08 January 2013

Revolution 19 by Gregg Rosenblum


Revolution 19 by Gregg Rosenblum
Release Date: January 8, 2013
Publisher: HarperTeen
Source: Publisher (Edelweiss)
Goodreads Stars: 3
Rating: Enjoyable

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. - Goodreads

I am muy disappointed. I was expecting something AMAZING with this one. I mean, come on, there are evil robots that turn on their creators. How could this NOT be good? So much potential was wasted here.

That rant was slightly more ranty than I intended. Because I did like Revolution 19. It was a good book. It just wasn't the Terminator 2 that I was expecting. Sorry, I'm just a little disappointed since this was one of my most anticipated reads of 2013 and I didn't love it, though I certainly liked it.


The plot was good, the characters were good, the writing was good... It was just all fairly average.

I didn't feel particularly connected to any of the characters. We didn't really get inside their heads, despite it being told from all three of their points of view. There was a little bit of romance in there, that I mostly ignored. It was pointless, and didn't go anywhere. Was it just put in to satisfy the younger readers who enjoy a cute love story? Maybe. But it wasn't even cute, to be honest. It made it easier to ignore the romance that was there.

There was one point where I thought the book was going to get really good. One of the characters went to a re-education centre, and it had SO. MUCH. POTENTIAL to be great. Unfortunately it wasn't. We hardly saw anything in there.

The ending of the novel was great. Truly. It was action packed, and had me worrying about the characters and what was going to happen to them. Unfortunately, it was all a bit too easy. And I say that, but some of the characters got injured and/or left behind, but STILL. Too easy. I was expecting giant explosions, deaths and severe separations... from each other, I mean, not separated body parts. Though that would have been good too.

There was also an epilogue, which I ended up really enjoying. I often say that epilogues are not needed, and most of them could easily be included in the bulk of the story. Or sometimes epilogues are just ridiculous and they end up annoying me (looking at you, HP7 and Mockingjay). But this one was good. We got a little bit of insight into the top of the robot pyramid, and it also teased the next book - I'm assuming there's going to be a sequel - just enough to keep me interested.

I definitely think that younger readers of YA would enjoy this book, or those who prefer a simple story. If you're looking for a complex story then you should probably check out more reviews before deciding on whether or not you want to buy it.

9 comments:

  1. Yeah, I was definitely disappointed in this one, too - except I pretty much hated it, so you clearly found things more enjoyable than I found them. I feel like there was virtually no character development, the action scenes were poorly written, and the entire thing felt like one long, poorly written screenplay. But it's got raving reviews so far, so it looks like we're one of the few who were pretty disappointed in this one! I'm glad you ended up liking this one more than I liked it, and great review! Also, you'll have to tell me what you think of Sister Assassin/Mind Games. I just finished that one and was also vastly disappointed. I just need to face the fact that that woman's writing is just not for me.

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  2. Yeah. Felt the same. Disappointed. Loved the action. The rest... not so much.

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  3. Sorry this disappointed you :( I hate it when books have SO MUCH POTENTIAL and then end up being meh. I've read more reviews of people who didn't like this book as much as they thought they would, so I won't make it a priority right now! ;)

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  4. OMG just that cover is creepy and cool and makes me want to read it. But... after reading what you said, maybe not...

    Anyways, love your blog :)

    @Books As Wings
    write4porsche.blogspot.com

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  5. I couldn't agree more with you,Amber! That's exactly how I felt about this book. There were parts when I though SOMETHING IS GOING HAPPEN but then, nope. Anyway,this is an awesome review! : )

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  6. Aww, sorry you didn't enjoy this one as much as you thought you would! I haven't read it myself but I'm intrigued by the idea! The ending sounds great, I love a good bit of action! I think I still will have to check this one out sometime.... Thanks for a great review, Amber! :)

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  7. Ah you managed to put it all much more succinctly than I - mine was more of a rant. I don't think it's a bad book as such, it just didn't work for me..... but you make a good point, the epilogue was definitely intriguing!

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  8. Wow, I keep hearing the same thing about this book and I was SO looking forward to it. Looks like I'm going to skip this one for now and maybe read it when one miraculous day I am caught up on my TBR list.

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  9. When I read the synopsis I got super excited and then when I read your review I felt like a deflated balloon. Which, I imagine, is the same way you felt reading it.

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