The Obsoletes

by Simeon Mills

Fraternal twin brothers Darryl and Kanga are just like any other teenagers trying to make it through high school. They have to deal with peer pressure, awkwardness, and family drama. But there’s one closely guarded secret that sets them apart: they are robots. So long as they keep their heads down, their robophobic neighbors won’t discover the truth about them and they just might make it through to graduation.

But when Kanga becomes the star of the basketball team, there’s more at stake than typical sibling rivalry. Darryl—the worrywart of the pair—now has to work a million times harder to keep them both out of the spotlight. Though they look, sound, and act perfectly human, if anyone in their small, depressed Michigan town were to find out what they truly are, they’d likely be disassembled by an angry mob in the middle of their school gym.<

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Young Adult, Drama, Ebooks, Fantasy, Humor

309 pages, Hardcover

First published May 14, 2019

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Simeon Mills is a graphic artist, writer, and teacher. He majored in architecture at Columbia University and received his MFA in fiction from the University of Montana. Simeon now teaches middle school English in Spokane, Washington, where he lives with his wife and two children.

Reviews

[Carrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Obsoletes by Simeon Mills is a young adult read that is a science fiction urban fantasy that takes place in the 1980s. In this story there are tons of references to events taking place in that decade to bring readers back to that time frame but in this version robots are advanced enough to blend in and live as humans but certainly not embraced as equals.

The story is told from the point of view of Darryl, the oldest of two brothers who are actually robots living in hiding while growing up and going to school. Darryl takes us back a bit in the opening chapters of the story to elementary years and having parents before heading into the “now” part with Darryl and Kanga as teens in high school and their parents gone from their lives.

The biggest portion of the book is simply about Darryl being determined to keep anyone from finding out about them and Kanga being young, daring and careless. The story actually felt quite strong and compelling in the beginning but got to be a bit monotonous to me.

A part of me wondered if it was just Darryl’s “robot” voice narrating which could get a bit to telling instead of showing or maybe it just seemed like chances at bigger events got dropped along the way. But regardless in the end this one was just OK to me and I would have liked a bit more to it.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

For more reviews please visit https://carriesbookreviews.com/

[Alan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I recently bought an LP—yes, a "long-playing" analog record, its forty-five minutes or so encoded by grooves stamped into a clear vinyl disk by some ancient clanking piece of heavy machinery. The album's named End.Game , and it's by a duo calling themselves Luscious-235: a human being (Sid Luscious), and "an artificial entity known as Unit 235," who together survived the purge that ended the "19A0s"—America's lost decade, a brief flowering of high technology and synthesized music that happened in between 1979 and 1980...

You don’t remember.

In the year 1979, humanity experienced dramatic, rapid technological advancement which has since been completely expunged from the historical record. One day, everything was blurry analog. And the next, primitive but rapidly evolving digital. Where did it come from? How did everything change so fast? Some say it was extraterrestrials. Or ancient secrets from the Toltecs, Mayans, or Egyptians. Maybe it was a series of covert government projects.

Within one year, the first iteration of smartphones were commonplace. 2 years after 1979, artificial humans were walking the streets, holding jobs, and paying taxes. The economies of the world turned while artificials happily carried out their functions and humans reaped the benefits. It was a utopia. Until it wasn’t.
—From the press release for End.Game

Luscious-235's statement continues at the link in my first paragraph—it's worth a read, and they're worth a listen (and I get no material reward from saying so, by the way, just the pleasure of drawing the connection).


So why am I rambling about something that isn't even a book, anyway? Well, because Luscious-235's lush synth-pop, which sounds to me like a combination of Tangerine Dream with Stranger Things, would make a perfect soundtrack for Simeon Mills' debut novel... because The Obsoletes also comes to us from an alternative past, a past none of us remember.


In the sideways timeline of The Obsoletes, robots—biomechanical androids, really, almost indistinguishable from human beings—have already been around for decades. No, really—just roll with it. Our narrator Darryl Livery and his brother Kanga were manufactured by Gravy Robotics in Detroit, Michigan, back in 1977, and have been growing up as if they were human children in the nearby small town of Hectorville ever since. Their whole lives have been—have had to be—one long masquerade... because the humans of Hectorville are, like most of the U.S., robophobes—they're angry and afraid of robots taking their jobs, supplanting their neighbors, outplaying them on the court (and in the courts), and taking over the corridors of power. And it doesn't help that the world's best robots are Chinese.

