Mila 2.0 ~ Debra Driza (earc) review

Mila 2.0 (Mila 2.0 #1)
Katherine Tegen Books
March 12, 2013
480 pages
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Mila can't remember who she was. After moving, with her mother, to small town Clearwater, Minnesota after her father was killed in a fire she's struggling to come to terms with the past -- and remember it.

She can't remember if she used to like chocolate ice cream or pink finger nail polish. What she used to like wearing -- anything that made her her. All the little things.

It's even more surprising when she learns the reason for all of those gaps: Mila isn't a real teenage girl. Created in a lab, programmed to act like a teenager, she's also incredibly dangerous. And incredibly valuable in the right hands.

Now, with the threat of 'termination' looming after her escape from that lab and someone after her for the advanced technology she possesses -- even if she isn't aware of how to use it -- Mila's on the run. Trying to stay alive, at least as alive as she's ever been, and discovering more disconcerting things about herself at every turn.


Debra Driza's debut, Mila 2.0, was sold as 'Bourne-style' and though I can see that, a bit, I am hoping for more of it in the second book. With Mila, the initial setup where we meet Mila and the other characters, get a little introduction to how Mila's life is, is good.  It's nice to see that her life is relatively normal, albeit affected by the death of her father and the gaps in her memory. We also see the little quirks, too.

When things really start to kick in with the plot -- the scifi aspect coming into play and Mila's origin being explained -- I did wish for something . . . more. Or less, strangely. There was not quite enough unknown or quite enough known, either. At the same time I was wondering what exactly was so special about Mila and what she was able to do that someone was after her (the not enough known side), I also wanted there to be a bit more mystery on the side of what had happened in taking her from the lab (not enough unknown).

The balance between giving enough to pull me in, but keeping enough hidden to keep me interested -- and the story tense -- wasn't quite met here.

The last (about) thirty percent of the story was the best for me. The characters involved there are some of the best in the book -- and I do hope some of them make an appearance in Book 2. They have great interactions with Mila. Two in particular provide quite a great contrast, one seeming to see only her as android and the other seeming to see her human aspects.

The combination of the tension really amping up, the great character interaction and the promises it seems to hold for Book 2 (as well as some hopes I have), made this my favorite section.

Now that both readers and Mila know more about her, where she came from and what she can do, I'm anxious to see where Book 2 takes her!



Rating: 7/10




thank you to Harper & Edelweiss for the egallley