Renegade Blog Tour: Review + Giveaway

Renegade (MILA 2.0 #2)
Author: Debra Driza
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Release Date: May 13th 2014
Rate: *YOUR RATING*

Synopsis:

There is no one left for Mila to trust. Except for a boy she barely knows.

But Hunter has no idea who—and what—Mila really is. She can’t bear to reveal her secret, even though he’s unwittingly joined her search for Richard Grady, a man who may know more details of Mila’s complicated past.

Yet the road to the truth is more dangerous than ever. With General Holland and the Vita Obscura scouring the earth for her whereabouts, Mila must rely on her newfound android abilities to protect herself and Hunter from imminent harm. Still, embracing her identity as a machine leads her to question the state of her humanity—as well as Hunter’s real motives.

Perfect for fans of I Am Number Four and Divergent, this action-packed and heart-wrenching second installment of MILA 2.0 will leave readers breathlessly awaiting the series conclusion.

Renegade is the second book in the MILA 2.0 series - a young adult science fiction/dystopia that continues to follow our heroine Mila - an android who's more human than imaginable. After the horrific events in the first book, Mila is now on the run and searching for two people her mother spoke about - Sarah and Richard Grady. She has no idea who these people are or why her mother wanted her to find them, but she's determined to get to the bottom of things. Now she has Hunter by her side, and his safety is paramount - even if it means she has to lie to him about her true self and what she's really running from. As she relies on her android functions more and more, Mila worries that she'll lose her humanity - what little she may have had to begin with.

Like the first installment in the trilogy, this book was full of unexpected twists and turns, romance, and adrenaline pumping excitement and action. I loved Mila as the lead character - we see her grow in several ways in the book. She's discovering her true nature along with her abilities - both android and human. She's incredibly easy to identify with and it's easy to forget that she's not completely human. Hunter is a great love interest - totally sweet and gorgeous, but even he has some secrets and Mila must decide if his intentions are what he claims to be or not - which I think adds a great layer to the plot that mixes romance, mystery, and some suspense - and definitely gives the story more complexity. I loved learning all I could about Mila - her history, background, how things came to be. I can't really elaborate much on this because I don't do spoilers, but I thought all the parts of Mila's past added up to an intriguing story. The writing was incredibly well done and I was pulled back into Mila's world within the first page of the story. I had to keep reading to find out what was going to happen next and ended up reading the entire book in one sitting. Since finishing the last page, I'm already dying to read the final book to see what's going to happen and how it will all turn out. I highly recommend this book - and series - to fans of dystopias, science fiction, and fantasy novels. It's original, fast paced, and keeps you on your toes the entire time.

 
I'm the author of the MILA 2.0 series and the owner of the messiest purse on the planet, aka: the black hole of doom. I think bow ties are cool and when I grow up, I want to be Veronica Mars.

I rarely check my account at Goodreads, so if you need to get in touch with me, try twitter or Debra at debradriza.com.

Giveaway: Win (1) of (2) sets of both books in the MILA 2.0 series (Mila 2.0 and Renegade) by Debra Driza (US ONLY)

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Book Review: Mila 2.0 by Debra Driza

Mila 2.0 (Mila 2.0 #1)
Author: Debra Driza
Genre: YA Science Fiction/Fantasy
Release Date: March 12, 2013
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books

Description:

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.  

Mila 2.0 was an edgy science fiction novel that far exceeded my expectations. It follows Mila as she and her mother have to relocate to the small town in Minnesota after the fire that killed her father. She's having some trouble adjusting to the change, but finally makes a connection with a cute new guy when things go terribly wrong. After a car accident one day after school, Mila discovers the dark secret her mother has been keeping from her: she isn't really a girl at all but an android developed to blend in with teenage girls without detection. The woman she thought was her mother is really one of the scientists who helped create her and her father - along with his death - and  the rest of Mila's memories were all implanted into her. Now the government has found their hiding spot and they will stop at nothing until Mila is back at the compound and her mother is punished for stealing her. Even though Mila's world is crashing down around her and the android functions that were suppressed are now coming out - she still can't shake the gut feeling that she's more than just a robot. She's a girl with real feelings and emotions. She needs to keep her mother and herself safe at all costs - even if it means using becoming more android than human.

This was a truly unique and fantastically imagined science fiction novel. I didn't think I would be able to connect with a main character who was a robot - but I instantly liked Mila. She was full of pain over her father's death and she was dealing with so many typical teen problems - a new school, making friends, crushing on a guy, etc. When she found out the truth about herself, I was just as confused and crushed as she was. I felt like I was riding on the same emotional roller coaster with her - experiencing each up and down in her life right alongside her. She was a really strong female lead that didn't give up and showed great amounts of courage and growth. I'm eager to see how she will grow further in the next book. The plot was fast paced and I literally couldn't put the book down. It was full of action, adventure, fantasy and even a bit of romance. There were so many different genres being blended that it's hard to label this novel as just one kind. I liked that it mixed so many different concepts and ideas into one thrilling book. The writing was exceptional and shows that the author has true talent. There was a part at the end of the book that I really hated (those of you who have read the book know what I'm referring to), but other than that - I thought it was a captivating and adrenaline filled novel. I am already eagerly awaiting the next book in the series so I can see where Mila and the story goes from here. I highly recommend this book for fans of well written novels of all genres. This was a thrilling first book in what promises to be a truly fantastic series!