Okay, so not that different from our world after all. Xenophobia tends to behave the same way, after all, whatever its target.

So, anyway, Kanga and Darryl's charade has been hanging together, pretty much, even though their father and mother are no longer in the picture (turns out they were... obsolete). But now it's 1991 and they're high-school freshmen, awkward and confused and desperately trying to fit in—typical teenagers, really—until Kanga kinda accidentally becomes the Hectorville Birds' star basketball player.

Oops.

What unfolds from there is an entertaining romp through a vividly-realized situation comedy of a universe, where two obviously fake humans somehow avoid falling into the uncanny valley, time after time—it's not at all plausible, not at all science fiction, but who cares? The Obsoletes is a lot of fun, and it's got a good heart. That matters, especially these days. I find myself wanting to use basketball metaphors... Simeon Mills' first novel (which took him 18 years to write, he says in the Acknowledgements) may not be a full-court 3-pointer, but it's definitely a comfortable 2 off the backboard, and I for one felt like cheering along with the Hectorville Cheerbirds by the end.

[A Few Good · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is the physical manifestation of a click bait for me. The bright yellow cover, basketball and robots. And like most click bait, I only had disappointment to contend with throughout the book.
I am not sure why I finished reading the book, possibly the optimist in me kept hoping that it would change gears and deliver on it's promise.
Spoiler alert: it did not.

[Grace McCoy · Rating 4 out of 5]

this was interesting, def comedic relief and way different from antthing ive read but it had interesting connections to racism imo

[Tiffany · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you for the opportunity to go out of my comfort zone and into a world of robots living silently among humans. This book takes place in 1980s and 90s America specifically Michigan where twin brothers Kanga and Darryl are living as adolescents. Their parents become obsolete and they are on their own. Kanga becomes the “parent” and takes a mission to care for his brother.

This is pretty much the entire story mixed with a LOT of basketball. I felt it had a lot of metaphors and hidden meanings and really appreciated the book for that.

I gave the book 3 stars because it interested me and is not typically a book I would like. The story will stay with me although I did find it a little boring. Robots and basketball just aren’t my thing!

I feel like this would be great for a high school class read or a student to do a project on as well as an entertaining read for a science fiction lover.

[Lee · Rating 2 out of 5]

10% interesting, 90% strange. Too strange

[Leander · Rating 1 out of 5]

