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bookcaptivated's review
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Gore, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Animal death, Dementia, Death of parent, and Alcohol
hdbblog's review against another edition
1.0
I'm not doing a full review on this one so let's get to the heart of it: great premise, poor execution. I barely made it through the first 50 pages, although I did press on to the end. I really wanted more excitement, more character building and honestly? More plot in general. The writing style is very simplistic and makes for a slow read. I was hoping for so much more.
amethystarchild's review against another edition
2.0
“Revolution 19” By Gregg Rosenblum is a Young Adult science fiction novel. Nick, Kevin, and Cass live in the forest with their adoptive parents hiding from the robots that have overthrown the human race. Their lives are uneventful until a fatal mistake betrays the position of their colony. The siblings escape the attack, and travel out of the safety of the forest, to the robot controlled city. Their hope is to possibly save their parents who have been taken captive by the robots. The siblings meet the underground resistance of the city and together they get back in contact with their parents. Their parents volunteer to stay behind and support the resistance, and the siblings escape the city and return to the woods on a lead that could give them the key to overthrowing the robot overlords.
Content Warnings:
• Torture & Execution
I wasn’t really enthralled with this book, I read it since my brother said it an okay book, and I think that about sums it up, “okay”. The characters were pretty typical and so was the story, nothing really new was added to the usual “robot overlord plot”. I’m not really interested in continuing the series, it was just too predictable. The chapters were far too short, and the plot was felt scatterbrained and wouldn’t linger on anything long enough. They sneak into a school, pretending to be brainwashed citizens, which could create some interesting scenes, but all too suddenly they are chased out of that plot point too. The book was entertaining enough, but a pretty mediocre read compared to other YA science fiction.
Content Warnings:
• Torture & Execution
I wasn’t really enthralled with this book, I read it since my brother said it an okay book, and I think that about sums it up, “okay”. The characters were pretty typical and so was the story, nothing really new was added to the usual “robot overlord plot”. I’m not really interested in continuing the series, it was just too predictable. The chapters were far too short, and the plot was felt scatterbrained and wouldn’t linger on anything long enough. They sneak into a school, pretending to be brainwashed citizens, which could create some interesting scenes, but all too suddenly they are chased out of that plot point too. The book was entertaining enough, but a pretty mediocre read compared to other YA science fiction.
bookishmadness's review against another edition
3.0
What I thought: Wow. This book had so much potential, but unfortunately it just fell flat for me. The synopsis makes it sounds like it'll be a lot more of fighting against robots, living hidden in the wild and somehow getting into a city. While it is some-what like that, in reality it just wasn't as great as the synopsis made it out to be. The three kids spend a lot of time in said city, mostly trying to stay away from being detected by robots and looking for their parents. Even the ending wasn't fantastic. But in saying all that, I still persevered because I needed to know what was going to happen at the end. The characters are great and the story is well written too, so Gregg Rosenblum did a lot of things right.
If you like a good Dystopian then you should give this a try, but if you're looking for human-robot fighting, like in say The Terminator, then this probably isn't for you.
The Good: I got attached the three kids and the friends they made! I cheered for them, wanting them to survive and for everything to be okay.
The Bad: It just wasn't what I expected and the disappointment hung heavy for me.
Rating: 3 bookstacks
If you like a good Dystopian then you should give this a try, but if you're looking for human-robot fighting, like in say The Terminator, then this probably isn't for you.
The Good: I got attached the three kids and the friends they made! I cheered for them, wanting them to survive and for everything to be okay.
The Bad: It just wasn't what I expected and the disappointment hung heavy for me.
Rating: 3 bookstacks
sk24's review against another edition
3.0
What you're in for: Robots. Structured cities. Unstructured woods. Helpful people and true believers. Robots on a power trip. "Re-education". Action. Memory loss. Sibling love. Death. Brutality. Friendship. Family. Technology.
My Thoughts:
Revolution 19 is all about robots that were built to help mankind, but now they control the humans. They claim to strive for a more peaceful and functional society, but they take things too fast and end up making living in the cities an unenjoyable living experience. They are too controlling of the humans and they are brutal.
The book starts off with a bang. However, the captivity factor wasn't all there for me. I mean, there were times when I was super into the story, but others when I would just start skimming. There is a lot of action and there's always something going on in this book. It had quite a bit of intensity. It's definitely not a boring storyline, but I still didn't find myself completely captivated by it.
There wasn't much of a back story. I feel like that could have been elaborated on, especially since the book was so short. More back story would have strengthened the overall story, in my opinion. However, one thing that was nice was that the year was mentioned. I like knowing when futuristic stories are meant to take place!
