Book Review: Icons

Icons

by Margaret Stohl

Published: May 2013 by Harper Voyager

Version: Paperback from publisher (all views are my own, honest opinion)

Rating: 3.5 sofas

Everything changed on The Day. The day the windows shattered. The day the power stopped. The day Dol’s family dropped dead. The day Earth lost a war it didn’t know it was fighting.

Since then, Dol has lived a simple life in the countryside — safe from the shadow of the Icon and its terrifying power. Hiding from the one truth she can’t avoid.

She’s different. She survived. Why?

When Dol and her best friend, Ro, are captured and taken to the Embassy, off the coast of the sprawling metropolis once known as the City of Angels, they find only more questions. While Ro and fellow hostage Tima rage against their captors, Dol finds herself drawn to Lucas, the Ambassador’s privileged son. But the four teens are more alike than they might think, and the timing of their meeting isn’t a coincidence. It’s a conspiracy.

Within the Icon’s reach, Dol, Ro, Tima, and Lucas discover that their uncontrollable emotions — which they’ve always thought to be their greatest weaknesses — may actually be their greatest strengths.

Bestselling author Margaret Stohl delivers the first book in a heart-pounding series set in a haunting new world where four teens must piece together the mysteries of their pasts — in order to save the future.

At first it sounds very War of the Worlds-esque, as we learn of the icons that have descended around all the major cities on Earth.  On The Day, a billion people were killed instantly, including Dolly’s parents. Since then, the icons have been in charge of all power. Anyone who gets close enough is wiped out by an electrical pulse.

From the beginning we know that Dolly and Ro are different, bonded together by the dots on their arms. With only each other to rely on, immediately I am backing their side. But when they are captured by the Embassy,  Dolly starts to really think about and question the way icons changed the world, and her purpose in it.

This book was paced really well, it made me want to continue reading. As the book progresses it involves quite well, and we begin to know more about the Embassy and the world as whole, rather than being thrown into it at the beginning.

Character wise, Dol is the only real likeable one out of the bunch. There is the classic love triangle going on, and I can’t really understand Tima’s motive. Sometimes good, sometimes bad, I’m not even sure whether I’m meant to like her or not. Baring in mind they are meant to be the ‘good’ team, I expected to like them more. As such they are just irritating. I’m also not really sure if the meaning (point?) of the binding of dots, but I hope this is explained more in the next book. 

This is a dystopian I would definitely recommend for fans of War of the Worlds. Although I found the characters quite unlikeable, I did enjoy the world building. I will be picking up the sequel to find out more about the aliens and how the story ends up. 3.5 sofas! 

Blog Tour: Freshman Forty

Freshman Forty

by Christine Duval

Published: Currently self-published

Version: Ebook via Xpresso Book Tours (all views my own, honest opinion)

Rating: 3.5 sofas

When eighteen-year-old Laurel Harris discovers she’s pregnant four weeks into the start of her freshman year at prestigious Colman College, she has all intentions of telling her father. But being away at school makes it too easy to hide. And while she can’t explain to her friends, or to herself even, the reasons why she doesn’t want the baby’s father to find out about the pregnancy, the rest of her world begins to unravel. 

Freshman year is hard enough. Most girls get through by forming close friendships, finding new boys and a phone call from mom or dad on Sunday. Laurel has to navigate all of it while hiding an unplanned pregnancy from a summer fling… 

An imperfect heroine plagued by bad choices and haunted by the memory of her deceased mother and grandparents, readers are sure to identify with Laurel as she navigates teen pregnancy, in secret, in a remote college setting.

 Awards:

-Freshman Forty took won an Honorable Mention at the New York Book Festival

-Won an Honorable Mention under General Fiction for the Beach Book Festival.

Purchase via Amazon US

Freshman Forty was originally self-published, but Christine just signed a deal to have it re-released by a publishing house this fall! Follow Christine on Twitter for updates @Christineduval1 or on her Goodreads author page.

Author Bio

Christine Duval has been writing creatively since the fourth grade when she penned her first short story entitled “London Terror,” about the murder of a cat in London. She grew up on the North Shore of Long Island and lived in Italy twice as a teenager: once when she was sixteen in Bologna and in a small town on the Adriatic Sea called Porto San Giorgio; then in Florence when she was nineteen. Her parents wondered if she’d ever come back.