Het kan aan mij liggen, maar ik snap niet hoe een boek als dit gemiddeld bijna vier sterren vergaart.
Ik heb het gekozen omdat ik het idee (robots die doen alsof ze mensen zijn) potentieel vond hebben, en de cover trok me aan, maar daarmee is ook wel alles gezegd.
Ik heb dit boek geluisterd op dubbele snelheid, iets wat ik normaal nooit doe. Anders zou ik het einde nooit gehaald hebben.
Wat is het probleem? Het zijn er heel wat. In de eerste plaats is er nauwelijks een plot, eigenlijk alleen wat verwikkelingen en hier en daar een spannend moment, zonder dat het zich richt op wat voor stip aan de horizon dan ook. Daarnaast is de world-building slordig, onvolledig en ongeloofwaardig. In deze wereld, die doet denken aan de negentiger jaren, bestaan humanoïde robots. Deze robots leven onder de mensen maar dat is blijkbaar niet overal geaccepteerd. Er wordt gerefereerd aan steden waar robots en mensen zonder problemen samen leven maar in de stad waar dit verhaal zich afspeelt worden robots gelyncht als ze ontdekt worden. Waarom het één, waarom het ander? Dat wordt niet duidelijk. Daarnaast lijkt er ook geen research gedaan te zijn over robotica of zelfs maar electronica. Er wordt bijvoorbeeld gerefereerd aan traumatische beelden die voorgoed in de processor zijn opgeslagen (meerdere malen) terwijl iedereen met de minste kennis weet dat processors geen informatie opslaan. Sommige van de details over de robots maken het pook volkomen ongeloofwaardig dat ze niet ontdekt worden. Ze kunnen bijvoorbeeld niet eten maar vangen alles op in een plastic zakje in de keel om dat vervolgens weg te gooien. Er wordt geregeld gesproken over ventilators die aanklikken als iets spannends gebeurt, losse draadjes die ergens uit hangen en dergelijke dingen. Het geeft een beeld van primitieve machines die minder geavanceerd zouden overkomen dan de animatronics in de Efteling. En toch hebben andere mensen het blijkbaar pas door als de robots spontaan Mandarijn beginnen te praten. Het komt zo ongeloofwaardig over dat ik het grootste gedeelte van het boek dacht dat er iets anders aan de hand was. Misschien leed het hoofdpersonage aan een psychose en zou dat de grote twist zijn? Of misschien was iedereen wel een robot?
Nee hoor. Het is blijkbaar allemaal letterlijk te nemen.
Het verhaal richt zich op een jonge robot wiens broer niet wil geloven dat jij een robot is. Al vroeg in het verhaal meldt hij zijn ouders als zijnde "obsolete", waarop zij afgevoerd worden door de fabrikant.
Het idee dat mensen zichzelf overbodig maken door kinderen op de wereld te zetten is niet nieuw en er hadden leuke dingen gedaan mee kunnen worden maar het blijft allemaal erg oppervlakkig.
Uiteindelijk blijkt de belangrijkste motivatie voor de constructie van de gebroeders bot basketbal te zijn. Yep. En dan wordt een coach die liefkozend, de plafond ventilator genoemd wordt (hilarisch, niet?) ineens een geweldige antagonist maar ook dat loopt weer met een sisser af
Zeer teleurstellend.
Het helpt ook niet dat de voorlezer het nodig vindt om sommige personages domme stemmetjes te geven.

[Alec Rigdon · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are a lot of interesting interpretations you can make about this book beyond the face value robot story line. In light of recent events, it's especially relevant to draw parallels to racism and undocumented immigrants. Mills does a great job of layering this into the story; from the brothers' fear of being discovered for who they really are, the conservative viewpoint of the townspeople, the reporting and taking of the parent figures, and more.

To me this reading was the best aspect of the novel, but I couldn't decide where The Obsoletes belongs. Is this a YA Novel? Sci-Fi? Adult Fiction? There are arguments for each, but I found this shelved with general adult fiction at my local library, so I was surprised to find in depth chapters dealing with high school basketball games and budding romances. However, the next page may seem very different in tone and message. This isn't to say young adults can't handle different themes, but it seemed a bit manic and unnecessarily dense at times.

Don't go into this one expecting every thread of the story to be tied up neatly at the end. Some developments seem rushed where others are a bit long in the tooth. A couple don't seem to be explained at all. I won't tell people to avoid this book, but I will mention that whatever you expect this book to be, it probably isn't.

[Leslie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting. This is one of those books that made me wish the author went a lot further, explaining their choices and digging more deeply into the world they created. In the book's world, robots that can pass for humans live among us. They are just another type of living creature; they grow, have families, work, and die when they are deemed obsolete. It is an odd choice to have this take place in the 80s and 90s when the technology for such sophisticated machines didn't exist; it doesn't exist now, but is much closer to reality than it was back then.

I wish more time had passed and that we saw more of the characters, even seeing their entire lives, or at least through into adulthood. The story was also a little boring at times, since we only had Darryl's point of view; we never saw inside the minds and hearts of other characters. Darryl didn't really talk to other people; the book leans very heavily on his inner thoughts and observations of the world around him, rather than allowing us to get to know the other characters through their own words.

For a robot, Darryl isn't very smart; he makes strange assumptions about his brother and other characters, that any reader can easily see are just plain wrong. Why write about robots, who are supposed to be more advanced than people, but have them experience the same difficulties as people? That wasn't very interesting.

It would have been nice too if the author had been a bit more creative and stayed away from having the robots be hated by some people, having to hide their true selves or be hunted down and killed. Racism and prejudice exist, yes, we know that, but again if you're going to go so far as to create a world where such sophisticated robots can exist, why not take the leap and create a society that has evolved past hating someone just because they are an "other"? That is a book I would enjoy reading.

