Book Review: Reboot

Title: Reboot Author: Amy Tintera Hardcover: 365 pages Pub. Date: May 7, 2013 Publisher: HarperTeen Source: Bought Check it out on:  Amazon

Goodreads Summary: Five years ago, Wren Connolly was shot three times in the chest. After 178 minutes she came back as a Reboot: stronger, faster, able to heal, and less emotional. The longer Reboots are dead, the less human they are when they return. Wren 178 is the deadliest Reboot in the Republic of Texas. Now seventeen years old, she serves as a soldier for HARC (Human Advancement and Repopulation Corporation).
Wren’s favorite part of the job is training new Reboots, but her latest newbie is the worst she’s ever seen. As a 22, Callum Reyes is practically human. His reflexes are too slow, he’s always asking questions, and his ever-present smile is freaking her out. Yet there’s something about him she can’t ignore. When Callum refuses to follow an order, Wren is given one last chance to get him in line—or she’ll have to eliminate him. Wren has never disobeyed before and knows if she does, she’ll be eliminated, too. But she has also never felt as alive as she does around Callum.
The perfect soldier is done taking orders.
Starting Lines:
They always screamed.
My assignment wailed as she slipped in the mud, whipping her head around to see if I was gaining on her.
I was.
My Reaction to those lines:

With extra butter.

My Thoughts: 

Okay, I actually finished reading Reboot a while ago, but I couldn't decide how to approach this book without making it sound terrible, because it wasn't horrible... it just wasn't amazing. And 'amazing' was what I was looking for. Reboot fell somewhere in-between 'Waste. Of. Time.' and 'I Must Read This Book Over and Over Again Until the Pages Fall out'. So in other words: 'Eh'.

Character-wise, Wren confused me. She was rebooted 178 minutes after she died, and that's as far as anyone has ever gone, so she was supposed to be this unfeeling, merciless soldier that everyone was afraid of. Everyone was definitely a little freaked out when she showed up, but she acted like any other Reboot. There wasn't anything special about her other than the way everyone acted around her. She was cool, but not as badass as the blurb made her out to be. I was hoping she would be cold-hearted and ruthless, but she was actually one of those tough girls with the hard outer shell, but inside she was full of lollipops and sunshine and girlish crushes.

Callum, on the other hand, was a weirdo. Sometimes I was glad when Wren beat the crap out of him because his naivety was so aggravating, and other times, I kind of wanted to hug him and apologize (those weren't many). He's a sweet. A little too sweet, and a couple pages into the book, Wren was already thinking about him nonstop. Sure, there were a lot of cute moments stolen between the two of them that I'm sure would have melted any normal girl's heart in an instant, but Wren isn't normal is she? She sounded like it though.

 

Most of my disappointment came from the fact that Reboot fell short of surprises. And I'm starting to find this in many of the new YA dystopia books. It's the same hackneyed concept rearranged and tweaked to follow a similar plot with similar characters, but from a different perspective. Thing is, sooner or later the entire thing is just going to grow old and wither away. Like Twilight and the take-over of sappy werewolf/vampire love stories *shudders*. And Reboot was basically the same thing. 

Wren (love the name) is the tough girl in the tough environment where the government is bad and takes advantage of her heightened powers. She meets the new, sweet guy and he changes the way she sees things. She falls in love with him, realizes what a horrible society she lives in and they both run away and find this mysterious haven where they lived happily ever after. *cue the fireworks* 

Yes, this Reboot stuff was definitely a nice addition (a little refreshing too), but the rest of the plot was lacking in suspense and, although there were tons of action, it didn't really lead anywhere because there weren't any unexpected turns. All I looked forward to is Wren and Callum's safe departure and safe arrival to the Reboot haven. Other than that...

The beginning was great though. I was totally immersed in the story because (like it or not) all this Reboot stuff had caught my attention. Plus, Amy Tintera's writing is amazing, so that was a huge bonus. But I feel like the story didn't make much of an impact, because by the time I was done with it, I had forgotten most of the beginning.

Overall, I didn't hate the book. It's one of those 'you read it once and once is enough' books, but it had the potential of becoming something unforgettable. Sadly, it didn't reach that mark. On a lighter note, Reboot had it's cute moments between relatively likable characters and the writing definitely drew me in. It lagged a couple of times, but there was plenty of action. I don't really know if I'll go onto the second one though. If I had to choose the next book in this series against any other one in my TBR pile, I'd go with the latter.

Do I recommend it?

If you don't have anything else to read and you like cute romances, then sure, but don't expect too much out of it.