College was spent in the Finger Lakes: the inspiration for Colman, Milton, and Kashong Lake in Freshman Forty. It really is cold, wet and grey there – OFTEN! But when the sun comes out, boy is it pretty.Life eventually took her to New York’s Upper West Side, the place she’ll always consider home. Though for now she resides in New Jersey with her family and a very spoiled love bird who can’t decide if he’s a boy or she’s a girl.

LINKS:

Website: http://www.christineduval.com/

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6951095.Christine_Duval

Twitter: https://twitter.com/christineduval1

My Review

Freshman Forty begins with the discovery of Laurel’s pregnancy. Thus the book doesn’t really feature a lot of sex or sex-based scenes. Presumably it all happened before the book starts! I didn’t really know what to expect elsewise, as all the NA I have read so far features/relies heavily on sexiness. Teenage pregnancy is something that really interests me as a fiction topic though, so this was definitely a book I was eager to read. 

One of the things I really enjoyed about the book was the real life issues it tackled. The risk of pregnancy in uni/college years is high, because its generally the first real freedom people get away from their parents. Naturally, mistakes happen. It was interesting to see how Laurel copes with her pregnancy amongst everything else. I would’ve liked a bit more detail, as I think the story could have been made a bit deeper. 

It did make me think what it would be like to be in that situation. Laurel spends a lot of time in denial, and she is pretty lonely for a lot of the book. This obviously doesn’t really make for a good story, as it lacks drama in places. However, it is very realistic compared to what girls go through every day. The feeling of being ashamed and trying to hide her bump in baggy clothes made me feel sorry for Laurel. I just didn’t felt like I knew enough about her to really care. I obviously wanted a happy ending for her, but there was never really a gripping moment.

Freshman Forty is the first NA I have read that isn’t primarily sex-based. It was refreshing, but a little predictable. I adore that it tackled real life issues, and I hope this trend continues in NA. 3.5 sofas! 

Giveaway

Enter to win an ebook copy of Freshman Forty. Open internationally!

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Thanks to Xpresso Book Tours for organising and providing a copy of the book for review.

Blog Tour: April Showers

April Showers

by Karli Perrin

Published: June 14th 2013 (self-published)

Rating: 3.5 sofas

What happens when your head and your heart pull you in completely opposite directions? 
April Adams is about to find out the hard way.
When April enrols at Manchester University, it feels like a whole new life. New city, new house, new friends…new crush. 
Isaac Sharpe is the hottest guy on campus – with an even hotter reputation. After a chance meeting, April quickly finds herself wrapped up in all that he is. But what if all that he is isn’t what it seems?
Caught up in a battle between what she wants and what she thinks she needs, April meets Lukas Roberts. Lukas is the security blanket that she craves so desperately and she finds solace in their friendship. But what happens when she finds more than she bargained for?
April has always been a big believer of fate, but will she learn that she’s in control of her own destiny before it’s too late?
Join April as she embarks on a life changing journey of love and loss, which will have you laughing and crying until the very end.

Buy links: Amazon UK / Amazon US

My Review

So, I gotta be honest. At first, I wasn’t really enthusiastic about the book. The relationships between April, Lukas and Isaac were ones that I had seen recently in other NA novels, so I was kind of disappointed by that. But as I kept reading, April’s character really emerged. Witty and sarcastic, April has a lot of fire. I slowly fell in love with her and her strong nature.

And Isaac. Oh, Isaac! Irresistible in every way, he just tugged on my heartstrings. Although he is kinda pitched as the bad boy, there are some really sweet moments with him in the book. Throwing Lukas into the mix as well, and this makes for an emotional rollercoaster!

While there are some sexy scenes, this book is so much more than sexy YA. It made me smile and Karli’s writing style is so free flowing that I found myself not wanting to put this book down. Just as I was getting gripped in the story, I was hit with the cliffhanger. I kept trying to turn the page on my kindle, but alas, that was it. I felt totally frustrated, but that only demonstrates how involved I got with the story that I didn’t want it end. Very sneaky!

Overall that while it started a bit shaky, it definitely picks up by the second half, and that cliffhanger only left me wanting more! As a debut author, Karli has leapt into the NA world and managed to surpass a lot of competition. I CANNOT WAIT to get my hands on book two, and I know that I can expect lots of good things from Ms Perrin in the future. 3.5 sofas! 