[Paolo Latini · Rating 3 out of 5]

Una versione comedy di Blade Runner, scritta come romanzo di formazione in un’America anni ‘90, dove i robot, come gli androidi di Dick, sono abbastanza avanzati da potersi confondere tra gli umani. Darryl e Kanga Livery sono due robot in età adolescenziale che cercano di sopravvivere e mantenere un profilo più umano possibile in una scuola robofobica, finché Kanga non inizia a giocare a basket. Interessante il modo in cui si usano obsolescenze e capacità robotiche per mostrare limiti e capacità squisitamente umane. Quello che non funziona sono i personaggi: tutti asettici, piatti, spesso noiosi e talvolta apertamente respingenti. La storia ha una parte centrale che gira un po’ a vuoto, e in sostanza in mezzo a tutto il libro si nasconde un racconto più che valido, se non avesse voluto diventare un romanzo

[Pegi Ferrell · Rating 2 out of 5]

A strong 2.5+
Two things I liked about this book: the setting in the '80s, and the thought-provoking, current theme being implied rather than beaten into our heads.
However, I found none of the characters likeable or sympathetic until the last 20% of the book. Plus some of the changes were not believable. Additionally, the antagonist in the person vs. person conflict was too flat, needed a little rounding. Thus, I guess what I am saying is that characters and their development is poor enough that I won't recommend this enthusiastically.
Which means it will probably be on ALL the awards lists!

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was weird and only mildly interesting. Presumably it's an allegory for something, but I think it's much better if you just take it at face value. It's somewhere between some sort of absurdist or satirical novel and a straightforward science fiction story. It's weird, but not too weird.

It felt like it was going to turn into something like Quality Land — some ill-informed, heavy-handed sci-fi "satire", but it never did, which was a pleasant surprise.

By all rights I should give this 3 stars, but right now the average rating for this is 3.25, and it seems like that is way lower than it should be, so I'm going to be charitable with the star rating. I'd expect this to have something like 3.4-3.5 average rating on GR.

3.5 of 5 stars

[Leo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Two robot brothers dealing with highschool in the 80's. Interesting premise and entertaining enough execution.

[David Hernston · Rating 3 out of 5]

It took me a while to get into it, but eventually the story carried me through to the end.

It's kind of weird. The whole thing feels like an allegory or metaphor, but I never figured out for what. Homosexuality? Minority religion? Race? Ultimately, maybe it's just about prejudice.

There were a number of bits that were uncomfortable to read. The parts about the baby were pretty gross, but I guess I'm glad she had a relatively positive outcome in the end. Pretty much all the parts that dealt with robot anatomy were hard to take -- Kenga dealing with food, Daryl cutting his arm off and having it replaced....

The doctor's reveal at the end of why he made the robots was a little disappointing. I mean, I suppose it was to a good end (fostering cooperation and understanding between robots and humans), but it was a little weird that it was so basketball-centric. And the way Kenga was accepted into competitive basketball felt like wishful thinking, given how much strenuous resistance there is to trans and enhanced athletes in the US (and most other places).

[Leslie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This has a lot of good ideas on the periphery, but the main storyline is kind of dumb and it uses a lot of sight gags that would "work" (I use this term very, very loosely) as a visual medium, but were extra eye-rolly in print. The jokes were mostly a miss. The obsession with basketball was a serious let down. Overall, it felt like the first draft of a bad 80s high school sex comedy that forgot both the sex and the comedy.

[Care Kelley · Rating 1 out of 5]

One of the worst books I’ve ever read.

[Michael King · Rating 4 out of 5]

YOUR ONE-SENTENCE SUMMARY: "A young robot boy is has to live a camouflaged life in a society that hates his kind, all while taking care of his reckless brother."

YOUR SIX-SENTENCE SUMMARY: "The Obsoletes" by Simeon Mills takes place in the the future in the past. It's the 1980s/1990s near Detroit Michigan and robots exist in the world. The problem: Real people, humans, have robophobia about the robots, calling them toasters and otherwise destroying them via lynch when they're discovered. The robots live their lives in their version of fear, continually staying hidden from the public. Darryl, our protagonist, is trying to play both role of Mom for his brother, Kanga, while navigating his own world of relationships, interacting with others in socially acceptable patterns, and staying hidden in plain sight while trying to survive. This is difficult due to his brother's non-acceptance of being a robot and going against everything they're taught to survive.

