Program MIRA

by R.J. Setser

Snow White collides with Divergent in this dystopian fairytale.

The Coterie was once a godsend; a group of high-esteemed intellectuals who looked out for the people of Dyvercity. Until Estrella. Aided by a government-banned AI, Estrella’s power is unchecked and the divisions of Dyvercity suffer in the grasp of her power-hungry hands.

Wynter is an orphan destined to live the rest of her life with her fellow orphaned “brothers” in Division 1812: The Apple Pickers. She and her band of brothers are different from the common folk, though. They all failed the Prosperity Test, which stamped their fate in the poor divisions, but Wynter and the boys feel like their intelligence is above those around them. If they learned something about their birth parents, could they earn entrance to the mysterious city behind the wall?

A terrifying discovery leads to Wynter and her brothers fleeing their lifelong home in the orchards for the web of lies in Dyvercity… where Program MIRA is waiting for them.

Genres: Dystopia, Science Fiction, Retellings

202 pages, ebook

Published November 9, 2022

About the author

R.J. Setser is a pseudonym for wife and husband duo, Rayleigh and Joshua Setser. High-school sweethearts who found their happily-ever-after in 2019, Rayleigh and Joshua have been writing together since 2015 and finished their debut novel, A Queen is Knighted in 2020. They live in a small town in Texas with their 2 dogs, Watson and Rosie, and 1 cat, Yuna. They spend most of their time juggling contradicting work schedules to write together. In their free time, they can be found with either of their families at the lake, reading, and quite possibly, playing sword-fighting video games “for research”. Find them on Instagram & Threads (@rjsetserauthor) or online at rjsetser.com.

Account Managed by Rayleigh (personal bio below):

Rayleigh has been a professional book reviewer and influencer since 2012. In 2014, she founded Literature Approved, a site that provides author services and reviews that has grown to over 1000 subscribers. She has also been awarded the Vine Voice badge on Amazon, which verifies her as a Top Amazon Reviewer. Visit LiteratureApproved.com to pitch your book to her for a review!

Reviews

[Erin Phillips · Rating 5 out of 5]

iRobot but make it a MG dystopian retelling.

“Never stop looking for the truth.”

Brilliant opening! Absolutely intrigued from the start! I was hooked immediately by the action, the characters, and above all…MIRA. I love the take on the Magic Mirror as an AI program! And MIRA was surprisingly my favorite character! I really loved how she somehow wasn’t just flat, just a computer, and how she evolved.

I also enjoyed how this novella was split into the POVs: Estrella (the evil Queen), Wynter (Snow White), and the Boys (dwarves). It was really fun to get to see the story from different angles, and I always love a villain backstory!

If you are looking for a quick read and enjoy fairytales, Divergent, sci-fi tech, and found family vibes, this is definitely a book to grab!

I received this book complimentary from the author and this honest review is voluntary.

[R.J.]

Program MIRA is a book that makes me smile. Growing up, one of my favorite tropes was friend groups that explore the dynamics of boy-girl friendships (that don't always become romances). I was obsessed with dystopian worlds. Really cool tech and AIs. Controlling villains with believable motivation. And I especially loved (and still love) the trope of orphans looking for their families.

When I wrote about Wynter and the boys, I really did write what I was wanting to read at that time. Even 5 years later, reading through this story during the editing process has brought back warm fuzzies and goofy smiles as I remember how much these characters mean to me.

Program MIRA is intended for a younger audience than A Queen is Knighted (YA High Fantasy) is. It's Teen & YA, so you can expect a clean read appropriate for 13+ and a simple story with exciting twists and turns.

I can't wait for you to meet Wynter, Chrys, Erik, Aidric, and Tyson on November 10th!

[Nathaniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have read the other reviews and I agree that the beginning of the book is a little rough. All the jumping forward confused me a little. But this is very much worth the read. It’s a dystopian Snow White retelling that had me at the edge of my seat. I loved the characters and the world was very fascinating. I wish that we got more of an exploration of MIRA…because MIRA and Dyvercity are amazing concepts. The sci-fi dystopian loving part of me is so excited about this book. I can’t wait for the paperback.

