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alyssaindira's review against another edition
3.0
Hey guys, so I just finished Frozen( AND NO, before you get any images of singing, dancing snowmen, it is absolutely, totally, completely NOT related to the movie whatsoever) by Robin Wasserman. I must say, it was, perhaps different that what I was expecting, but not entirely bad. Some parts definitely nabbed my interest, while others just kinda faded into the background. At first, I was confused with the storyline, flipping back and fourth between past and present. However, once things settled down, I just rolled with it. Basically, this novel depicts how a teenage girl ends up in some tragic car accident(which by the way, she wasnt even suppose to be in the vehicle), dies, then is reborn- remade- brain copied-whatever, in to, in relaxed terms, a robot. Obviously, a more sophisticated machine that was designed as close to human framework as possible. Except for the fact that the "new body" didnt have a heart, or lungs, or a stomach, or, well you get the idea. Incidentally, the kicker is, the company wanted Lia to pretend that she was normal. HA! That was practically impossible. Sadly, she found that out the hard way. Indeed, this society is so cruel. I don't remember the last time I was so disgusted by what was occurring in a book that made me want to shove those characters in the darkness pits of hell for how they were treating the main character. Like seriously, how dare her so called friends, how dare her sister *mutes myself from spoiling* while she was trying to freaking survive, thrive, assimilate back into her "life". Luckily, she found someone who didnt mind her being the way she was, but *sighs* life truly isnt fair. Anyway, the first half of the novel had some high points, some low points, but the second half, whew, that's where things started getting real intense. Poof, then it was over. Just like that. Due to the fact that I have so many books to read, i'm not sure whether ill read the other books in the Cold Awakening series (Shattered #2, Torn #3). All in the all, the novel was pretty good and I know that it had some deeper truths mixed within the text, but i simply dont have the time to ponder it for pleasure. If you guys want some quotes regarding that, Ill be happy to post them for ya.
charlestonmes's review against another edition
2.0
The plot was intriguing and held my attention but something was missing. Maybe I just wanted more?
kittythewildcat's review against another edition
dark
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
This was a little slow, but very on-brand pacing for a YA dystopian book published at this time. If you like the Hidden series, the bar code tattoo, or the declaration, this is similar. I was begging for an adjective by the end as the sterile writing style isn't my favorite. Overall it was an interesting concept. It starts to question some white supremacist ideologies especially around physical ability/disability, women's rights, etc, however could lean into those questions a little more (though the later books do explore how this affects society). The reference to "work will set you free" at the beginning was pretty jarring.
permanentlei's review
I threw this book in the actual garbage after I reached the point where it was revealed that they made a black person into a white andriod and I was like this is not your story to tell.
I had already had thoughts up to that point but that's my visceral memory of why I stopped.
I had already had thoughts up to that point but that's my visceral memory of why I stopped.
ethrone's review against another edition
5.0
yes this book absolutely holds up and omg i just can't wait to keep rereading this series!!!! it's literally been 9 years since i read it the first time and i'm very happy to say that i am not disappointed at all in my reread!
ginnikin's review against another edition
3.0
Interesting, imperfect, possibly incomplete, but still good. It explored issues of identity and consent and reality. I'm not sure if it didn't explore them as fully as I would like, or if it's simply that because I was knitting as I listened, I didn't give it enough attention to get everything packed into it.
Lia's a difficult protagonist. She has these baby steps of progress but then regresses. Still, the narrative voice is engaging. (Also, the reading is quite good.)
I don't know if this was intended to be the start of a series. Because I'm biased against series, I hope not.
Also, I was miffed about the character of Lia's mother. What was the point of her being so weak and so poorly treated by her family? There wasn't one, and I disapprove of that. It feeds bad stereotypes. In fact, neither Lia's nor Auden's mother did so good by her kid.
Lia's a difficult protagonist. She has these baby steps of progress but then regresses. Still, the narrative voice is engaging. (Also, the reading is quite good.)
I don't know if this was intended to be the start of a series. Because I'm biased against series, I hope not.