YOU SHOULD READ THIS IF: You are a teen or 20-something. My kid picked it up for me at the library, not knowing it was more of a "Young Adult" novel. It's suitable for everyone but it's aimed at readers under 30 dealing with Life's issues. You'd be well-served to empathize with the angst and challenge of surviving with so many facets of social norms and expectations of Life. This is a great read for anyone who is intimidated or uncertain about their future as they go through high school, college, or beyond.

YOU SHOULD AVOID IT IF: You're looking for heavy Sci-Fi. There is some light discussion about robots, there is the ocassional wire and motherboard, but this story is about growing into the teenage years with the added responsibility and expectations of growing older.

How did I feel about it? Glad you asked!

I liked it. I didn't realize "The Obsoletes" was geared for a younger crowd until I was well into the story. It was entertaining enough that I didn't want to put the book down. There is some excellent character development, the reality of the robots' lives overshadows the few moments of disbelief, and the writing is quick. I laughed out loud a number of times and it's a funny book with moments of excellent observation parallel to our own lives.

Enjoy!

[Carrie · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 - I think I was just out of my genre zone with this work of sci-fi. It's humorous and not too much of a leap of rationality, but I just didn't have a connection. I will say it kept me reading, so that's a fair positive. The narrator is a kid which I also find challenging in adult novels sometimes. Darryl Livery is also a robot. The year is 1991 and Darryl and his fraternal twin brother Kanga (also a robot) are trying to lay low as they start high school. Not only do they not want to be outed as robots ('toasters' is the epithet) in their robophobic MI small town, but they are also parentless - their Mom and Dad were collected years ago after being determined obsolete. Darryl has filled in the parental role and Kanga, a submissive, simple kid doesn't question his rules which are largely dictated by the manual The Directions which counsels robots on how to best blend in among their truly human brethren. Since robots don't need to eat and don't get sick, the Livery brothers have survived just fine on their own in this lax era of parental involvement or school overreach. However this is all challenged when Kanga makes the frosh basketball team and his skills are truly super-human. Darryl gets dragged in as team manager, second to the original team manager Brooke Moon, a thoroughly weird girl whom he develops a crush on. Now the boys are enmeshed in relationships with other people and life and maintaining their secret starts to get challenging. There are some clever adaptations of human foibles onto robots, such as Darryl's use of a spare parts catalog instead of Playboy, and the imagination required to guess how robots might eat (and later dispose of the undigested food), how they re-charge, how they show affection and how well they hide among humans. You could also extrapolate the story to look at how humans treat "otherness" and the ways we divide ourselves based on superficialities and prejudices, but the book really glides along on the level of preposterous humor and one dimensional characters. The ending has a grand finale feel to it worthy of any thriller but these are kids after all, so a little misplaced, maybe.

[Rahisya Siregar · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.6/5🌟

Buku ini diceritakan dari sudut pandang Darryl. Kepenulisan Simeon Mills ini juga terlihat ciri khasnya, di novel ini mengulik tentang robot dan juga pembahasan basket yang mendetail and kentall banget teknik & istilahnya. Keliatan bgt Penulis emg sgt menguasai wawasan tentang basket yang luas wow. Funfact: buku ini ditulis 18 tahun🏀

Kisah ini berasal dari dua anak keluarga Livery: Darryl dan Kanga di bangku SD di bus mereka menuju ke sekolah. Baru di halaman" awal, kita akan langsung dikenalkan dengan istilah yang menjadi judul buku ini yaitu "Obsolete" juga "The Directions".

Penulis gambarin kepenokohan dan watak dari setiap karakternya realistis (walau robot). Darryl dan rasa tanggung jawab, iri, kasih sayangnya ke Kanga, pemikiran logis, patuh peraturan, kesadaran diri dia adalah robot YANG KOMPLEKS dan anehnya malah kerasa manusiawi. Kanga yang sedikit nolak (gabisa bangga) bahwa dia adalah robot, penuh perasaan & penasaran, dan terlalu manusiawi. BROKE NOON si cewek penulis misterius. Juga Mr. Belt dengan sejuta kata" bijaknya dan dia yg selalu memihak anak-anak muridnya yang dia didik. AKU KESEL sama karakter Kipas Langit-Langit yg akhlakless...🥂 Cheers to all the characters.