Blog Tour: He’s Gone

Today I have to share with you my review for the blog tour of He’s Gone by Deb Caletti. Unfortunately my scheduled post didn’t go on the right date, but I’ve rewritten it for you.

He’s Gone

by Deb Caletti

Published: 14 May 2013 by Random House

Rating: 3.5 sofas

“What do you think happened to your husband, Mrs. Keller?”

The Sunday morning starts like any other, aside from the slight hangover. Dani Keller wakes up on her Seattle houseboat, a headache building behind her eyes from the wine she drank at a party the night before. But on this particular Sunday morning, she’s surprised to see that her husband, Ian, is not home. As the hours pass, Dani fills her day with small things. But still, Ian does not return. Irritation shifts to worry, worry slides almost imperceptibly into panic. And then, like a relentless blackness, the terrible realization hits Dani: He’s gone.

As the police work methodically through all the logical explanations—he’s hurt, he’s run off, he’s been killed—Dani searches frantically for a clue as to whether Ian is in fact dead or alive. And, slowly, she unpacks their relationship, holding each moment up to the light: from its intense, adulterous beginning, to the grandeur of their new love, to the difficulties of forever. She examines all the sins she can—and cannot—remember. As the days pass, Dani will plumb the depths of her conscience, turning over and revealing the darkest of her secrets in order to discover the hard truth—about herself, her husband, and their lives together.

Author Bio

Deb Caletti is an award-winning author and a National Book Award finalist whose books are published and translated worldwide. Her first novel was The Queen of Everything (Simon & Schuster, 2002),of which a starred review in Publisher’s Weekly proclaimed: “This marks Caletti as a writer to watch.” Although written for adults, its coming-of-age themes gained it acclaim as a Y/A book. It made the cover of the esteemed review journal The Bulletin for the Center of Children’s Books (the first trade book to do so in the journal’s history), and then was chosen for PSLA’s Top Forty of 2003 and the International Reading Association’s Young Adult Choices for 2004. It is currently in its thirteenth printing.

Deb’s second book, Honey, Baby, Sweetheart, was a finalist for the National Book Award. Kirkus called it, “tender and poetic,” and the book earned other distinguished recognition, including the PNBA Best Book Award, the Washington State Book Award, and School Library Journal’s Best Book award. It was a finalist for the California Young Reader Medal and the PEN USA Literary Award, and was also a 2005 IRA Notable Book, an SSLI Book Awards Honor Book, and made the New York Public Library’s Best Books for the Teen Age, Chicago  Library’s Best Books of 2004, and the Texas TAYSHA’s list. Her third book, Wild Roses, won acclaim with starred reviews in Publisher’s Weekly, which deemed it, “rich,” and School Library Journal, which said the book was “multifaceted and emotionally devastating,” with “profound observations and vivid language.” It was a finalist for the Washington State Book Award and was chosen as a New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age and a RT Book Club Magazine’s finalist for Best Y/A Book of 2005. The Nature of Jade was a summer 2007 Booksense pick, a Books A Million Book Club selection, and was a finalist for RT Magazine’s Best Y/A Book of the Year.

Her fifth book, The Fortunes of Indigo Skye, was released April 2008, followed by The Secret Life of Prince Charming in 2009, The Six Rules of Maybe in 2010, Stay in 2011, and The Story of Us in 2012. In addition, several anthologies include work by Deb, including “First Kiss, Then Tell,” a Bloomsbury anthology benefiting NPR Youth Radio, and two collections of non-fiction critical essays developed by Borders Books: “The World of the Golden Compass” and “Through the Wardrobe: Your Favorite Authors on C.S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia.” In 2013, Deb’s first book for adults, He’s Gone, will be released from Random House.

Deb grew up in the San Francisco Bay area and earned her journalism degree from the University of Washington in Seattle. When Deb is not writing books or reading them, she is a painter and a lyricist, and speaks widely to audiences on writing and life as an author. Deb lives with her family in Seattle.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sz-n4-TSDGA

My Review

Right from the beginning, you are plunged into the depths with this book, as we discover that Dani’s husband, Ian, is missing. Last night they went to a party and when she woke up he was gone. As the novel goes on, it feels like I am clawing my way upwards, towards the surface of the truth. More than anything I would describe He’s Gone as a suspense novel, as it is the tension and the need to find what happened to Ian that kept me turning the pages.

