Series: Reboot, #1
Publisher:  HarperTeen
Publish Date: May 7th, 2013
Source: Purchased
Goodreads

Rating: 4/5 – Not quite what I was expecting but still a really fun read!

About the book: 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. The longer Reboots are dead, the less human they are when they return. Wren 178 is the deadliest Reboot in the Republic of Texas. Now seventeen years old, she serves as a soldier for HARC (Human Advancement and Repopulation Corporation).

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. -Goodreads

Thoughts: I had really been looking forward to reading this book–I mean, what’s not to like?! It’s not often you see an interesting new twist on zombies (and I’m saying this as a zombie book author as well as a book nerd), and it’s YA on top of that. Umm… yes! Reboot wasn’t quite what I was expecting, but it was still a fun read and I will absolutely be continuing with the series.

More than anything this was an action book in a futuristic dystopian setting. Wren is a super solider, made so by coming back to life 178 minutes after she died of the plague that ravaged this world. The longer someone is dead before coming back (if they do at all) the better solider they become. Increased reflexes and healing, extra stamina… all the fun stuff. Of course, there is a price as well, and the longer someone is gone, the more of their humanity they lose. So when we meet Wren, she’s detached from the world around her and doesn’t care about much beyond doing her job well. Then she meets Callum, who was only down for 22 minutes and kind of sucks as a Reboot, and everything changes.

The biggest plus about this book for me is the Reboot/Zombie connection. It took me awhile to figure it out, because once you look past the ‘coming back from the dead’ bit, these kids aren’t monsters. It’s all handled really well, and I found myself asking a lot of questions as I went, curious to read more.

I enjoyed both Wren and Callum, although their romance didn’t do much for me. Wren was almost more interesing on her own as I always like reading about character who are not quite human and trying to figure the rest of us lunatics out. Although to be fair, Callum was a nice balance for that and she needed him in order to reengage with everything that was going on around her.

I will absolutely be continuing with this series and I can’t wait to see what happens next!

Purchase Reboot by Amy Tintera
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Second Opinions:
@Vy’s Blog
@My Friends Are Fiction
@Mundie Moms