[Mariè · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yo this was so coooool !!!! Okay i was kinda off starting this ! It was a bit confusing for me and easy to lose track of what's happening (which can be just my fault cuz this is kinda my first dystopian novel)
Although i lost track a few times the beginning was intriguing and i just wanted to know more.
By the end of part one i started to get a hold of the world building and had much more fun reading, connecting the dots between the original fairy tale and this books was so fun to me! Just seeing how the authors took parts of the original tale and made it their own.
It was so cool to see the equivalent of the original evil queen to the one in this book and her little minions to the dystopian version i absolutely loved how unique that was!
This is definitely better suited for a younger audience but even thou i usually enjoy more adult fiction i still had a lot of fun reading this and found myself smiling ... a lot lol
It honestly felt like the beginning of fantasy if that makes sense it reminded me of younger writers getting inspired by famous works and adding to them to make them their own
The friendship trope in this book made feel comforted in a way, it was done in a way that we don't see that much quite often and i loved it
These are just my first thoughts after i just finished it i'll link in my full video review of it soon
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
MY FULL READING VLOG AND REVIEW ON YOUTUBE
https://youtu.be/ccmkdiadY8M

[Cassidy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this one! I keep getting so pleasantly surprised by my local authors! Tbh, if you pitch me fairy tales mixed with dystopian fiction, I’m sold. It was such a refreshing, original take on Snow White! I almost wish it was longer!

[Kat M · Rating 5 out of 5]

this was a really well done dystopian fairytale take on Snow White, the cover was what drew me in and I'm so glad I was able to read this. It had a great plot and worked in the universe that was set. It took the fairy tale we know and make it into something unique and great. I enjoyed way R. J. Setser wrote this and am excited to read more.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[målin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Project MIRA sounded like an interesting dystopian novel. I haven’t read anything in the genre for a while, so I picked it up with very high hopes.
Sadly, the book starts with one of its weak points: Random and seemingly useless time jumps to explain the story we have to be aware of before starting the actual story. I think a third of the book was basically “2 weeks later”, “2 months later”, or “9 months later”… This could have been easily resolved by turning it either into one big prologue (and cutting the useless prologue) or intercepting the actual story with the flashbacks. This would have made the story more dynamic as well.
We are fully aware of who Wynter is the entire time, which takes away any kind of surprise, furthermore, all of the characters are pretty flat.
I love power-hungry women in books, but if the system she is trying to win is not even explained (or anything in the world except for the divergent/cast system which gets tired really fast) you cannot really be on her side or against her.
Mostly, it felt like the authors were unsure whether they wanted us to root for her at all. Of course, she’s evil, but there are ways in which many people have successfully made the characters rounded and three-dimensional enough. Estrella is boring.
But the same goes for Wynter and her brothers (who have no distinguishing characteristics.).
The ending was also disappointing if I’m honest, but I didn’t expect anything else at that point.

The book had a great idea and probably an interesting world, if it had been explained, but suffers under the characters who seem only to act in ways to push the storyline and have nothing to say about themselves.

I only enjoyed the writing style and that the book was short and could be read in one sitting on the bus.

Thank you to BookSiren for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review :)

[Alison Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have to say that I rather struggled to finish this book. About two-thirds through I put it down and it was weeks later that I picked it up determined to finish it. This is not to day there weren't things I liked about it - hence the three stars but it was not quite a gripping as I hoped. This may be, I feel now, that the book is actually aimed at readers younger than I. I may have been mislead by the cool, design-y cover.

Set in the Dyvercity and its surrounding, much poorer districts, Program Mira is a sci-fi retelling of Snow White, with 'Mira" referring to an AI in the role of the Enchanted Mirror. We have the familiar elements of a young girl, Wynter, threatened by her ambitious, evil step-mother and relying on the help of her foster-brothers for help. The set up for the story is solid and has some good elements with Estelle, the step-mother, having the broadest character development. However, the story spent a little too much time building up her at the expense of what I had expected to be the focus of the story - Wynter. I realize that I left reading the book at a point when I should have been drawn in. The story could have benefited from a heightening of the tension and Wynter and her brothers needed to be fleshed out a good deal more to balance the ominous Estelle. Not to forget Mira. She was a cool concept that I wish I could have known better. The story does reach a resolution that wraps everything up nicely, just a little too easily considering stakes for my taste. There was an opportunity to provide a climax with exceptional drama that was not exploited. However, going back to my previous, supposition that this book may actually be for readers of a younger age bracket, allows me to give it the rating I have. Overall, Program Mira is a solid effort that would benefit from further exploring and building upon the cool world it establishes and investing more into the cast of characters themselves.

