Revolution 19 by Gregg Rosenblum

Revolution 19 by Gregg Rosenblum

Release Date: January 8, 2013
Publisher: HarperTeen
Series: Revolution 19, Book 1
Rated: YA 14+
Format: Hardcover
Source: Borrowed
Buy: Amazon ● The Book Depository
Goodreads

Twenty years ago, the robots designed to fight our wars abandoned the battlefields. Then they turned their weapons on us.

Only a few escaped the robot revolution of 2071. Kevin, Nick, and Cass are lucky —they live with their parents in a secret human community in the woods. Then their village is detected and wiped out. Hopeful that other survivors have been captured by bots, the teens risk everything to save the only people they have left in the world—by infiltrating a city controlled by their greatest enemies.

Revolution 19 is a cinematic thriller unlike anything else. With a dynamic cast of characters, this surefire blockbuster has everything teen readers want—action, drama, mystery, and romance. Written by debut novelist Gregg Rosenblum, this gripping story shouldn’t be missed.

I came upon starting this series when I realised that Fugitive X was a second in a series. I immediately got my hands on the first book, and only got around to reading it now. To be honest, I was a bit afraid going into the book because I thought it sounded like so many dystopians – it's really hard to find an original dystopian topic now days to write about – but to my great surprise, nope! I actually ended up loving Revolution 19. Usually about mid-way I end up blankly reading a dystopian if it's got the same monotonous voice that many do, but with this one I was full-on paying attention.
While I admit this does sound like quite a lot of dystopian novels, this one has something the others don't: robots. I don't know why they aren't a more prominent element in other dystopian novels. Sure, they're featured, but they're not really the main cause of anything. Most dystopians feature a bad egg trying to lead everyone around or a government trying to take control, but they're always human. This one stood out because of the whole robot revolution thing, and so I was interested to get into this story of human vs. robot.

While the story is told in third-person, in this case, I don't think it took away from learning a bit about the characters. It's probably because we have three protagonists: Nick, Cass and Kevin. I loved learning little tidbits about each of them, because while we don't get their own perspectives, they're all crucial to the story. I would think that Nick though is a primary character as a lot of the story has to do with him and his actions. I liked him well enough, but thought his character was a little too brash with his actions and didn't think through the consequences. The additions of new characters along the way helped with creating interesting character interactions that develop throughout the novel.
Speaking of, I liked that the romance wasn't central to the plot. In dystopian, revolting against the main government or power stems from a boy or a girl that enters the protagonist's life. While that is somewhat true, it's not very prominent and that allowed more focus on the main events.

I wish that the world-building could have been more developed thoroughly. There wasn't much background information about the Revolution, but the terms were easy to pick up and identify in the book. I just wanted the setting to be pronounced more and give a little more detail as to why people are hiding out in the woods and why there are different revolution groups, and maybe even a little more information about the other revolution groups. That, I felt, was a little bit spaced out on, so hopefully it's developed more thoroughly in the second book!
The ending and the epilogue was... intriguing. I didn't really understand what was actually going on during the epilogue, but the ending clearly made way for a second book, which I'm excited to dive into. The second book probably will also give more explanation into the confusing and slightly creepy ending.

Revolution 19 was entertaining– non-stop action and a gripping journey. I'm excited for this first in a trilogy, it definitely promises a lot more with two more books. Gregg Rosenblum's debut is hypnotic and has me hooked. Looking forward to reading Fugitive X!

If you like this, try...

• Reboot by Amy Tintera ● Gooreads
• XVI by Julia Karr ● Goodreads
• Possession by Elana Johnson ● Goodreads

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