Also, I was miffed about the character of Lia's mother. What was the point of her being so weak and so poorly treated by her family? There wasn't one, and I disapprove of that. It feeds bad stereotypes. In fact, neither Lia's nor Auden's mother did so good by her kid.
kaathiiw's review against another edition
3.0
Leider hat mich das Buch enttäuscht. Die Idee und die Welt finde ich unglaublich gut aber ich finde die Handlung in diesem Buch einfach so langweilig. Gefühlt ist nichts Spannendes passiert und Lia war mir auch nicht grade sympathisch. Werde die Reihe deswegen wohl auch nicht weiterlesen. :/
silodear's review against another edition
WHOA. WHOA!!! i have no idea how i feel about this book. okay, that's only kind of true. i have SO MANY feelings about this book. first of all - is this book EXTREMELY ableist, or extremely radical in its discussion of disability? I CAN'T TELL! i think that the future of auden's character will elucidate this more. okay, i can't write in paragraphs anymore. here are some feelings-related bullet points:
1. lia's whole body is a prosthetic! whoa. and the way that people relate to her about it is such a well-crafted commentary on disability in dominant culture.
2. this book offers a really complex conversation about issues/ideas of quality of life and capacity.
3. lia has so much internalized ableism that is discussed in really interesting ways. her personal growth over the course of the novel is also powerful and... complicated.
4. people who were already using prosthetics and other adaptive technology were given prosthetic WHOLE-BODIES as though this was an upgrade.
WILL OTHER PEOPLE PLEASE READ THIS BOOK AND HELP ME MAKE SENSE OF MY FEELINGS?! please and thank you.
1. lia's whole body is a prosthetic! whoa. and the way that people relate to her about it is such a well-crafted commentary on disability in dominant culture.
2. this book offers a really complex conversation about issues/ideas of quality of life and capacity.
3. lia has so much internalized ableism that is discussed in really interesting ways. her personal growth over the course of the novel is also powerful and... complicated.
4. people who were already using prosthetics and other adaptive technology were given prosthetic WHOLE-BODIES as though this was an upgrade.
WILL OTHER PEOPLE PLEASE READ THIS BOOK AND HELP ME MAKE SENSE OF MY FEELINGS?! please and thank you.
tmdavis's review against another edition
4.0
Lia Kahn is beautiful and popular until the accident that takes her life. Lia wakes up to find that she has been downloaded into a new body that only looks human. Lia will never feel pain again, she will never age, and she can't ever truly die. But because she is now a "mech" she is rejected by her friends, betrayed by her boyfriend, and alienated from her old life. Forced to the fringes of society, Lia finds and joins others like her. But they are looked at as freaks and they are hated and feared. They are everything but human.
Very interesting premise in many ways--that there are extremists who believe that mechs should not have the same rights as humans, that Lia's friends and family respond to her differently than before because they can't reconcile the new Lia with the old Lia. It reminded me a lot of Scott Westerfeld's Uglies series.
The most interesting part to me was that the download process was not as simple as inserting Lia's memories into another body. Lia's accident was so sudden that if her parents had not decided to download she would have died. So Lia ends up in a body that looks nothing like her. There was no time to customize the body to look like Lia so while the memories are the same, the body is different. On top of that, Lia spends a lot of time rehabilitating herself because she must learn to speak, walk, and control her body again.
When Lia becomes friends with Auden, a boy whose father is against mechs to the extreme her life (such as it is) suddenly becomes interesting again. Hopefully the second two books in the series will be just as good.
Narrator Kate Reinders was fabulous.
Very interesting premise in many ways--that there are extremists who believe that mechs should not have the same rights as humans, that Lia's friends and family respond to her differently than before because they can't reconcile the new Lia with the old Lia. It reminded me a lot of Scott Westerfeld's Uglies series.
The most interesting part to me was that the download process was not as simple as inserting Lia's memories into another body. Lia's accident was so sudden that if her parents had not decided to download she would have died. So Lia ends up in a body that looks nothing like her. There was no time to customize the body to look like Lia so while the memories are the same, the body is different. On top of that, Lia spends a lot of time rehabilitating herself because she must learn to speak, walk, and control her body again.
When Lia becomes friends with Auden, a boy whose father is against mechs to the extreme her life (such as it is) suddenly becomes interesting again. Hopefully the second two books in the series will be just as good.
Narrator Kate Reinders was fabulous.