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A review by reba_reads_books
Wired by Robin Wasserman
1.0
I rated the first book in the series 5 stars and even went so far as to put it on my "Favorites" list. I rated the second book in the series 4 stars, questioning at the time why I'd rated the first one so highly and if I should've rated the second one 3 stars instead. Now, here I am, post-series conclusion. I seriously considered rating this one at least 2 stars...but you know what. No. I've waited to write this review, hoping I would feel less enraged by the time I put words to the keyboard. But no. NoNoNoNoNoNO! This is not only a 1 star book. This is a 1 star series, and I am going to update my prior ratings to reflect the same. Do not read this series. Just don't. It pulls you in. It enthralls you. "This could be my next favorite series," you think, because the writing is so spectacular and the philosophical concepts are so chilling. But everything you think and hope is wrong. Even the 4-5 star reviews of this series have criticisms, mainly of the ending. The 1-2 star reviews tell it like it is. This 1 star review is going to tell it like it is.
Our main character Lia is a bitchy, spoiled, selfish, manipulative liar who's largely indecisive about what she wants and values in life. That's not the problem. Give me a flawed character and tear her down, make her see the error of her ways and grow on many personal levels. Redeem her. That's a good story. That's what this story could've been. But in three books, it never got there.
Our love triangle (what's a YA without one, eh?) pits best friend against best friend. Riley and Jude have known each other forever but also kinda have a secret, not-so-secret melodramatic past that colors the dysfunction in every single interaction they have. Jude's charming, and he has strong beliefs. He wants to be a leader. Sure, he keeps secrets, but what leader doesn't? Riley is just kinda personality-less. He's...kind? But also...randomly defensive, angry and violent? When he changes android bodies, he has a black body in this book...but the cover shows all white people. That's shitty. Our vapid MC, of course, chooses Riley the entire series, even after he's the closest to dead data can get. Even after it's clear to THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE that she has more in common with Jude, that she feels NOTHING every time she kisses Riley, and that she keeps secrets with Jude while lying to Riley. Oh, but why am I writing this entire paragraph...because LIA IS AN ASEXUAL, AROMANTIC ANDROID. She is super unfulfilled in every way, because she simply doesn't feel as a mech the way she felt when she had a body. She makes that clear to the reader. Ad nauseam. You'd think as often as she complained about it to us, she'd figure it out after three books, come to some kind of authentic clarity and be honest about that. "Hey, I feel nothing when I kiss you; you're kinda like a comfort blanket. Can we just be cuddle friends?" But why would I expect Lia to have that kind of clarity when she can't even come to a conclusion about which side of the central plot she's on, when she can't even be decisive and honest about the BIG things.
So, there's BioMax, the corporation who created the mechs and owns pretty much everything to do with them. Then there's The Brotherhood, a religious cult fueled by Lia's ex-"friend zone" from the 1st book (the "smart" one who suicide jumped into a waterfall then blamed her for the injuries he sustained from it). Then there's Jude, whom she's mooching off of for pretty much the entire series (when she's not mooching off him, she's moochin' off her rich dad)...he is spear-heading the mech rebellion. For some reason, it's unclear whose side she's on. Even when she appears to take a side, she's more than willing to work with the other sides. Her loyalties shift constantly, but Jude's loyalty to her never shifts once. He's basically like, "Lia, what the fuck are you doing?" constantly, but then he shelters her, he forgives her, he even *trusts* her toward the end. But she's done nothing to prove worthiness of that trust. And when huge plot builds happen in this third book, it's mainly her sister's doing.
Oh yeah, she has an "org" (human) sister who constantly shifts allegiances as well. She's also a total bitch. But she comes around in the third book. She grows throughout her entire character arc. She saves the day multiple times. Honestly, both her and Jude are better than Lia in so many ways. But she's still super flawed, almost irredeemably so. No shocker there.
