[REVIEW] Boy Robot by Simon Curtis

Genre: Sci-fi, YA

Series: Untitled Trilogy #1

Rating: 4 STARS

Description:

In a single night, Isaak’s life changed forever.

His adoptive parents were killed, a mysterious girl saved him from a team of soldiers, and he learned of his own dark and destructive origin.

An origin he doesn’t want to believe, but one he cannot deny.

Isaak is a Robot: a government-made synthetic human, produced as a weapon and now hunted, marked for termination.

He and the Robots can only find asylum with the Underground—a secret network of Robots and humans working together to ensure a coexistent future.

To be protected by the Underground, Isaak will have to make it there first. But with a deadly military force tasked to find him at any cost, his odds are less than favorable.

Now Isaak must decide whether to hold on to his humanity and face possible death…or to embrace his true nature in order to survive, at the risk of becoming the weapon he was made to be.

In his debut, recording artist Simon Curtis has written a fast-paced, high-stakes novel that explores humanity, the ultimate power of empathy, and the greatest battle of all: love vs. fear.

My Thoughts:

“Run. Her heart pounded in her ears.”

Um, this was surprisingly amazing. I didn’t know what to expect from this book at all, all I knew was that the concept sounded cool and there were LGBTQ+ main characters, so I was all in. 

First off, I really love this whole concept of sci-fi books taking place in the real world. Books like More Happy Than Not and Replica and Kasie West’s Pivot Point duology (that I haven’t read just yet) are creating this new genre that I’m totally falling in love with. It makes it so much easier to believe in the world-building

Also, I loved Isaak. He’s this sweet teenage boy that’s pure and wonderful and he seems like real person. I loved his constant frustrations with not knowing what the hell was going on with him and how annoyed he was with everyone just keeping secrets from him, which is something that I don’t usually see when characters get thrown into a totally new world.  Not to mention he made me laugh out loud, and he was more of a relatable character, since he was awkward and wasn’t a total bad-ass from the beginning. We also meet JB, who I have mixed feelings about, but I’m not going to spoil anything (I’ll let you make your own opinions about him). We also get to meet some badass ladies, Kamea and Azure, who I just adored. I love how the two of them were total opposites – Azure was a total hard-ass and Kamea was a sweet little thing who becomes close friends with Isaak – and I can’t tell if I’m crazy or if I’m sensing a ship between them. Who knows?

The plot was very fast-paced and quite addicting. Most of you guys know that I truly hate long chapters, and I kid you not, one of the chapters was over 130 pages, but I kept my eyes glued to those pages the entire way through. The action just keeps propelling you forward, and I loved how it was a split between the typical journey plot-line and the “join the revolution” plot-line, where Isaak travels with the gang to the Underground, and then actually arrives at the Underground. And the ending was just cruel. Is there any way in which I can just acquire the next book, please?

The romance was one of the craziest I’ve ever seen in a while. I refuse to spoil things, but I ship Isaak and JB, despite the crazy circumstances. I really appreciated the flirting the two of them shared, and how everything wasn’t daisies and roses for the two of them. Nothing makes me happier than a relationship that’s slow and steady that doesn’t develop from annoying insta-love. And that’s pretty much all I can say about that. 

I will say, there are some tragic back-stories in this, and though some people might think they’re a bit too much or a bit over-dramatic, I didn’t really mind it. I thought Curtis’s words were fitting at the beginning of the novel, where he talked about the types of things that kids and teenagers of the LGBTQ+ community have to suffer through sometimes. Maybe it’s just because I’m more aware of the news and hearing horrible thing after horrible thing every single day – some so crazy that I can’t believe some people are just plain monsters – that it makes sense. I can see people acting this way. And I think that’s more tragic than anything, personally. But warnings for anyone who’s sensitive to implied rape, bullying, homophobia, or transphobia, if you don’t like to read about those types of things.

Overall, this was a really good, action-packed debut that kept me on my toes. I can’t wait for the sequel!

Have any of you guys read this book? What did you think about it?