I feel like I’m in a slump right now. I’ve been craving some sci-fi, but they last two books have done less than impress me. What is going on? What do I have to do, start lowering my standards? Is it too hard to ask for a dynamic cast of characters, action, drama, mystery and romance?! Oh…wait. Didn’t this book promise me that? Huh. Well, let’s get one thing out the way right now. That blurb is misleading.
But before we get into all that, I want to take you on a flashback. Yes, a flashback. Back to yester-year…
I don’t know why, but I have this soft spot for robots. Perhaps even more than the average person should. Every time I see a book or TV show about them, I have this strong uncontrollable urge to read/watch it. Now, a few years back, there was this show that came on FOX called The Sarah Conner Chronicles that showed John Conner’s life as a teen on the run with his mom. I faithfully DVR’d it every week. I thought it was gripping and amazing. Though, clearly my opinion mattered very little because the show was eventually moved to Friday night – which is the kiss of death in TV land – and then, later cancelled. I was pretty bummed out about it. I mean, why do they cancel all the good shows? WHY?
*ahem*
Right, so about Revolution 19, because I’m betting you didn’t click this review to find out my life story and robots (or did you?). Believe it or not, the above paragraph had a point. The point being, when I heard about Revolution 19 I knew I had to have it. I was SO excited and hoped that I could somehow fill the void in my robotic heart that FOX left in my chest like a leaking hole of utter despair. But I was failed again! A-a-and the hole just keeps getting bigger with every awful YA sci-fi book I read until I feel like it’s just gonna swallow me whole and I can’t breathe and I’m sitting in a corner, singing a Justin Timberlake song, crying a river and, and, and…. oh dear. It’s like I’ve become the Anti-Steph: Bella Swan. I’ve become emotionally compromised. Quick! Someone get Spock!
Long story short, Revolution 19 disappointed me for three very good reasons.
The Characters:
So the blurb says, “With a dynamic cast of characters…” Okay, yeah. Let’s go with that and pretend that was the case here. Maybe, just maybe this book could have gotten 2 stars from me if I cared about one character. But the truth of the matter is that none were developed enough. Ever heard of the phrase ‘one track mind’? That’s similar to how I found these characters. They were all ‘one track-traited’. The three protagonists are each given basic traits that they embody throughout the novel. Kevin (13) likes technology, Cass (15) is athletic and Nick (17) is brave/stubborn/fearless/determined/stupid?
That’s all we know about these characters and it seemed that was all they knew about themselves too. Take, for example, Kevin. Everything was going to shit and all he could think about at times was, “Oh! Is that a 3D TV? Check out the resolution on this!” He did this every time and new, shiny piece of equipment was introduced like clockwork. Nick chose any and every opportunity to do something stupid at the personal risk of people trying to help him. He displays a blatant disrespect for the family that takes him and his siblings in by sneaking out and disobeying their rules of remaining hidden from the robots. But he’s labeled as being brave. Is he remorseful for the trouble he causes them? Not in the slightest because he does it over and over again. I have a feeling that this novel was extended thanks to the sheer stupidity of most of his decisions. Don’t get me wrong, I expect a certain level of mistakes being made by a teen cast (or any cast of characters for that matter), but I also expect common sense to be utilized.
And then there is Cass, whose role I’m not entirely convinced was needed besides Rosenblum throwing an athletic girl into the story just to say, “Hey, look! Progression!” Great. She can run. But, of course, she gets subtly sexually harassed by two characters, one of whom throws so many sexual innuendos at her, that she later ends up liking. Of course. The other one really disturbed me: The kids find some guy living in the woods, who stares at Cass the entire time, licking his lips. She folds her arms over her chest and the narrative alludes to her being uncomfortable. Who wouldn’t? That was the book’s first biggest strike for me. Some dystopian/post-apocalyptic novels do this thing that irritates me:
Female character + sexual harassment (minor or on larger scale) = LOOK HOW BAD MY WORLD IS!
