[Review] Mila 2.0 by Debra Driza

 Mila 2.0
MILA 2.0 #1
Debra Driza
March 12, 2013
Katherine Tegan Books
480 pages

Amazon/Book Depository/B&N

 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.

The first  chunk of this book didn't have me sold. It seemed one of those general young adult novels where the heroine has some weird innards or super powers or magic and she's just trying to get along. They have to overcome the overbearing parent, the 'Plastics' and ultimately get the hot guy. Yep, that pretty much sums up the first part of the book.

Then things go crazy. This coming of age story turns into a huge action novel that refuses to let up. It does a complete 180. As someone who feels obligated to at least give a book a fighting chance instead of stopping immediately after I get bored, this one paid off.

The ethical points are made, the character struggles to be human despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. She never loses herself.

Literary escapism at it's finest. I love being able to forget about the real world for some time. This book was honestly a lot of fun. I'm giving it a solid 4.5. It's not perfect, but it makes up for its flaws.