Review: Freak of Nature

Title:  Freak of Nature
Author:  Julia Crane
Series:  IFICS [1]
Rating:  3.5/5

Summary:

Donate Body to Science. Check.
When seventeen-year-old Kaitlyn checked the box, she never suspected she’d have her life–and her body–stolen from her. She awakens one day in a secret laboratory to discover that her body is now half-robot and is forced to hide her own secret: that she still has human emotions and a human mind. If the scientists who made her find out, they’ll erase what remains of who she was.

Kaitlyn finds an unlikely ally in Lucas, a handsome, brilliant scientist who can’t get over the guilt he feels knowing she was once a vibrant, beautiful young woman. He never expected a science project to affect him the way she does. As he tries to help her rediscover her past, he finds himself falling for the brave girl struggling to find her place and acceptance between the human and computer worlds.

Review:

*POTENTIAL SPOILERS*

I think I'm overly harsh with my numerical rating of this book, but there were enough points I didn't like enough to bring down my like of the story.

What I didn't like:

• Mistakes in the ebook format - this is a simple thing like a missing quotation mark at the beginning of a speech passage, but it drives me crazy.
• The little robots - the first one at the end of the chapter was cute, then they became annoying, like I was reading a book meant for 8-year-olds
• Lucas - I hate him as much as I like him.  I hate that Kaitlyn sees him as this perfect guy when he's just as horrible as the rest of IFICS
• Random sex - Really?  I thought this was supposed to be a ya book, and after getting her memories back how does that translate to I need to have sex now.
• How it ended - Tied up every loose end so quick and yet it's book one of a series?

What I did like:

• The storyline - enough that I finished reading despite my list of things I didn't like, and enough that I plan to read more by the author
• Quess - she interjects some humanity into this story!
• Action scenes - especially the paintball fight (but I would have liked more detail there)
• Kaitlyn - I'm glad it's from her point of view and we could see how she felt about everything.

Overall could have been done far better, but not bad.

Recommended to those who like young adult, slightly scifi books and doesn't mind loose character personalities.