"Ibu selalu menjadi istri Ayah. Dia selalu memiliki kami berdua untuk diurus. Seluruh keluarga kami diciptakan pada tahun 1977." (Hal 209). Aku selalu mix-feeling setiap kali baca tentang bagian kilas balik Ayah & Ibu dari POV Darryl adegan keluarga Livery walau singkat sgt favv bgt. BrokeDarryl jg sweet🫶🏻

"Robot-robot itu tidak pernah tahu kapan untuk menyerah." (Hal 313).

Banyak hal yang mengagetkan dari buku ini menurutku & buku ini cocoknya dibaca perlahamPlottwistnya🌟 Padahal clue udah tertera di halaman" sebelumnya TAPII beberapa hal ternyata ga sesuai dengan pemikiran dan dugaan dari prosesor Darryl😱. Apalagi setelah Darryl mengunjungi Gravy Robotics, sebenarnya program apa yang dipasang di kepala kedua saudara ini? Broke tuh siapasih? Apa di akhir cerita identitas keduanya sebagai robot akan tetap aman?

Happy reading📚🔜

[Soundwave · Rating 3 out of 5]

So, one minor error on pg. 278 where it says- "Jump shot, boy!" u. I think that random "u" was the only error that I remember seeing. I'd give this story a 3.5 if I could. It was a nice, breezy read.

I really liked the first few chapters A LOT! I was really into Darryl's character and really wanted to know more about why he thought the way he did. I liked seeing what warped him, how he reacted to those events, and I wanted to see more. However, it got kind of crazy in the middle and I wasn't too excited about how the coach and assistant coach talked/acted. It annoyed me, but I think that was purposeful. The story veered off a bit because of them, but came back around near the end, I started to really like it again.

I just want to say however, that I'm not a fan of Brooke or Kanga. I felt that Brooke was just completely unnecessary to the story, and was very annoying. I don't know why she was written like that. Her dialog, desires and drive all need fixing. Kanga came off as the typical arrogant/idiot, jock. Sooo, basically a boring character. The few times that we got to see a deeper side were nice. He seemed almost as crazy as his brother.

I also feel that some things, specifically some darker elements, were never fully explored or were just brushed under the rug. I will admit, that when we neared the ending, I kind of hoped for an uprising, a sinister plot, dismemberment, or at least a murder. I mean really, Darryl could have done it.

[Jenny · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first few chapters were quite thought-provoking, and then the next 200 pages were boring and confusing.

In a world where robots are only allowed to exist if they live undiscovered by robophobes, twin brothers Darryl and Kanga strive to remain undetected at the risk of becoming "obsolete" in a small Michigan town.

It was very interesting to see the intersection between human behavior and how we can get stuck in our routines, almost like being programmed to only have one response. At the beginning of the book Darryl's mom only asks "how was school" at the dinner table regardless of his responses. How often have we gotten stuck in "robot mode" and run on autopilot?

The concept of treating robots as others reflected societal prejudice on race, religion, sexual orientation, etc. Distrust and disgust contributed to mob mentality (which is only won over by basketball??). Ironically if anyone is "stealing jobs" in real life it is definitely robots.

After the first few chapters, the story got a bit stuck (ironically). As a coming of age tale, Darryl is a rule-folllower, while Kanga constantly pushes the boundaries. Despite complete adherence to The Directions, it seems like Darryl is always passed over for Kanga. Eventually the brothers get over their spat and they go on to live separate lives. Not too exciting in the execution even with the addition of an angry toaster-wielding mob.

[Kristina · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this story clever and witty in the way that Mills attributes the two main characters -teenage twin robots (androids) who are coming-of-age in a society that is hostile to robot kind. My favorite moments in this book were those in which robotic elements are used to actually humanize narrator Darryl and his robot family. Moments like Darryl's memory of his own birth, or plugging his exhausted twin brother Kanga into the outlet to "sleep". The relationship among the robot family is something us humans can relate to in a way that makes a keen reader understand that the deeper message of this book is much more akin to recognizing and honoring the humanity of the "other" in any and all social contexts.