Consequently, there isn’t a whole lot of action in this book. It is mainly told as flashbacks from Dani’s point of view, as we find out more about her friends and family and, most importantly, her relationship with Ian. Throughout these back stories, we are given clues or indications as to why Ian disappeared.

I found Dani as a character quite irritating. Told through her eyes in first person, she was quite dreary, spending most of her time driving around or sitting indoors. In all fairness, I have no idea what I would do if a partner went missing. Quite probably, exactly the same. But it just didn’t make for entertaining reading. Furthermore, knowing she was an adulterer, I couldn’t muster any sympathy for her. However, this does make for a more interesting book, as I was immediately suspicious of Dani. Thus I HAD to know more about her, to know what happened to Ian.

This was a book that gripped me enough in the first chapter to keep me reading. Although I didn’t love the main character and was a bit disappointed with the lack of activity in the book, I ultimately had to finish it to solve the mystery. 3.5 sofas!

Giveaway

Only 3 days left to enter the giveaway! 3 winners will receive a copy of He’s Gone by Deb Caletti. One winner will receive a poster and bookmark of surprise art by James Vallesteros and ten winners will receive a bookmark of a surprise art by James.
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Thanks to Book Nerd Tours for organizing and for providing a copy for review.

Blog tour: Daynight

Welcome today for my blog tour post for Magan Thomason’s Daynight. Thanks to Laura at Prism Book Tours for organising!

 

On Tour with Prism Book Tours…

It’s time to leave Earth and cross over to the other side… it’s not as far away as you think!!

daynight by Megan Thomason Paperback, 324 pages Published November 26th 2012 by Creatspace Meet The Second Chance Institute (SCI): Earth’s benevolent non-profit by day, Thera’s totalitarian regime by night. Their motto: Because Everyone Deserves a Second Chance™. Reality: the SCI subjects Second Chancers to strict controls and politically motivated science experiments like Cleaving—forced lifetime union between two people who have sex. Punishment for disobeying SCI edicts? Immediate Exile or death. Meet Kira Donovan. Fiercely loyal, overly optimistic, and ensnared by the promise of a full-ride college scholarship, Kira signs the SCI Recruit contract to escape memories of a tragedy that left her boyfriend and friends dead. Meet Blake Sundry. Bitter about being raised in Exile and his mother’s death, Blake’s been trained to infiltrate and destroy the SCI. Current barrier to success? His Recruit partner—Miss Goody Two Shoes Kira Donovan. Meet Ethan Darcton. Born with a defective heart and resulting inferiority complex, Ethan’s forced to do his SCI elite family’s bidding. Cleave-worthy Kira Donovan catches his eye, but the presiding powers give defect-free Blake Sundry first dibs.

My Review

I have to say how refreshing I found this book when I began to read it. Kira is sent through a portal to another planet, called Thera, where the days and nights are swapped. As well as adjusting to this new world, she has to get to know her ‘partner’, Blake, who just happened to save her at a party back on Earth which got all her friends and her boyfriend killed. But where did Ethan disappear to, whom she met at the party just before the explosion? One of the great parts about this book is that it is told from three points of view; Kira, Blake and Ethan’s. Because of this, it really gives a rounded view of whats going on at any one time. And it was great to get an insight into the guys’ heads! Something that I found frustrating was how dumb Kira was. I was practically screaming at her for parts of the book. There was a huge buildup to the identity of the ‘second chancers’ (which I had guessed as soon as I heard the name) and after that it just gets more frustrating. Lots of things are presented as shocking or a big deal, when I had already guessed or presumed as much a lot earlier. Thus I didn’t really find anything to keep me intrigued or suspenseful. And I didn’t really get the whole ‘cleaving thing’, and why it had such an icky name!  I loved the world building and thus the first half for me was really amazing. I enjoyed reading from Blake and Ethan’s perspective, but I also felt that some characters such as Bailey were wasted. And Kira was frustrating! That girl needs some common sense. 3.5 sofas from me!  

Introducing…  the new Novella:  FREE for the Tour!

On Smashwords!