I thought the book as a whole was a fairly decent read. The characters could have used a bit more development. And the story could have been improved with added back story. But, it was an okay book. I'm not sure if I'm interested enough to read the second book. I'm definitely not going to run and buy it right away. We'll see...
tstreet's review against another edition
5.0
I loved this book. I like how Cass, Nick, and Kevin stay together when their Freepost is captured. I like how Lexi helps them. I loved how she helped them even though she risked her life. I like how Farryn helps Kevin a device that will destroy the bots. I like how they manage to escape the city. I hate how their parents have to stay behind. I rate this book 4.5 stars.
amber04's review against another edition
4.0
Revolution 19 is a fantastic debut by Gregg Rosenblum. Not only is the cover awesome, but the story was unique, and even better than I had imagined. This was an easy read, and very easily draws the reader into the story-line.
A Robot Revolution erupted twenty years ago. The designed bots that were designed to fight the wars. These bots became so advanced and in the process began taking over the very people who relied on them. Survivors captured were taken to the city, and others that had escaped lived out in the wilderness. There were Freeposts set up where survivors lived. It was like their make-shift community. Using scavaged goods, (pre-Revolution) they created shelters and other facilities.
Kevin, Nick and Cass were siblings among this specific Freepost, and on a "school" lesson, a tech piece is found. Kevin hid this from his family, but what he didn't know, is that what he found would essentially catch the eye of the bots.
It was too late once Nick figured out what his brother had hidden from them. The bots came. The bots killed. The journey to escape these advanced tech bots was adrenaline packed. These bots aren't small, little robots that you picture in a children's book. They were at least eight feet tall and wide as two men.
When their parents didn't show up, they immediately knew they were taken to the city. Everyone in the Freepost believed those captured and taken to the city were used as slaves. I loved how the author twisted the view of the Freeposters, and the ones that lived within the city's thoughts about how each other lived. On their mission to find their parents, they meet a few new friends that hesitantly assist them and ultimately add excitement into this thrilling story.
This ends off on a cliffhanger, and I absolutely cannot wait to find out how the next installment will pan out. I really liked the characters and their courage they displayed. Whether it was a sacrifice or a complete idiotic attempt to saving their parents, it all panned out allowing more adventure and adversity into this fun and exciting story.
Thank you Harper Teen for providing this ARC
A Robot Revolution erupted twenty years ago. The designed bots that were designed to fight the wars. These bots became so advanced and in the process began taking over the very people who relied on them. Survivors captured were taken to the city, and others that had escaped lived out in the wilderness. There were Freeposts set up where survivors lived. It was like their make-shift community. Using scavaged goods, (pre-Revolution) they created shelters and other facilities.
Kevin, Nick and Cass were siblings among this specific Freepost, and on a "school" lesson, a tech piece is found. Kevin hid this from his family, but what he didn't know, is that what he found would essentially catch the eye of the bots.
It was too late once Nick figured out what his brother had hidden from them. The bots came. The bots killed. The journey to escape these advanced tech bots was adrenaline packed. These bots aren't small, little robots that you picture in a children's book. They were at least eight feet tall and wide as two men.
When their parents didn't show up, they immediately knew they were taken to the city. Everyone in the Freepost believed those captured and taken to the city were used as slaves. I loved how the author twisted the view of the Freeposters, and the ones that lived within the city's thoughts about how each other lived. On their mission to find their parents, they meet a few new friends that hesitantly assist them and ultimately add excitement into this thrilling story.
This ends off on a cliffhanger, and I absolutely cannot wait to find out how the next installment will pan out. I really liked the characters and their courage they displayed. Whether it was a sacrifice or a complete idiotic attempt to saving their parents, it all panned out allowing more adventure and adversity into this fun and exciting story.
Thank you Harper Teen for providing this ARC
beckykirk's review against another edition
1.0
Horrible. And please explain why robots would be cruel? They're machines, no feelings just logic. Ugh for your own good stay away from this travesty,
bookishnicole's review against another edition
4.0
This book was really interesting. I completely loved the concept of the book and the way that you were introduced to the whole concept was really awesome. In a future world where we were over run by robots, this is where our tragic trio live. This new book is (I believe) the first in a new series.
I wasn't totally enthralled with this book like I thought I might be. I really loved the concept, and think that it is Robopocalypse for the younger crowd. I think the reason that I didn't really like it was that I didn't connect with the characters other than on a superficial level.
