Mila is the girl next door–sort of. She is slightly awkward, trying to make friends and fit in, and of course, she has a crush on the cute, new guy. Struggling with the hurts and desires of a teen age girl, life seems hard enough when Mila suddenly realizes she’s at the center of a very high stakes game of cat and mouse because as it turns out, she’s uniquely flawed.
The story line takes about 100 pages to really get going but once it does, it’s addicting, suspenseful, and fun to read. With an interesting mix of self-discovery, young love, and family relationships, the good vs. bad is really brought to life. One of the author’s strengths is creating relatable characters. She brings them to life in a way that makes them feel real. It is also interesting to see how the author includes scientific-type dialogue. Delivered in a thought-provoking way, it might be inspiring to young people who have an interest in artificial intelligence and the future of technology.
This book would be a good read for both male and female audiences who enjoy a good thriller. The author, Debra Driza, has written three books and a prequel for this series. Mila 2.0 is the first full book with 0.5 The Fire, being the prequel; however, if the reader starts with Mila 2.0, they will get enough of the back story to fully understand and appreciate the storyline. 2.0 ends in a way that reading Renegade, the next book in the series, might just be a must!
Content Analysis:
Profanity/Language: 17 religious exclamations; 10 mild obscenities; 4 scatological words.
Violence/Gore: A father died in a fire; teen girl grabs another teen girl by the arm hurting her unintentionally; teen girl thrown from the back of a pickup truck, some physical damage; teen girl trips another teen girl; teen girl has multiple memories of a man physically hurting a teen girl, not sexually, not overly detailed; men attack woman & teen girl multiple times, women fight back, men get hurt; a terrifying dog at airport security; teen girl fights several people, some blood; 2 girls fight; man prepares to torture teen girl; man forces teen girl to torture a young man, some lengthy description, not sexual; man lights a fire and threatens to burn a woman to death; two teen girls run an obstacle course with guns, electrocution, and other obstacles, descriptive and painful details; man says a woman will be executed for her crimes without a trial; teen girl has her hands around a man’s neck and threatens to break his neck; 2 teen girls are tasered; young man shot in the leg, blood; guns aimed at three people, men threaten to shoot with intent to kill; woman shot and killed, blood, descriptive and a little gory, death and burial.
Sex/Nudity: Teen boy sneaks over to see teen girl at night, almost kiss; implied that people in a hotel were “getting busy”.
Mature Subject Matter:
Death of father, artificial intelligence, military spies, a non-ethical company, falsified documents, capital punishment, vigilante justice, individual scientist’s ethics, death of mother.
Alcohol / Drug Use:
None
