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Book Review: Mila 2.0 by Debra Driza


Mila 2.0 is the first book in an electrifying sci-fi thriller series about a teenage girl who discovers that she is an experiment in artificial intelligence. Mila was never meant to learn the truth about her identity. She was a girl living with her mother in a small Minnesota town. She was supposed to forget her past—that she was built in a secret computer science lab and programmed to do things real people would never do.

Now she has no choice but to run—from the dangerous operatives who want her terminated because she knows too much and from a mysterious group that wants to capture her alive and unlock her advanced technology. However, what Mila’s becoming is beyond anyone’s imagination, including her own, and it just might save her life.

Mila 2.0 is Debra Driza’s bold debut and the first book in a Bourne Identity-style trilogy that combines heart-pounding action with a riveting exploration of what it really means to be human. Fans of I Am Number Four will love Mila for who she is and what she longs to be—and a cliffhanger ending will leave them breathlessly awaiting the sequel.


Review:

Mila is a 16-year old girl, who has been living in rural Montana with her Mom for a month. They moved there after her father died. She's still considered the new girl, but she feels like she doesn't really fit in with everyone else. While all her "friends" talk about shoes and clothes, Mila is more withdrawn. So far her classmates find her fascinating because she's from a big city (Philly), but once the shine comes off their interest might wain.

This might even happen sooner when a new boy moves into town. When Hunter shows a certain interest in Mila, her friends don't really appreciate it.

"Not that I couldn't appreciate his physical attractiveness, because apparently I could. A lot. But what was really compelling about him was his sensitivity."
Hunter is not only a total hottie, but he also has a sensitive soul and that's what attracts Mila. He doesn't care about superficial things and she can really talk to him, he gets her. Just when everything seems to slowly fall into place, by some freak accident, Mila finds out that she's not who she thought she was.

Discovering she's an android, turns her entire world upside down. Feeling betrayed by her "Mom", she lashes out, which draws the attention of the wrong people. Before she can fully comprehend what exactly she is and what it all means, she and her mom have to go on the run.

"Whoever had worked on 'evoking appropriate emotional responses' had done a bang-up job."
Mila was supposed to be a killing machine, but because they wanted to make her as human like as possible, she got a bit too human for them. It's very hard to see her as a robot, mostly because she is too emotional. She looks like us, talks like us, walks like us and also feels like us. Those emotions make it very hard for her to come to terms with the fact that she is not human, she keeps hoping that somehow she is human or at least some version of it. All she wants is to be a real girl!

Forced by circumstances, Mila has to become more android every day in order to survive. She's afraid that if she gives up on her emotions she might loose her humanity. 

This story has a bit of a pinocchio theme going on, which I liked very much. All Mila wants is to be a real and normal girl. So while reading this book you too hope there is some explanation for Mila, that somehow she can be a real human being.

Debra Driza really takes you on a roller coaster ride with her debut novel. It has fast paced action which keeps you on the edge of your seat and on the other hand you have this emotional inner turmoil, which makes you root for Mila, that somehow it will all be alright.





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