I just do not like how female characters are used like that. And one could argue that her role will be larger in book two (based on the ending), but it just feels like a convenient way to include her into the story line. Or better yet, move the plot along when it’s clear her role serves no other purpose.
The supporting cast only serve to provide a way out to the main characters. Every time they get in trouble we are then introduced to another character that has just the skill set needed to get them out of the fix they’re in. They have no substance, especially Lexie, who claims she risks her life for them because she is bored and is looking for some fun. -_- Right.
Furthermore, there is no romance. A couple of smiles dispersed throughout the novel and two kisses made of random, do not equal romance.
The Writing:
Definitely not my cup of tea. I like my narrative with a little more depth and complexity than Revolution 19 offered. Have you ever read a movie script before? That’s how this book reads. It’s very fast paced and not in the sense that things are just happening rather quick. It’s more of an issue of things not being properly explained, giving off an over all rushed feeling. Though this should not surprise me since Revolution 19 was planned from the beginning to be both a YA series and film. And in that respect, I could see this working well on-screen with good actors, but it didn’t translate well in book form. For example, there is virtually no world building and it feels like the author is heavily relying on the reader’s knowledge of The Terminator to build his story. There is a brief prologue saying robots took over world and that’s pretty much all you get. Let me not forget the weird slang/terminology of the time period that seemed entirely forced and distracting.
The Robots:
I knew going into this book that the author and company was pulling heavily on The Terminator to create this story. And I was okay with that because in my mind I got to see scary robots destroying things, chasing little humans around. Not unreasonable, right? Well imagine my surprise when robots are described as having flat and featureless faces except for rectangular openings for their eyes. Oh and did I mention they roll? So basically, the world has been taken over by a bunch of Wall-es, huh?
Oh, whoops! They are also 8ft tall. So the more accurate depiction would be Number 5 from Short Circuit.
Awesome. Mankind gets enslaved by evil robots, whose true crime will be reminding us forevermore of bad 80’s movies. The world is so screwed. (Okay, so I totally loved that movie, but that is besides the point, people!)
I mean, is that even remotely scary? The other ‘bots’ are no better as just pieces of metal that hovers. But the thing that gets me, is that the robots take themselves so seriously that they TALK IN ALL CAPS. All the while, I’m thinking why are humans afraid of these robots? Oh, right. Their “lasers”. *snort* You remember that moment in Toy Story where Woody is chewing out Buzz at the gas station? Well, every time one of those ‘bots’ came rolling around I’m like:
Random Thing that Has Nothing to do With the Story, but Still Annoyed Me:
Why is the cover model a girl? (Yes, it’s a girl as she is wearing eyeliner, eye shadow and mascara on the cover.) In the novel, it’s Nick that has the robotic eye and I’m pretty sure he is of Y chromosome variety. Cover, y u lie 2 meh?
In conclusion, I’m sad this didn’t do much for me and I can’t say I’d really recommend it to anyone either. When it all boiled down to it, Revolution 19 is a lackluster novel with a premise that had potential, but instead yielded a boring plot, boring cast of characters and equally boring robots. I will have to continue on my search for fabulous YA Sci-Fi reads. Unfortunately, this was not one of them.
ARC was provided by the publisher for an honest review.
cynicalsapphire
To the writers of the blurb:
http://www.folioroad.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/liar.gif
cynicalsapphire
To the blurbers:
http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m49xrmmCnZ1qzfkwb.gif
Stephanie Sinclair
cynicalsapphire “….PANTS ON FIRE!”
cynicalsapphire
Stephanie Sinclair I feel like if you can’t write an honest blurb for a book and make it sound like something anyone would want to read, you should probably consider publishing something else. Radical idea, I know.
Ashley
This sucks… I was REALLY looking forward to this book. I wanted something epic with robots taking over the world and thought this one would be amazing. *sigh*
Stephanie Sinclair
@Ashley I thought so too. 🙁
lilypondreads
I was looking toward this book, but I read my share of disappointed sci-fi as well. But oh my goodness, from your review I am more then a little hesitant to approach this book, just reading about the cast of characters makes me stray away.