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

“It’s our job to keep you safe.”

I loooved how the boys protected Wynter so fiercely, and MIRA’s development was fantastic. Estrella was a great villain, and Dyanna’s conflict was fairy-tale perfect. There were some characters I wish we could have seen developed further, but overall, I loved the story!

[Louis C · Rating 3 out of 5]

PROGRAM MIRA

BY: R. J. SETSER

I received an advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

“I’m coming with you.” He said, setting the book down, “I’m not going to let anything happen to you. Not only will I kill myself, but the guys will each bring me back to life and kill me again. So, I’ll go first, you follow.”

Program MIRA is a sci-fi retelling of Snow White, intended for a younger audience that wants to try this genre out. It takes a fresh and new spin onto a familiar story, setting up a world that is easy to understand, all while the story is written in an accessible writing style.

The start of the story was a bumpy ride. The countless time skips and POVs that the reader was getting introduced to make the story move so quickly, it was hard to keep up the pace with it. A lot could have been either told via flashbacks or mixed together in longer chapters so that the story would flow more smoothly. It would also make the infodumps at the start more spread out, giving an easier introduction to the city and the politics.

After many time skips, we get Wynter as a new POV. She is a fun main character to follow and I felt she was fleshed out enough for a story like this. But because of the information given at the start of the story, it wasn’t hard to guess how the story for her would unfold. It would give the story an extra layer of mystery if the start didn’t reveal much already.

The boys Wynter grows up with also get each a POV in the later half of the book, giving this story more POVs than I can count on my hand. It wouldn’t have bothered me much if they all had value, but none of these POVs brought anything new to the story. I wouldn’t say they slowed the story down since the pace is quick and straight to the point, which I did find refreshing to read.

All in all, it was a quick and fun read that gave an interesting take on the story of Snow White and an easy-to-follow take on the sci-fi story. It is a fun story about friendship and family, just like it promised to be.

[Reah N. · Rating 1 out of 5]

The idea of this novel is definitely interesting. A MG dystopian retelling of snow white with an illegal AI named MIRA. (Well, this might not exactly be an exact summary of the blurb. But it’s definitely a more accurate summary of the book).

However, it was hard for me to believe the actual events in the novel, or even care about the characters.

The novel was trying to tell too many stories at once. Instead of one successful story, there were many fragmented ones.
Estrella: The classic, one-dimensional villain who only wants power and control. The beginning is narrated by her, and from the start I hated her. Cold and uncaring, with nothing else to her. She’ll kill anything in her way of power and still claim to have good intentions. I couldn’t relate to her and didn’t care less about her and her goals. I didn’t think she should’ve been narrating any of the book, much less such a big portion of it.
Sorren: The story of Wynter’s father who loses his wife, marries a secretly evil woman (see previous storyline) who wants to kill his child, and longs to be reunited with her. His story is told in a few chapters at the very beginning of the book, and then we see him at the end. It isn’t his story, though, and the few chapters we see of him feel misplaced. Wait for your own book, buddy!
Wynter: Naturally, there’s Wynter. This storyline has potential. Honestly, I think this should’ve been the only storyline. However, it’s introduced nearly a third into the book, and twenty years after the story starts, which is way too late for me to start caring about yet another character and story.
Even once we meet Wynter all we see is her wondering about the secrets in her life and continuing on with (her rather boring) life as normal. It’s a few chapters before her story goes anywhere. And even once it gets interesting, she makes some very unwise, very fateful decisions, for no reason at all other than to suit the story. It’s all over very quickly because of these decisions. They also make Wynter feel flat, and character-less.
So, this storyline is a case of too little, too late.
Wynter’s “brothers”: Wynter grows up with these boys, but that part of the story is only narrated by her. Until, the last third of the book, Wynter needs to be rescued. And, suddenly, we start seeing events from her rescuers’ eyes. Which might work if we see them the entire novel. As it is, though, it doesn’t work and feels out of place in the story.
Dyanna: She isn’t quite given her own storyline. But her actions have a big influence on both Wynter’s life, and the storyline. The main problem is that she constantly changes sides, for no reason at all, which makes me feel like she has a story that should be told in the book, but that I missed out on.
MIRA: Estrella’s AI. Who goes on to develop a life of her own and somehow, miraculously, to choose her own side in this whole mess. It could’ve been interesting to actually see MIRA develop into a living, thinking creature. As it is, the storyline is very subtle, and doesn’t do more than serve the plot. Without quite being in line with past behavior.