So, robot-humor and social commentary wise this book is a good win. Where I thought that the narrative fell a bit short was in terms of the school story line. The high school humor was a bit basic and unsophisticated, and the basketball coach was crude. I just thought that those parts of the narrative were not at the same level as the rest of the book. But overall, this was a fun and enjoyable read with some deeper context to discuss!

[Starr ❇✌❇ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't really know what to make of this book! It's an alternate history version of the 80s, where robots have already been invented and made so well they're human passing. But, of course, there's a lot of prejudice that causes Actual Humans to hate and kill these robots for doing absolutely nothing but existing.

So, the really cool thing about this book is that the robots are a stand in for basically any minority group/political enemy you can think of. I'm pretty sure it was written to be about immigrants, but it could also be 2nd generation and beyond individuals, LGBT aligned people, people with mental illnesses, etc. There's a section, at least, that supports each. It's an extremely political story, about someone doing all they can do to stay hidden and "normal" so he can achieve his purpose, whatever it is, and someone trying to forget who he is and just BE normal, and screw everything else. And you can totally get both of those responses!

This book is a lot about fate and design and what it is to be other, and feel like you're a representative of your kind, or forced to be the opposite. There's a hard division that, as it falls apart, feels almost uncomfortable to not be up. I think all of that is really well done.

The problems I have with this book, are mainly with Darryl. He's asked to be too much in this book, with everyone else just being things he interacts with. That made him unlikeable and hard to properly read through.
I also had issues with the very unsubtle satire of childhood, mainly about Darryl's call on his parents and everything else relating to his parents. Oh, also Darryl referring to himself as "Mom" a lot, just bothered me, though I'm not entirely sure why it grated at my nerves the way it did.

This is another book that, as a concept, is great, and gives you a lot to think about, but as a book wasn't all that enjoyable to read.

[Kris Sellgren · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a hilarious science fiction novel about being human, being a robot, and being obsolete. Darryl and his brother Kanga are robots, passing for human, whose robot parents became obsolete and disappeared when they were in fourth grade. Darryl is doing his best to be a mom to Kanga, but when adolescence hits, everything goes haywire. Kanga grows a couple of feet, and becomes a basketball star for their high school. Darryl falls in love, and can barely cope with his burgeoning feelings let alone Kanga’s teenage rebellions. They live in Michigan where people hate robots (“toasters”) and rip them apart when discovered, so acting “normal” is life or death. Kanga, who persists in his delusion that he is human, takes constant risks. Adolescence is just as confusing and high school just as full of bullies and clueless teachers whether you are a robot or a human. Ironically, the last book I read was also about basketball, which helped to decode the sports talk for me. The climatic scene of the novel was tense, suspenseful, and funny.

[RL Bailey · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Obsoletes follows two brothers who happen to be robots. One brother dreams of becoming a star basketball player, but also must become parent when their parents are deemed obsolete and thrown into the scrap pile.

Mills' debut novel is full of humor and heart. The struggle of being a teenager is hard enough, but when you have to hide your true self from the world that struggle gets even harder.

The book is not without flaws. I found myself questioning the premise a lot in the first quarter of the book. At one point a suspected robot is tossed from a school bus and nobody bats an eye. However, once you get invested in the characters you give the book the benefit of the doubt. Mills does an excellant job of world building. Side characters are lively and add a lot.

I would recommend this to fans of sci-fi, YA, and humor. 

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My ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

[LeAnn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a Goodreads giveaway, so thank you to all for the book!

First off I have to say, I absolutely love the cover! It's eye catching and I think it would definitely stand out on any bookstore shelf. This book had such potential but, in my opinion, fell short. The beginning was superb, full of twists and quick story building. Immediately I was interested in the interactions between the robots and humans. I would have enjoyed the book more if the author had focused on that aspect, instead of basketball. Personally, I wasn't interested in any thing to do with basketball but then again I'm not much into sports in general. I got the xenophobia reference but I also think that that could have been explored more. I really liked the two main characters and Brooke's sister but found the other characters either boring, off-putting, or useless.

Overall, I would say it was worth the read but not something I'll be adding to my book collection.

[Thamy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maybe this was too weird?