Stephanie Sinclair
lilypondreads I’d try to find an excerpt to decide if it’s something you’ll like first.
Wendy Darling
Oh man–how can the robopacalypse be anything but awesome?! 🙁 I was so looking forward to this one, but I should have known it was too good to be true. The “reads like a movie script” thing is a bad, bad sign. And the Wall-EEEEEE reference made me laugh, hah.
Thanks for the review. I admit to so much robo-love and curiosity that I may pick it up sometime just to see for myself, but it’s good to have my expectations in check.
P.S. I hope you like THE ARCHIVED better!
Stephanie Sinclair
Wendy Darling I think it will probably make a fun TV show, but it needed more meat for a book. I don’t think you’ll like it based on what I know of your reading tastes, but hopefully I’m wrong and you enjoy it much more than I did.!
I haven’t even started The Archived yet! >.<
Kara_M
Oh dear. Blythe hated this, and now you too. I was so looking forward to this one and I do like forming my own opinions, but I trust you guys so much, and geesh, I just don’t have time to waste on books I won’t like. I think I’m gonna skip this one. Can you have Kat read it and solidify the no for me? Like a 3 strikes and your out type of thing? LOL. Rolling robots? Showing my age here, but is this Lost in Space? Warning, warning. Danger, Will Robinson. LOLOLOL.
Stephanie Sinclair
Kara_M LOL! Yeah, Blythe and I were doing a read-a-long and we were both so excited! I asked Kat if she wanted to read it and she passed. I’m 100% positive she would hate it. In fact, I think she’d DNF it.
Mel @ thedailyprophecy
Oh man, that is bad, very very bad. I was actually very excited for this book. They certainly did a great job with the blurb.. What’s up with all these promising books that end up being a huge disappointment? What a shame.
Stephanie Sinclair
Mel @ thedailyprophecy I know. I’m sure someone will like it, perhaps younger readers. But it wasn’t for me.
AnimeGirlAlex
This does sound like a dud. A disappointing dud.
I hope your next read is better.
MyEclecticBooks
Oh wow…what a disappointment! Thanks for sharing though…I really appreciate being able to read reviews that show both perspectives.
Jennifer @ The Bawdy Book Blog
🙁 I think I picked this one up off Edelweiss (although, I’m not positive on that)….it’s disappointing you didn’t like it. I’ve, um, never really liked the Terminator movies, so I don’t know what that’s going to mean for me. *looks around nervously*
Stephanie Sinclair
Jennifer @ The Bawdy Book Blog Ohh… I’ll be looking forward to what you think. I’m not sure if you will like it or not despite not enjoying the terminator movies. But IMO, there was a lot more wrong to detract from the story.
NKN
Enjoyed the review. Random comment on your random comment: Even though I agree that the person on the cover is probably female due to the facial structure, and that in pop culture you are not likely to see men wearing eyeliner, eyeshadow, and mascara (unless it’s stage makeup or due to a specific role), I am slightly peeved with it being your basis for assuming it’s a female. Men can wear makeup too if they please; no need to encourage gender stereotypes 😛
Stephanie Sinclair
@NKN That wasn’t my intent. The first thing that tipped me off that is was a girl was the bone structure in her face. The make-up was just something I noticed after staring at the cover of the ARC for a solid 5 min (it’s harder to tell looking at the computer screen than the book itself). Of course, it could be a person who has “one of those faces” that could go either way, but coupled with the make-up (which is odd considering they don’t even HAVE access to stuff like that in the book) indicated stronger possibilities to the person being female.
I’m fully aware that some men wear make-up. I frequent rock concerts and it’s pretty much standard practice there!
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Creeprkiller
it was a greet book. I like Kevin the most, Cass second, Lexi third. and I hared nothing nice about the book