There’s also the first third of the book. The entire section is chapters with completely unimportant scenes, jumping a few years every time. All too often we are also treated to dialogue on how much changed since the last chapter. The entire section feels expendable. I wished that it would have been summarized, instead. A paragraph or two was all it needed.
I’ve taken the liberty of doing it for the authors, to be included instead of this section in the next edition of the book. Sorrel lost his wife at the birth of their daughter. He remarries Estrella, thinking she will be a loving partner and mother to his daughter. However, unbeknown to him, Estrella marries him only for power. And when she realizes that his daughter threatens her position, she decides to get rid of her.
Or better yet, instead of summarizing, I would’ve preferred to understand this as Wynter’s story unfolded.

The convenient skills and changing characters also bothered me. Wynter’s brothers, who show up with the exact skills they need to save her. And, MIRA, who changes sides for no reason other than to help Wynter escape and win the day. This act is what saves the day, and it totally ruined the ending for me because it makes no sense.
There is potential for both these details, however. If the story was focused on Wynter and her brothers, and MIRA, from the beginning, instead of so many other unimportant events. The boys’ skills and MIRA’s personality could be built into the story and then it would make sense when they take such a big part of the ending.

This book has potential, if only the main character of the story was chosen a bit more careful. However, as it is, this book has too little characterization, confusing events, and an abrupt ending.

The world and story are very similar to Cinder, though that book is appropriate for more of a YA audience.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. (I hope I haven’t been too honest).

Content:
Violence:
There is a scary birth scene where a woman gives birth, loses blood and is rushed to an emergency surgery, where she dies. There are no details. This is mostly summarized from the waiting room. There is also the whole issue of Wynter running for her life with her brothers. And Wynter’s step-mother trying to kill her. They’re put to sleep with sleeping gas, Wynter is electrocuted, and then suspended in a tank with only essential liquids to keep her alive.

Romance:
The beginning of the book has a scene with Sorren and his first wife, Scarlett. There are many shows of affection between them, nothing more than kissing. However, it felt extremely unnecessary both for the audience and for the story. We are later also told that Sorren and Estrella have many arguments and threaten to divorce each other, another dynamic that is completely irrelevant to the story.

[Blue · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Snow White collides with Divergent in this dystopian fairytale."
•
I literally started this yesterday after I found a website for reading ARC copies of books, and I've already finished it. And I enjoyed the experience.
~
It was unusual, and not something I've read before, the combination of the fairytale aspect with the dystopian setting. Despite it being a little strange, that didn't make it unenjoyable, it's just not a combination I've ever come across before so I didn't know what to expect of it.
~
I do feel as though the beginning section following Wynter's start in life, and the exposition could've been done in a different way. Maybe written without the sudden skips in time. But, and with the ARC copy I did find a handful of spelling errors, but nothing major.
•
Thank you to BookSiren for giving me the opportunity to receive an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Makayla Woods · Rating 4 out of 5]

The beginning was amazing! I really enjoyed Estrella, even though she was the villain. I could see her perspective as a hero. This is the best retelling I have every read!

If you liked this book, then I suggest:
Cleopatra's Moon

12/9/23 I got to meet the authors! They were very kind and sweet. They even signed my book for me!

[Ashley Raye · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this is going to end up being a long review, possibly a rant. I liked so much about this book. Truly, I enjoyed it. However, I think there could have been some things that I would have liked more. Hopefully, this review doesn't end up with spoilers, I'm going to try to avoid doing so, but I have so many thoughts about everything that they might slip out before I can catch them.

