Freebie Friday: Win Reboot by Amy Tintera! INT :)

Happy Friday!

Congrats to last week's winners: Montana, Sarah C, Sarah S and Dorothy!

Today, I have a combo review and giveaway -- open internationally!

Reboot

by Amy Tintera

To be published on May 7, 2013

By HarperTeen

Source: e-ARC from the publisher via Edelweiss

Connect with the author: website | Twitter  | Facebook | Tumblr

Summary (adapted from Goodreads:) 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. Now Wren 178 is the deadliest Reboot in the Republic of Texas and serves as a soldier. 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.

My take: As I was reading, I was wondering why on earth I requested Reboot. Scary-violent post-apocalyptic zombie stories are SO not my thing. But, you know, it's always important to keep an open mind. And guess what? I really liked it.

Okay, first off: the Great Zombie Debate. Heather @ Flyleaf Review tried to convince me that the reboots are "robotic." Like a computer that is in sleep mode and then restarts. I say if a person is dead and then their corpse rises up and becomes the Animated Undead, that spells zombie. But we can agree to disagree about that part. 

So … what did I like about Reboot? I liked Wren, who has to be the most ironically named YA character I've come across in a while. A wren is a little brown bird. Wren 178 is a petite blonde bundle of scary. She'll break your arm as easily as she says hello. The Reboots are all teenagers stricken by the KDH virus, which kills most of its victims, but causes some of them to reawaken after they die. They're stronger, faster, able to heal quickly … and emotionally dead. They serve as soldiers for humans, an undead police force. They also train the new Reboots.

Enter Callum. He was only dead for 22 minutes before he rebooted, so he's not as emotionally undead and, as a result, also a source of great exasperation to Wren. He's goofy. Uncoordinated. Wisecracking.  For reasons that escape Wren, she volunteers to train him.  

I love the tough girl/sweet guy dynamic. I loved it in Velveteen by Daniel Marks. I loved it in This Lullaby by Sarah Dessen. And I love it here.

I thought the world building in Reboot was good --  the extremely brutal conditions that the Reboots live under are especially well-portrayed. The plot got a little draggy toward the end and I began to sense a trilogy brewing. Reboot relies for suspense on some mysterious injections that some of the lower-level Reboots are being given and the rumor of a group of Reboots living in freedom in a secret location. I'm getting a little weary of dystopian and/or post-apocalyptic books that have the protagonist join up with a group of "rebels" who are wandering around in the woods.  I'll take arm breaking over woods wandering any day...

That aside, I really enjoyed Reboot. Tough girls with a soft heart get me every single time. And Callum. He was all puppy eyes and a sense of humor. He cracked me up:

"You're not going to break anything else, are you?" he asked.
"No. Not right now."
"Oh, so later, then? Great. I'll look forward to that." He winced as he looked down at his arm.

I loved Wren, loved Callum and loved the way that he brings out human-like feelings in Wren that she thought were long dead. Reminds her of her lost humanity. Brings out all her protective instincts. This book has something for everyone. Flesh eating? Arm breaking? Hand holding?  It's ALL in here.

I have a finished copy of Reboot to give away to one lucky US winner.

But… if Rafflecopter picks a winner who lives outside the US, I will order them a paperback copy of Reboot from The Book Depository when the book releases on Tuesday.

See? Something for everyone!

 a Rafflecopter giveaway