Revolution 19

Revolution 19
Gregg Rosenblum
265 pages
Released: January 8, 2013
Publisher: HarperTeen
Source: purchased
★★★★☆

You can read the Goodreads summary here.

Robots.  I can't recall the last book I read about robots, so this is was a fairly fresh read for me.  Think about it, though, what would happen if humans developed robots to fight their wars?  It's an interesting concept, although the traditional battlefield is becoming less and less.  And, what if our war-fighting robots suddenly turned on us?  And enslaved us?

That's pretty much what happens before the start of Revolution 19.  Some humans have escaped and have been living in outposts in the twenty years since, but when the bots discover their abode, siblings Nick, Kevin, and Cass escape and head for the City (where the humans have been enslaved by the bots) to find and rescue their captured parents.

There was so much the enjoy about Revolution 19, starting with the plot.  I think this is a legitimate fear people have about robots: what if they get so smart they turn on us?  So naturally that part of the novel really drew me in, especially when the group's woodland homestead was attacked.  It was very dramatic and I have to give the kids props for going into the City to try and find their parents.

The City was a whole other aspect of the novel that I really enjoyed.  It seemed so normal from the outside, the group ends up in a seemingly normal cafe when they arrive for example, yet I knew the robots behind it made it an unpleasant place to live.  If you don't leave a good enough tip at lunch, a bot could be after you and incinerate you in the street!  The re-education center and high school had the same creepy vibe - seemingly normal, but also frighteningly in control by robots.

I only had one problem with Revolution 19, and that was the characters.  There wasn't much backstory given on them and we never learn much about them since the book is so action driven.  Sometimes it was difficult to grasp their emotions and since I didn't know anything about their personal histories, I didn't develop much of an attachment to any of the characters.  And the one very small love interest lacked chemistry.  But my problems with the characters didn't negatively effect my reading experience all that much.

Four stars!  I don't really understand why people have been giving this book such bad reviews on Goodreads; I thought it was a great post-apocalyptic robot read.  The only place Revolution 19 loses points from me is my lack of connection with the characters; they could have been more developed.  Still, I will definitely be continuing on with this series as it continues and based on the epilogue of this novel, I think we're in for even more action packed adventure.

PS: Here's a look at the book trailer.  I don't normally watch or post trailers, but this one was so well done, I couldn't help but include it: