Title: Revolution
19
Series: Revolution
19, #1
Author: Gregg
Rosenblum
Publisher: Harper
Teen
Publication Date: January
8, 2013
Genres: YA,
Dystopian
Reviewed by: Books4Tomorrow
Source: Purchased
My rating: 3/5
SUMMARY
Twenty years ago, the robots designed to fight
our wars abandoned the battlefields. Then they turned their weapons on us.
Only a few escaped the robot revolution of 2071. Kevin, Nick, and Cass are lucky —they live with their parents in a secret human community in the woods. Then their village is detected and wiped out. Hopeful that other survivors have been captured by bots, the teens risk everything to save the only people they have left in the world—by infiltrating a city controlled by their greatest enemies.
Revolution 19 is a cinematic thriller unlike anything else. With a dynamic cast of characters, this surefire blockbuster has everything teen readers want—action, drama, mystery, and romance. Written by debut novelist Gregg Rosenblum, this gripping story shouldn’t be missed.
Only a few escaped the robot revolution of 2071. Kevin, Nick, and Cass are lucky —they live with their parents in a secret human community in the woods. Then their village is detected and wiped out. Hopeful that other survivors have been captured by bots, the teens risk everything to save the only people they have left in the world—by infiltrating a city controlled by their greatest enemies.
Revolution 19 is a cinematic thriller unlike anything else. With a dynamic cast of characters, this surefire blockbuster has everything teen readers want—action, drama, mystery, and romance. Written by debut novelist Gregg Rosenblum, this gripping story shouldn’t be missed.
REVIEW
For a
while now, I have been complaining about dystopian novels not offering the
reader anything new. The way I see it, if you’ve read one; you’ve pretty much
read them all. My first dystopian experience was with The Hunger Games, and since then all the dystopian novels I’ve read
seem to follow the same post-apocalyptic pattern. I was hoping to find
something a little different with Revolution
19 as the synopsis created a picture in my mind of a futuristic America being
ruled by robots; and it also has a very fascinating cover. Two chapters past
the epilogue I abandoned any hope of finding something new. Here’s what I liked
and didn’t like about this novel:
Revolution 19 mostly follows the
same pattern as Matched and Divergent with the exception of the
world in this story being controlled by bots. Looking at all the tech detail
and the chapters where Nick was held in a facility to be “re-educated”, I was
often reminded of Mila 2.0. The
prologue got me hooked and the epilogue had me curious to know who, or what
exactly, is controlling the bots and the mainframe structure. Unfortunately the
chapters in between didn’t hold my interest as the three main characters, Nick,
Kevin and Cass, weren’t very interesting. I found them rather dull, over
confident and irresponsible. It annoyed me how they sometimes jumped head-first
into dangerous situations without thinking it through and thus putting their
siblings and friends lives’ at stake. On the other hand, they are teenagers and
are supposed to do irresponsible, rebellious things without considering the
consequences, but nevertheless, their actions didn’t always make sense to me
and I thought it a miracle they actually made it to the epilogue. I felt there
were no depth to these characters and they did nothing to endear themselves to
me.
What
made this book slightly different from others in the same genre is that the
world didn’t end with a plague, virus, or some form of bio- or chemical
warfare. Here the world has changed (after the war) and morphed into one where
bots make and enforce the rules to guard the human race from wiping itself out.
As annoying as it may be to the main characters, who were raised outside of The
City in the so-called wilderness, to be controlled by bots, it seems that most
citizens who live inside The City have accepted their way of life. Now, I
personally, wouldn’t like to live my life as stipulated by robots, but if it
means I can live in safety and carry on with my everyday doings in a stable
economy and crime-free environment, I don’t see anything wrong with that. But
here comes these three kids looking for their parents, and once they’ve found
them and the family is back together, they decide they want to overthrow the
system. No matter what the rest of the people who live inside The City thinks,
these three siblings believe they should do what they think is best for
everyone. I didn’t agree with their reasoning. It just seems silly. This
attitude made them seem immature and self-absorbed because they had the
opportunity to live a better life with their parents inside The City than the
life they had outside The City. Sure, they would’ve had to live according to
someone else’s rules, but hey, choose your battles, right? I just think the
author should’ve given more concrete reasons for their rebellion and seeing as
Lexi’s parents put their lives at risk for these lot, the author shouldn’t have
given them the cold shoulder once their purpose was served. Or, maybe I’m
annoyed because I’ve somehow unwittingly accumulated too many same-old,
same-old dystopian books, with nothing new to offer, on my TBR list.
Another
thing that bugged me is how Lexi, for instance, left home and abandoned her
parents because Cass, Nick and Kevin running for their lives was one big
adventure for her which she didn’t want to miss out on. I mean, seriously,
you’re looking at a girl who has a safe home, parents who love her, a best
friend, etc. Yet, out of the blue, she comes across three strangers in a diner
and she decides she want to keep them safe because they’re different. Really,
Lexi? She throws away her loving parents and all the privileges she has just to
go on an adventure. I’m telling you now, if the world has to be saved by such
irresponsible teenagers who view life-threatening situations as an adventure,
we can all kiss our behinds goodbye. When Lexie left home to join the siblings
in escaping from the bots, the dialogue between her and her father is a good
example of the stilted dialogue which can be found throughout this book.
I
enjoyed the idea behind the story. That’s what kept me reading as I was
anticipating some sort of major twist. I expected there to be one as the bots
sure didn’t create themselves and I was positive we would discover there to be
a mastermind behind the man-versus-machine structure. There weren’t any twists or
noteworthy revelations, and only in the epilogue is a hint given of what’s to
come. Still, I don’t think I’ll be reading the rest of this series. I only
recommend this to readers new to the dystopian genre who don’t have any
expectations for something a little different in the dystopian genre. The only
significant difference between Revolution
19 and most other dystopian novels, is that there’s not a developing or
annoying love-triangle and next to no romance. I think this is going to be one
of those instances where the movie ends up being better than the book.
READ more REVIEWS
Revolution 19 by Gregg Rosenblum
has 180 reviews on Goodreads. Read it here.
PURCHASE LINKS
ABOUT the AUTHOR
Gregg Rosenblum works at Harvard, where he
wages epic battles against technology as an
editor/webmaster/communications/quasi-IT guy. He graduated from UC San Diego
and has an MFA in creative writing from Emerson College. He lives in Boston
with his wife and daughter.
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