The beginning starts off with this intense and emotional prologue. It grabbed me and sucked me in. A beginning like that can keep you glued to the page, which I did. But, as we continued on, all the dramatic feelings and suspense slowly got lost in the story.

Time jumps started happening, which worked for this story since the main focus was on Wynter. Those moments were necessary to build up backstory. That's what lost me honestly. It was trying too hard to be the Snow White retelling when it had potential to be something completely different. The first part has a focus on Estrella… again, this was necessary for the Snow White plot. I really enjoyed this perspective, but it could have been something more. The flip from Estrella in the first part to Wynter in the second felt like I was starting a whole new book. For that reason, I actually felt removed from the story, and like I had to get reacquainted with the world, there was a large time jump, and the characters were different. I was still enjoying the story though, it just took a little bit more time to adjust. For that reason, I actually wish the book had been split into 2 separate books. I would have loved to see more world-building done, especially from Estrella's POV. I would have loved a story that showed her slowly spiraling into the evil she became rather than a couple of scenes pulled out of the timeline to give us a mere glimpse of it. It worked since the story was trying to get to the parts with Wynter, but so much was lost by doing this.

I truly think Estrella could have been one of those characters that you feel sorry for, that you could have loved even though you knew they had to be the villain. She was complex enough, but we only got to see bits and pieces of that complexity. Her motive also needed to be explored more. I would have loved to see that developed more. She had so much more beneath the surface that I wanted to see.

We got to see pieces of the world, which were fascinating. So much could have been done within this world alone. That's why I think it would have done better in multiple books. There is so much to explore and it felt like the surface had only been scratched. Now, I actually felt like this story also lends itself well to being a graphic novel. That would also have been a possibility to show the world a bit more, it also would have worked remarkably well with the style of the story.

Like I mentioned before, the switch to Wynter's perspective felt like a different book. It had a completely different feel from the beginning. That sudden jump does work since it was a perspective we hadn't had before. It made the story interesting, but it wasn't quite as smooth as I would have liked. That's why I would have liked to see it as a sequel to what felt like the first book. The 2 book plan would have worked so well for this.

I will admit that I didn't care about Wynter that much. She kind of seemed pointless. She just moved along because of what was happening in the story, but it never actually felt like she gave us much emotion. She wasn't very interesting. I only really liked a few moments when she was interacting with the other characters. I actually think those characters had more to their character than she did. I would have liked to see her character developed more. It seemed like she didn't actually have much time on the page. Everyone else overshadowed her. It's a shame because she had moments where she showed she had the potential to be a really strong lead, but they never really stuck, or she appeared weak at other moments. They often portray a Snow White character as weak and innocent, but because of that, most of the time those characters are some of the worst I have ever seen. There is a balance that is needed and I think this book tried to do that, but it didn't quite work for me.

There was a lot that had to be worked into the story, with the backstory and then snow white elements, but nothing developed as strongly as it could have. Now, that does work if you want a simple tale that can be read and enjoyed in just a short amount of time. But, if you want something with lasting impact, that really plays with the readers and gives them a story that stays in their minds, keeping them coming back for more, then everything needed to be explored a bit more. Like I said, the potential was there for that and some people may accept it as is. It was a good story, one that came so close to being something I could love, but it could have been great. One of the best. I want that for this story.

The ending felt like a let down. It didn't nearly have as much drama to is as I would have liked. I think some work on the characters might have helped with that. It seemed a little rushed and then everything was wrapped up nice and neat. I wanted some more conflict. Everything worked out too easily. I would have liked MIRA to have been used more, especially toward the end. Honestly? I actually hope there is a sequel, and I hope MIRA's in it. The world has so much left to explore, and so much could happen with the characters. I never felt like the character's all got sorted out. I want to know what happened after the events in the book and how it changed them.

If you made it this far, congratulations! My rant didn't bore you to death… I do think it was a good story, one I would recommend. The writing style was engaging. I plan to read more by R.J. Setser. If how strongly I felt about this book is any indication, I will probably enjoy more from them.

