I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
The Bionics by Alicia Michaels Narrator: Marissa Clay
Series: The Bionics #1
Published by Clean Teen Publishing on September 13th 2013
Length: 8 hrs and 12 mins
Genres: Young Adult
Pages: 96
Format: Audiobook
Source: Provided for review through Audiobook Blast/Boom
Goodreads
All I ever wanted was to be a normal girl. I had dreams of joining the ranks of the Military Police and making my family proud. But the nuclear war that laid waste to our country destroyed any hope I had of being normal ever again. They took everything away from me, including my humanity. I am now half-human, half-machine, part of the never-ending freak show that is the Restoration Project.
They hate what they created and they fear us for being powerful.
And so they hunt us, destroying our lives so that they can bury what they built. What they don’t know is this: there is a Resistance out there and The Bionics aren’t going down without a fight.
Julie’s Review:
Here’s the thing. I have a peeve. Well, I have tons of peeves about bookish stuff, and I’ve written about them plenty before. And this one hits upon a peeve of mine.
First, let’s chat about what I did like. I liked the characters and the unique personalities. The three main characters each get to share their POV in a part of the book, and I found that to be an interesting way of doing things, and it worked well to share the various perspectives.
The world building was solid and disturbing and realistic. The Bionics are people who were injured in the horrific events and then were given special prosthetics or computerized body parts to replace their broken ones. Then, quickly, they became a “threat” to society, and anyone with enhanced features became a public enemy. The brutal treatment of the people who get captured (and have their prosthetics ripped out) by the government is very disturbing and effective to set the scene and make this dystopian world quite scary.
I also enjoyed the narrator. She did a good job with individual voices and accents. She helped make the characters realistic.
So my peeve? When a book stops. Just, stops. Yes, cliffhangers are annoying, but this isn’t what I’m talking about quite here. The book does end on a secret reveal about one of our main characters during his POV section, but the book then just ends with him getting his face slapped by the girl. Done. Book over. Sorry, but that’s not a conclusion or a cliffhanger. I love a good series, but I also love each book to stand on its own pages. This one did a great job setting up the story, the world, and the conflict, but it didn’t satisfy upon the conclusion.
Another thing I didn’t love? How each chapter started like a log entry with the names of characters involved in that chapter, and date of “entry”. The rest of the narrative wasn’t like a journal but just a continuation of the story from multiple POV, so that felt odd.
Has anyone read this book or this series? It sounds like there are quite a few books in the series, so I’m intrigued but unsure.
No, I’ve never heard of it or the author. I’m glad it was mostly worth reading. Hopefully the sequels will end less abruptly as the series continues. Happy continued listening!