Thursday, May 8, 2014

[Review: Reboot by Amy Tintera]

"Reboot"
Author: Amy Tintera
Series: Reboot #1
Pages: 365
Genre: YA, Dystopian, Zombies
Date Published: May 7th, 2013
Publisher: HarperTeen
Format Read: Purchased eBook

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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.
-Goodreads 
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My Thoughts:

An Open Letter To Reboot,

Well you're a cool zombie book, aren't you? I loved that you didn't fall into normal "zombie book" tropes. Good job! You gave us characters that were more human then flesh eating monster, even though their still technically dead. You also gave me one of my new favorite love stories. And let's talk about Wren for a second. She's a total badass with a heart of gold. What's not to love about that? And the action, the action was legit! Thanks for being so cool.

-The White Unicorn

Reboot is one of those books that's had a lot of hype behind it and sometimes those don't work so well for me. Luckily, this book was just as good as all of the hype led me to believe. Tintera managed to find a way to flip zombies on their head without making them any less deadly. Instead of making these rebooted kids into flesh eating monsters, she made then into child soldiers and it did wonders for the zombie genre. In my humble opinion. In a way she humanizes these dead kids in a way that makes you forget that they aren't alive. 

Wren is a wonderful character. She died for 178 minutes and is technically an emotionless shell. Or so it seems. She's interesting because part of her emotionless has been conditioned into her even though she definitely has a hard time tapping into them because of the minutes that she spent dead. There is a lot more to her then meets the eye. She's fierce, she a little mean, but she's loyal to the max. It takes her roommate Ever and her new trainee Callum to show off her softer side, but it's there, under all the dead layers of skin.

And then we have Callum. He's a 22 and practically human. His humanity is still pretty intact and he has a lot of issues with what HARC is all about. He also happens to have the hots for Wren. I loved their dynamic. He's the sweetest. Literally the sweetest. He stands for something so different then the soldier he's supposed to become. But when push comes to shove he'll beat the living day lights out of you if it needs to happen.

Tintera gives us a ton of high action. In fact I don't think that you really get a moment to breath when you're reading this book. People are fighting, people are dying, people are conspiring, basically people are doing all the things. She also creates a mystery and  a whole bunch of intrigue. Nothing is as it seems and it keeps you on your toes.

I can't say enough about this one. It's got so many great things going for it. It looks at humanity in a way that keeps you interested and gives you a lot to think about on top of all the badassery and action. This ones definitely worth all the hype!

Rating:
    4 Unicorns = Close to perfect!

2 comments:

Nicole said...

Wooo! I too was pleasantly surprised by this one and I don't do zombies. It didn't feel like a zombie book to me probably because despite them being dead, everything else was different. I LOVED Wren and Callum's relationship. I loved how Wren didn't know if/what she could feel and Callum brought that all out of her. I really liked the sequel too, I can't wait to hear your thoughts on that one...

Natalie @Natflix&Books said...

I'm not normally drawn to zombie books, but this one does sound different. I actually read the first few chapters last year before setting it aside. I need to finish it! I'm glad you enjoyed it. Great review!