I received an ARC of this book for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Irene Sejas · Rating 5 out of 5]

(I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily).
I really enjoyed this book, I don't think there's anything bad to say about it. The concept (snow white meets divergent) is really interesting, and I love dystopic societies and books, so there's that!
The characters are really interesting and I love their development, stories and friendships! I also loved MIRA and the whole concept of it, as a whole the worldbuilding here was phenomenal and I would love to read more of this!
In the beggining I was sometimes a bit lost but soon enough you start to understand everything (things start falling into place hahah).
The plot is great and I was really excited about reading this after reading the summary.
A great book I really recommend it!!

[AnnaScott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Snow White meets Divergent, which is a super interesting combination, but here we are. Setser did a fantastic job reimagining the story of Snow White, including all of the key parts of her story that we know and love but in an entirely new way. The world building was excellent, I had no idea how it was going to end, and overall this novella was impossible to put down!

[Graceish ✨ · Rating 2 out of 5]

My biggest problem with this book was the numerous inconsistencies. While the plot was predictable, I was hoping for at least a satisfying bubblegum read, but this book had me constantly noting how ridiculous the logic was, and noticing pretty obvious errors. For example, twice it is said that Neve’s disappearance happened 16 years prior when it was demonstrably 13.

Obvious errors aside, this still could have been better with minor tweaks. For example, we’re supposed to believe that the Program MIRA folks were coding geniuses, but they make shockingly simple security mistakes. Like Estrella’s password to her secretive servers being “Estrella.Black”?! There’s no way a coder, especially of her caliber, would make such an inane and hackable password. I have a similar complaint about the key code in Dyvercity spelling “MIRA”. If you purport to write about and for coders, don’t use easily-hackable passwords and codes for their most secure areas. It just makes no sense. Even 11 year old me would wonder why.

My other problem with this book is that it seems the authors put more into differentiating characters by ‘unusual’ features rather than relying on their ability to flesh out full characters. For such a short story with so few characters, there was a distracting number of unusual hair colors, piercings, undercuts. I wish that the effort of description had gone more into filling out the folks I was supposed to care about than creating some Manic Pixie Dream Girl vibes across a smattering of characters.

Lastly, I wish that YA authors would respect the intelligence of their audiences. Even young folks could pick through the holes and contrived scenarios of this book. There’s no way that Wynter lives unnoticed for 13 years anywhere. She was too unique looking. It’s just too thin of a premise. Additionally, it's weird that Dyanna and the kids are the only workers in their division. Who ran the apple orchard before them? Who after?

That cover though! Love

Thank you to BookSirens and the authors for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.
===========
Pre-review: the writing wasn’t bad, but even for a YA story there were too many issues. more to come. ETA: I accidentally deleted this book from my shelves and had to repost.

[TaniaRina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Climbing up the corporate ladder sure has changed in the future

‘The scores filed everyone neatly into their perfectly suited career, flushing out the low scorers to the outskirts of Dyvercity to take care of the jobs no one wanted.’ Meaning farmers and laborers.
As the pandemic of the past two years taught us, it was the services that kept the world moving along. Truck drivers, farmers, medical, etc. And don’t tell me that people working in those industries are not intelligent. I have a Masters and can’t do any of those jobs.

Speaking of the pandemic, it seems the authors added a bit on how quickly and drastically our lives changed IRL. Working from home with only one laptop for a houseful of child & teen students, businesses closing, public transportation limited if not downright shut down, distribution channels delayed. Their example was a wee bit different, but it amounts to the same thing. Sometimes, there just isn’t time to communicate and adjust…
‘Perhaps we should have researched a way to allow people the opportunity to get comfortable living without the technology before shutting it completely off.’

The “hal” reference was not lost on me. It was certainly worth a chuckle.

I cannot imagine hearing someone tell me this:
‘Your existence has caused problems for society to thrive.’
Seriously? How is anybody supposed to process that?

The authors provide readers with some sage advice IRL:
‘Never stop looking for the truth’

[Grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

MIRA, MIRA, in the walls, who's the smartest of them all?

A pleasurable rework of the story of Snow White, our tale is set in a sci-fi future where AI Program MIRA holds the fate of an entire city, and is solely controlled by one evil woman intent on rising to the top-- no matter how many orphans she has to take out along the way.
But who's really in charge, and will buried truths finally come to light as our band of misfit orphans race to save everything they hold dear?
-

I'm not usually a reader of YA, but this was, I admit, pretty good. It's a nice, short read, with original elements of the story woven into an intriguing, dystopian sci-fi setting, but still with enough new twists that it keeps you guessing along the way.