I felt badly that these things were happening to Cass, Kevin, and Nick, that their home was blown up and that they had to go rescue their parents, but I didn't get a feel for who they were past the protective big brother, the middle sister who was really adopted, and the little brother who just screwed everything up. I didn't care when a charactered died because she was given no depth or real personality.
I felt that this book really had a lot of potential, there was so much more to the revolution and what happened with the robots that was only hinted at, and I suppose that is understandable, but sometimes if the first book isn't received well, you don't get books two and three which can be really unfair for the reader.
I loved the cliffhanger ending, and I'm really hoping that we do get a second book to dive more into detail about Cass, Kevin and Nick. I liked that there was the beginnings of their seperate personalities, I just wish that there had been more development on that and less on the tech details that went over my head. This was a great quick read for a lazy afternoon.
I wasn't totally enthralled with this book like I thought I might be. I really loved the concept, and think that it is Robopocalypse for the younger crowd. I think the reason that I didn't really like it was that I didn't connect with the characters other than on a superficial level.
I felt badly that these things were happening to Cass, Kevin, and Nick, that their home was blown up and that they had to go rescue their parents, but I didn't get a feel for who they were past the protective big brother, the middle sister who was really adopted, and the little brother who just screwed everything up. I didn't care when a charactered died because she was given no depth or real personality.
I felt that this book really had a lot of potential, there was so much more to the revolution and what happened with the robots that was only hinted at, and I suppose that is understandable, but sometimes if the first book isn't received well, you don't get books two and three which can be really unfair for the reader.
I loved the cliffhanger ending, and I'm really hoping that we do get a second book to dive more into detail about Cass, Kevin and Nick. I liked that there was the beginnings of their seperate personalities, I just wish that there had been more development on that and less on the tech details that went over my head. This was a great quick read for a lazy afternoon.
novelheartbeat's review against another edition
DNF
It causes me physical pain to DNF this book. The cover!! I love it so much! Her eye looks so awesome, and I love the way the font looks. Not to mention that the synopsis sounds amazeballs! This book was one of my most anticipated 2013 releases. That is, until I started seeing the nasty ratings. I heard from many people that the writing quality was middle grade at best. In a way, I'm glad my hopes were squashed down before I picked this up, because I went in with rather low expectations.
I'm afraid I couldn't get past page 90. I wanted so badly to be the black sheep this time, but I'm afraid I share the same opinion as everyone else.
My main issue was the horribly sophomoric writing. This should really have been labeled as MG, not YA. My second issue was all the terms. Freeposts, Kidbons (which I eventually figured out was a bonfire for kids...so original), chaff beacons, and the term 'fletch' (which was used to describe a girl. Hot? Cool? Who knows). Then there was mention of a revolution 19 renegade. What is it? Why the number? What exactly does it entail? It's the title of the book, so I'd think it would warrant an explanation straight off. I hate it when an author uses terms and doesn't explain what they are. It drives me CRAZY. If you give me the gist of it, fine. Or even if I can glean the meaning from context. But when you use it in a sentence and I STILL have no clue what it is...yeah, that's a problem for me.
Re-educated? Is that some sort of brainwashing? Even the main characters didn't know what it was. Wouldn't they think to ask? That would have been the common sense thing to do, when a stranger mentions a term that you've never heard before.
The main reason I wanted to read this book was because of the robots. I thought maybe I could read something else that would be as cool as Partials. But the robots in this book were cheesy. First of all, they were supposed to be super bad guys, but they didn't kill just anyone. No, they had to 'maintain the approved release control group quota' - whatever the hell that means - so they only killed a couple people out of a group. What is the point of that? They were box-like with wheels...I think (I say think because from the shoddy description I don't actually know) they were still supposed to be vaguely human-like, though. It's just that when I think of rolling robots, I think of the dorky police robots in Treasure Planet. Real scary...
Plus every time a robot talked, it was in caps. For some reason, this bothered me. I can't exactly explain why, it just didn't work in the dialogue.
The conversations didn't flow and were too cumbersome to be realistic. When the characters would talk, I kinda zoned out. The characters were all cardboard cutouts, without their own personalities. Plus I found them annoying. Especially Lexi, who kept calling Nick 'rock star.' Seriously, like every page. And there wasn't even a reason for the nickname (that I could see, anyway). Every time she said it, my eye twitched.
Overall, I was bored. Things were happening, but they weren't exciting like they should have been. I just felt 'meh' about the story, the plot, and the characters. Great idea. Not-so-great delivery.