 

clean slate complex

by Megan Thomason

 

Meet The Second Chance Institute (SCI): Worldwide non-profit and do-gooder organization. Their motto: Because Everyone Deserves a Second Chance at Life(TM). Reality: hidden behind every kind act is a dark agenda designed to gain control and force societal and moral extremes. Currently, the SCI’s pushing Project Liberate, a program to woo the poor and downtrodden into their Clean Slate Complexes—where “everything is provided” from jobs to food, shelter, clothing, and education. Unfortunately, as with all things that sound too good to be true, there’s a catch…

 

Meet Alexa Knight. Feisty, tough and currently homeless in Los Angeles, Alexa agrees to help the SCI in return for medical care for her sick mother. When she starts to suspect there’s more to the SCI than meets the eye will she believe Adam—the boy who saved her life and the SCI’s biggest champion, or Joshua—the attractive enigma who sings about conspiracy theories and pretends to be someone he’s not?

 

Full of action, humor, romance, twists and turns, clean slate complex is a companion story to the highly-praised dystopian novel, daynight. It can be enjoyed before or after readingdaynight.

 

LINK: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CFQY0JY

 

Megan Thomason lives in paradise aka San Diego, CA with her husband and five children. A former software manager, Megan vastly prefers writing twisted tales to business, product, and marketing plans. When she isn’t typing away on her laptop, she’s reading books on her phone—over 600 in the last year—or attending to the needs of her family. Megan’s fluent in sarcasm, could potentially benefit from a 12-step program for road rage, struggles with a Hot Tamales addiction, loves world travel & fast cars and hates paperwork & being an insomniac. Daynight is Megan’s first published novel, but fourth written one.

Find & Follow:

 

Goodreads

Blog

Facebook

Twitter

 

daynight Second Chances Giveaway:  

Choose what you enter to win wisely. Your stay on Thera may be extended indefinitely.  

Highlighting a different giveaway every daynight of the Tour… International Winners will receive a $25 Amazon Gift Certificate and US Winners may choose $25 GC in lieu of Prize Package. US only. International winners will receive $25 Amazon gift certificate. US winners can opt to receive $25 Amazon gift certificate in lieu of any prize package.Open only to those who can legally enter. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by Rafflecopter and announced on Rafflecopter and Grand Finale posts as well as emailed and the winner will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Burgandy Ice @ Colorimetry and Prism Book Tours and sponsored by Megan Thomason. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.

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Become an SCI Recruit The Second Chance Institute (daynight’s Dystopia)

April   22 – Launch! – My Seryniti – Review – Little Library Muse 23 – Tressa’s Wishful Endings – Buckeye Girl Reads – Teaser – Marked by Books – Review – Red Headed Bookworm

Welcome to Thera! Building Thera

24 – Coffee Books and Me Stressed Rach Snuggling on the Sofa – Review 25 – Christy’s Cozy Corner – Teaser – All Fantasy Words – Review

Kira * Blake * Ethan Character Backgrounds & Posters

           26 – Susie Q-Pons and Giveaways – Review – My Passion for Books – Review; Ethan – Paranormal opinion – Blake – The Cozy Reading Corner – Kira – Book, Books, the Magical Fruit – Teaser – Bookaroo-Ju – Teaser 27 – Bookworm Lisa – The Characters – Getting Your Read On – Review

Cleaving daynight’s Controversy of “Cleaving”

28 – Fantastical World of Wonders – Review – Pause Time – A Backwards Story – Beck Valley Books 29 – I Am a Reader, Not a Writer – Teaser – Books Mystify – Review – Mel’s Shelves – Review

Vacation on Earth! Escapism

           30 – The Broke Book Bank – Review

                – Letters to the Cosmos – Review

                – Arriane Cruz

                – Candace’s Book Blog

May      1 – Life of a YA Girl – Review

                – Fuonlyknew – Teaser

                – Jack’s Junk Drawer – Review

Risking Exile Dystopian Survival 101

2 – A Tiffyfit’s Reading Corner – Review – Lovin’ Los Libros – Review – Paulette’s Papers – Becky’s Barmy Book Blog  3 – Backing Books – Teaser – Book Snob – Review 4 – Hezzi-D’s Books and Cooks – Living a Goddess Life – Review; Recipe

Clean Slate Complex

             5 – Mortality Bites – The Book Eater – Deco My Heart – Review 6 – Passion and Life – Teaser – The Reading Diaries – Review 7 – Grand Finale Blast!!