Story-mechanics wise, I felt it could have had a few more obstacles at the further end of the book, really pushing our characters to get what they needed in a desperate finale, but otherwise, I have no complaints, and I enjoyed reading it.

Themes include found-family, loyalty and ingenuity, advanced technology, and corruption in the government, especially dealing with citizens privacy and data collection (hmm, where have we heard this before? Oh wait. That's real life.)

|I received a free copy of this book in return for an honest review. If reading free books for only the price of your opinion sounds appealing to you, head over to BookSirens and start reading today!|

[♡Chee♡ · Rating 4 out of 5]

As in any other fantasy or sci-fi novel, I was a LOT confused in the beginning. But it got reaaalllyy better as I read on further!😄

The blend of the fairytale element with the dystopian scenario was intriguing and unlike something I've read before. Though a little weird, it wasn't unpleasant; it's just not a mix I've ever encountered previously, so I wasn't sure what to anticipate from it.

I do believe that the exposition at the beginning of the book, which follows Wynter's beginnings, could have been handled differently. Possibly written without the abrupt time jumps.

The lads' zealous defence of Wynter won my heart, and MIRA's growth was outstanding. Estrella made for a fantastic antagonist, and Dyanna's conflict was picture-perfect. Although I wish some characters had been given more time to grow, overall, I really enjoyed the narrative!🤩

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Joan Allbritton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sci-Fi mixed with Snow White? Yes, please! Now that is a combination you don’t see very often in the literary realm.

I got so many Marissa Meyer vibes reading this clever little book! R.J. weaves in references from the old and timeless tale of Snow White and creates a brand new story from the familiar. It’s got sprinkles of Veronica Roth’s Divergent, “Fairest” by Marissa Meyer (the villain, Estrella, reminded me sooooo much of Queen Levana from the Lunar Chronicles. As an adult woman who read this book, that vibe was a blast from the past!) and lots of dystopian suspense.

It’s a quick, enjoyable read. Perfect for younger readers or for those who would like to be introduced to R.J.’s writing.

Five stars all the way, my friend! This is one of many books that I highly recommend to anyone of any age.

[Esha Catz (Lady book lover) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you Booksirens for my e-Arc in exchange for my honest review.

This is my first time reading this author and I found the story interesting at the beginning but then got lost with the constant time jumping and change in POV. I didn't resonate with any of the characters and events of the story I just couldn't connect, too much was going on.

This book wasn't for me, hence the three stars because I believe I didn't get to spend enough time with the main protagonist the constant change in POV was jarring and plus the time jumps, Wynter is fully introduced 30% into the book and by then I already trying to keep track of too many characters and events.

This will definitely be good for intended audience but for me I just couldn't get into it even though I finished the book. The ending felt rushed and the Epilogue added nothing to the story I thought there would be a surprise revelation but it just ended with her having a fun moment with her nearest and dearest.
I will definitely recommend for my library due to its range of characters and story.

[Alex Silvius · Rating 5 out of 5]

Program MIRA is a bold, fun dystopian retelling of Snow White. I don't read many retellings. I also don't know if I've ever read any dystopian retellings. I really wish I knew of more because it's a great genre.

Can't wait for more from Setser!

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I spent two fabulous evenings finishing this book.

Program Mira is set in a city where an AI computer program on the verge of self-awareness is overseeing every aspect of day-to-day life. Everything from the opening of doors to tracking the moves of its citizens, and little do they know, it was built and controlled by an envious, murderous, power-hungry creator who will stop at nothing to gain power over the city and it's citizens. The only thing in her way is one of the ruling couples. A loving husband and wife team who are on the side of protecting humanity and are fighting against the exhistance of the cities AI program called MIRA.

A stolen child, a stolen computer program, a stolen marriage, and a plan to steal control of a city. Will evil succeed, or will good prevail? Pick up a copy of this book to find out.

Personal Notes:
I enjoyed this Snow White retelling with the perfect blend of technology and old-fashioned human workhouses to create a believable distopian world where readers are able to identify with characters on both sides of the divide.

Bonus:
A clean read for all ages with zero spice or language.