
- Probably my biggest point here: having rape scenes in your book is fine, as long as it contributes to the overall story and character development. However, when you put in rape scenes (or anything grotesque, for that matter) just for shock value, it turns an otherwise horrific event into a gimmick. It also makes me, as a reader, feel like I'm being manipulated. The fact that this also happened to a makes it even worse.
- Backtracking a bit, it seems to me that the author isn't familiar with basic scene structure. As in Proactive and Reactive scenes. This is pretty much reiteration of what I said earlier, but I digress. Each scene should be its own miniature story, and no scene should be put in a book just to add "atmosphere" or, especially, shock value.
- Please don't halt the story in its tracks to give us flashbacks and backstory of characters who serve no purpose to the overall story. It's boring. It's unnecessary. Only give us flashbacks/backstory when it's essential to understand what's happening in the current scene. Otherwise, please leave them out. We, readers, really don't care. I promise you.
Needless to say, I won't be continuing on with this series. I'm not sure how this book got published, and it always hurts to give an author who obviously spent a lot of time and energy into writing their novel a negative review. But someone, an editor or agent, needed to say something. Or maybe not be working in the industry.
UPDATE: Here I am, 2 years after I first read this book, writing an updated review. No matter what I did, this book wouldn't leave my head. It followed me like a nightmare.
I've never given a book a one-star rating before, and I think my distain for it caused me to block most of its contents out of my mind. I'm not sure if I just enjoy torturing myself or if my own curiosity got the best of me, but I decided to give this book a second go and to give it an ACTUAL review. Giving a book a 1-star rating and not giving so much as a paragraph review is a bit unfair to the author.
With that said, you've probably noticed that I've kept my 1 star rating for this book after my second read. That's because I still hate this book. And it's honestly one of the worst books I've ever read. BUT I actually wrote down some notes on why I hated it. After all, the purpose of art (I think) is to illicit a response in an audience. And boy, did this book achieve that.
Let's start off with the good:
- The diverse cast. There's LGBT characters, and it's very normalized in the story, which is super cool. BUT this definitely comes with a caveat -- specifically with a transgender character who pops up for a few pages halfway through the book. But, since this is the "positive" section of this review, I'll have to bring that up later.
- The premise. Well, not really the premise per-say. It's pretty generic and has a weird 2012 NBC-show vibe to it. I know that sounds oddly specific, but if you were to look at a good portion of the canceled NBC shows from around 2011-2013, you'll see that they all have this same kind of vibe. They're amazing premises but the execution sucks, and they get canceled after 1 season. Yeah, that's this book. But with that said, the whole "biological robot" thing is pretty cool.
Time for the bad:
- The characters are static. No growth ever happens in any of the characters -- though the author does try at times to "tell" us that they've changed. I'm sorry, Simon Curtis, but the only way to convince readers that a character has developed at all is by showing us through their actions. There was one time at the end of the novel where the main character said he wished he got to know a particular side character more. I feel like if you have a main character say something like that, that's a sign that the author should've instead gone back and rewritten or edited the book in a way that developed that side character in a more substantial way. Felt very bizarre and lazy to me.
- The whole book is stuck in a reactive state. In other words, the characters are never "proactive". They're just running away from this mysterious government agency that's out to get them, the goal being to get to a robot sanctuary. As a result, every scene feels inconsequential. They feel exactly like the other, and they do little to propel the story. The chase scenes (which are plentiful and repetitive) simply move the main characters from one place to the next.
- Just because you're planning on making this book a part of a larger series DOESN'T mean you can't give us a satisfying ending! Ending with major cliff-hangers (which is just unresolved issues that have been developed over the course of this entire 400-page novel) is a major pet-peeve of mine, especially if the book is a part of a series. It just seems like an excuse to give us a lazy conclusion.
- Probably my biggest point here: having rape scenes in your book is fine, as long as it contributes to the overall story and character development. However, when you put in rape scenes (or anything grotesque, for that matter) just for shock value, it turns an otherwise horrific event into a gimmick. It also makes me, as a reader, feel like I'm being manipulated. The fact that this also happened to a makes it even worse.
- Backtracking a bit, it seems to me that the author isn't familiar with basic scene structure. As in Proactive and Reactive scenes. This is pretty much reiteration of what I said earlier, but I digress. Each scene should be its own miniature story, and no scene should be put in a book just to add "atmosphere" or, especially, shock value.
- Please don't halt the story in its tracks to give us flashbacks and backstory of characters who serve no purpose to the overall story. It's boring. It's unnecessary. Only give us flashbacks/backstory when it's essential to understand what's happening in the current scene. Otherwise, please leave them out. We, readers, really don't care. I promise you.
Needless to say, I won't be continuing on with this series. I'm not sure how this book got published, and it always hurts to give an author who obviously spent a lot of time and energy into writing their novel a negative review. But someone, an editor or agent, needed to say something. Or maybe not be working in the industry.
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