Darryl and Kanga are robots living in a world where robots do exist but aren't accepted as equals to human beings. Darryl knows it and does his best not to be found out, even sending his robot parents back to their maker after becoming obsoletes. Kanga was raised to think he's human and has recently ascended in status at school where he's the new talent of their basketball team. Having to take care of them both, Darryl also must deal with the jealousy toward his brother.

This narrated from Darryl's point of view so it was fitting that he sounds hard to relate to most of the time. The writer also did amazing research—or he's creative as hell—to build their way of living. I won't call it worldbuilding because for this part it's really a world mostly like ours and that's probably his point, showing how we tend to hold prejudice against anything unfamiliar.

At the same time... the story gets boring. It starts amazing, what a different sort of YA, how creative! But then the story never starts until almost the end... It wasn't really the sort of book I had in mind when I picked it up. I needed more events.

Also, I feel parts of it never got closure. I don't want to spoil anything but a couple of characters were accused of being robots and while I believe they weren't, I didn't see any confirmation or even consequence to them being mentioned. You can say I should just reread it and the answers will be there, but it's neither the sort of story I'd want to read again. I would read a second novel in this universe. In fact, I'd love it! But this book was too much like one of these super heroes live actions—an introductory arc, when we see it should get good along the way but it's still early to say.

And because it feels like we had so many plotholes, the ending while "yeah, it's okay", it had had to be much more to make up for the slow pace. I confess when I noticed the middle wouldn't take us anywhere, I started thinking the writer had some shocking truths in store. But it was just an okay ending.

This is a good story that needed some more work while in the making, because the potential was unbelievable. It's a pity to see all the work building the reality, building how the robots work go to waste. So here's hoping for other volumes.



Honest review based on an ARC provided by Netgalley. Many thanks to the publisher for this opportunity.

[236057 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I felt like the book was an interesting read. At first, Darryl and his twin brother, Kanga, are robots that easily don't become obsolete in class. Obsolete means to be "unneeded" but in most cases it just means they were found to be robots. They witness and hear about what happens to robots, but it hasn't happened to them yet. Then the real struggle comes when Kanga gets on the basketball team, since there are many other boys that are willing to crush robots. The role model, James, is the one who mostly promotes this, but there is also the Ceiling Fan (an associate) that promotes this. Overall, I did like the book, but there were a couple of far-reaching things. The things I liked was the good ending, how the brother viewed his world, and his perseverance to not become obsolete. However, the things I did not like were the graphic scenes, use of foul language, and some inappropriate things in the book.

[Dinda Hanifah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Saya tertarik membeli buku ini karena judulnya yang unik.

"The Obsoletes" adalah novel fiksi ilmiah yang berlatar di tahun 1990-an. Ceritanya tentang dua saudara kembar robot, Darryl dan Kanga, yang mencoba hidup di dunia manusia tanpa ketahuan. Mereka menghadapi diskriminasi dan ancaman agar identitas mereka tidak terbongkar. Narasi Darryl yang jujur dan penuh humor membuat cerita ini menarik meski temanya berat.

Buku ini menggabungkan elemen fiksi ilmiah, drama remaja, dan thriller dengan baik. Selain itu, berhasil mengeksplorasi isu identitas, penerimaan diri, dan hubungan keluarga. Membaca buku ini bisa membangkitkan berbagai perasaan, dari lucu hingga sedih, dan membuat pembaca merenungkan makna kemanusiaan dan penerimaan.

Harapannya, "The Obsoletes" bisa menghibur dan menggugah pikiran pembaca tentang identitas dan diskriminasi, serta pentingnya penerimaan diri dan orang lain di tengah berbagai perbedaan.

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you so much to Skybound books for providing an ARC of The Obsoletes by Simeon Mills in exchange for an honest review via Edelweiss.

Set in the 1990s, The Obsoletes is about two robot brothers. The small town they live in is robophobic and the two must navigate their freshman year without being discovered and killed with toasters by the townspeople.

The story was good although I sometimes have trouble reminding myself the characters here are freshman high school students but then, the protagonist is a robot so that’s reasonable. I also love how it described the parental instincts Daryl formed over the course of time and how it clashes with his role as a brother to Kanga.

See my full review here!