I kept reading because I needed to know what happened. Who wins the war? What does the future hold for this universe? Is it possible for them ever to be happy? The answer is...Lia becomes a computer virus, basically. She becomes one with the network and loses her body. Soooo, we don't get any of the answers we're looking for. The plot builds and builds and builds and then...it's over. I don't have to wax poetic about how terrible this ending is, because pretty much all of the other reviews have already said that. I honestly don't know how this made it through the beta reader stage of editing. This is the kinda ending that should've been caught and changed early on in the revision process. It's the kinda ending that makes you angry for wasting your time for three books. It's the kinda ending that makes me go back and change every rating to 1 star.
Seriously. Don't read this letdown of a story.
Our main character Lia is a bitchy, spoiled, selfish, manipulative liar who's largely indecisive about what she wants and values in life. That's not the problem. Give me a flawed character and tear her down, make her see the error of her ways and grow on many personal levels. Redeem her. That's a good story. That's what this story could've been. But in three books, it never got there.
Our love triangle (what's a YA without one, eh?) pits best friend against best friend. Riley and Jude have known each other forever but also kinda have a secret, not-so-secret melodramatic past that colors the dysfunction in every single interaction they have. Jude's charming, and he has strong beliefs. He wants to be a leader. Sure, he keeps secrets, but what leader doesn't? Riley is just kinda personality-less. He's...kind? But also...randomly defensive, angry and violent? When he changes android bodies, he has a black body in this book...but the cover shows all white people. That's shitty. Our vapid MC, of course, chooses Riley the entire series, even after he's the closest to dead data can get. Even after it's clear to THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE that she has more in common with Jude, that she feels NOTHING every time she kisses Riley, and that she keeps secrets with Jude while lying to Riley. Oh, but why am I writing this entire paragraph...because LIA IS AN ASEXUAL, AROMANTIC ANDROID. She is super unfulfilled in every way, because she simply doesn't feel as a mech the way she felt when she had a body. She makes that clear to the reader. Ad nauseam. You'd think as often as she complained about it to us, she'd figure it out after three books, come to some kind of authentic clarity and be honest about that. "Hey, I feel nothing when I kiss you; you're kinda like a comfort blanket. Can we just be cuddle friends?" But why would I expect Lia to have that kind of clarity when she can't even come to a conclusion about which side of the central plot she's on, when she can't even be decisive and honest about the BIG things.
So, there's BioMax, the corporation who created the mechs and owns pretty much everything to do with them. Then there's The Brotherhood, a religious cult fueled by Lia's ex-"friend zone" from the 1st book (the "smart" one who suicide jumped into a waterfall then blamed her for the injuries he sustained from it). Then there's Jude, whom she's mooching off of for pretty much the entire series (when she's not mooching off him, she's moochin' off her rich dad)...he is spear-heading the mech rebellion. For some reason, it's unclear whose side she's on. Even when she appears to take a side, she's more than willing to work with the other sides. Her loyalties shift constantly, but Jude's loyalty to her never shifts once. He's basically like, "Lia, what the fuck are you doing?" constantly, but then he shelters her, he forgives her, he even *trusts* her toward the end. But she's done nothing to prove worthiness of that trust. And when huge plot builds happen in this third book, it's mainly her sister's doing.
Oh yeah, she has an "org" (human) sister who constantly shifts allegiances as well. She's also a total bitch. But she comes around in the third book. She grows throughout her entire character arc. She saves the day multiple times. Honestly, both her and Jude are better than Lia in so many ways. But she's still super flawed, almost irredeemably so. No shocker there.
I kept reading because I needed to know what happened. Who wins the war? What does the future hold for this universe? Is it possible for them ever to be happy? The answer is...Lia becomes a computer virus, basically. She becomes one with the network and loses her body. Soooo, we don't get any of the answers we're looking for. The plot builds and builds and builds and then...it's over. I don't have to wax poetic about how terrible this ending is, because pretty much all of the other reviews have already said that. I honestly don't know how this made it through the beta reader stage of editing. This is the kinda ending that should've been caught and changed early on in the revision process. It's the kinda ending that makes you angry for wasting your time for three books. It's the kinda ending that makes me go back and change every rating to 1 star.
Seriously. Don't read this letdown of a story.