Krista Reviews: Greg Rosenblum's - Revolution 19

by Gregg Rosenblum 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.

When Kevin, Nick and Cass were young, the adults worldwide were fighting wars using robots. The robots suddenly revolted against their commanders, and then upon all man-kind. They set up their own cities and put chips in the humans they chose to survive, re-educating them to fit into the society that the robots built. When Kevin, Nick and Cass’s guardians are taken by the robots to this city, they decide to go and rescue them.

The pacing of the novel is perfect. There is very little down time with the combination of several characters story-lines to follow. There is always something happening with each of them, giving the reader different angles to the story until they come together again. All the parts of the story are given to us as we read with no large info dumps and a good amount of dialogue. There are not many big or “wow” moments, but it’s constant and great for younger readers as well.

I haven’t read a book before where technology has completely taken over man-kind and is “retraining” them into a society that is suitable for them. I’ve seen mixtures of the two, but in this city, it’s the robots calling all the shots and handing out the punishment. I did find it interesting that the society they did build had similarities to our own, so it’s not very hard to imagine this happening.

This book is a good starter book for those that maybe nervous jumping into a futuristic, science fiction, robots world. It doesn’t contain a lot of uncomfortable events, and very little fighting. The story is pushed along by the main characters trying to outsmart the robots rather than physically overpowering them. I found it almost too easy for these kids to overpower them the way that they did. The main characters are stronger, more determined and strong willed than any of the adults and bots. It has a great storyline of personal empowerment and fighting for what’s right and not giving up.

Hardcover, 272 pages

Published January 8th 2013 by Harper Teen ISBN 0062125958 (ISBN13: 9780062125958)