Book Review: A Working Theory of Love

A Working Theory of Love

by Scott Hutchins

Published by Viking Trade (Penguin)

Obtained: ARC via Waterstones

Challenges: Goodreads 2013 Challenge

Settled back into the San Francisco singles scene following the implosion of his young marriage just months after the honeymoon, Neill Bassett is going through the motions. When Neill’s father committed suicide ten years ago, he left behind thousands of pages of secret journals, journals that are stunning in their detail, and, it must be said, their complete banality. This was exactly what artificial intelligence company Amiante Systems was looking for. He has spent the last two years inputting the diaries into what everyone hopes will become the world’s first sentient computer. Essentially, he has been giving it language—using his father’s words. Alarming to Neill, the computer actually appears to be gaining awareness and, most disconcerting of all, has started asking questions about Neill’s childhood.

Amid this psychological turmoil, Neill meets Rachel. She was meant to be a one-night stand, but Neill is unexpectedly taken with her and the possibilities she holds. At the same time, he remains preoccupied by unresolved feelings for his ex-wife. When Neill discovers a missing year in the diaries—a year that must hold some secret to his parents’ marriage and perhaps even his father’s suicide—everything Neill thought he knew about his past comes into question, and every move forward feels impossible to make.

I received ‘The Working Theory of Love‘ by Scott Hutchins from Waterstones as a random reviewer,  so I didn’t know what book I was going to receive, if I got one. I do remember seeing the cover on the webiste and thinking it looked very cool. I love the black and white people,  and the orange background is very quirky.

Unfortunately this ARC doesn’t have a blurb on the back, so I didn’t really know what it was about. I just presumed romance, given the title. (NB- having just opened the first page to check the spelling of the lead character, there is a blurb just inside the book. Oops!).
Hence I found the book quite slow to start, as there is zero romance or action in the first 50 pages or so. But then the story gets interesting (thankfully). Neill is a computer geek, and his boss has developed a talking robot, in basic terms. He used Neill’s dead father’s diaries as a template for a computer voice. Neill’s job is to try and make it more human. I think it starts off as a funny character addition that really starts to develop when it figures out that Neill is actually his son.
Hence Neill explores his relationship with his dead father, what could have been and all the things left unsaid before he killed himself. Hence the title.
Neill is also trying to work through the idea of love in his personal life; recently divorced and his meetings with several girls. I just found the characters a bit strange in this book. I never really connected with Neill, but I’m not sure if this was the author’s intention. He seems to be drifiting since his divorce, not really making any ties or having any purpose in life. He doesn’t have any hobbies or pasttimes, or friends aside from a couple of work colleagues. So when he meets Rachel, young and full of life, he is drawn to her warmth. Their relationship is an odd one; Neill doesn’t want to commit, but he is jealous of her exciting life.

She is also part of a love cult thing on the side, which I thought was a bit of a strange plot. The only reason I can see for this is it sort of proves that Rachel isn’t a slut, and shows her vulnerability. There seems quite an apparent age gap between them, and at times it makes me feel a bit awkward. Even towards the end there isn’t anything that makes Neill appeal as a boyfriend, as he is just so dull! So their relationship didn’t make sense to me, as it isn’t one that I would imagine to occur in real life. Yes I know dull people do have girlfriends, but these aren’t the boys I want to read about!

That being said, I did feel like I enjoyed the book. It isn’t one I would read again, but I enjoyed the uniqueness of it. The concept of making a computer human is one that interests me. Thus I would recommend it to people who similarly are interested in AI and computer emotions. I thought the dialogue of the computer was witty, and it really made the book. I  am only disappointed that there was not more involvement of the computer. Perhaps if there is a sequel they can give it a partner? That would be a fun book. It is interesting to learn what makes a person human. By giving the computer his dad’s ‘thoughts’ from the journals, Neill refers to the computer as his father. But will he remain that way forever? Can computer personalities change?

Overall I would recommend this book to geeks who are interested in emotion and character development as well. This book was lacking action for me, but I know that’s not important for some. It is quirky and funny in places. I really dithered between 3.5 and 4 sofas, but I think I will settle on 3.5. While there is nothing wrong with this book and I would be interested in a sequel, this isn’t one I would considering reading again or keeping on my shelf.