Feedback

April 1, 2013

Gr 8 Up-This story picks up where Variant (HarperCollins, 2011) left off. Benson has broken out of Maxfield Academy, but not without devastating consequences; several of his schoolmates were killed or severely injured in the process. His shock is palpable when he and a badly hurt Becky stumble into a barn and find Jane alive and, well...human. The heart-stopping action of the first book is largely dialed back in favor of quietly disturbing half-revelations about the diabolical Maxfield Academy. The school uses teens to create incredibly realistic androids, many of whom were killed by Benson during his escape. Their human counterparts, including Jane, have been living in fortlike structures outside the school compound. Because of microchips implanted in their brains, the teens receive "feedback," seeing everything their android versions do, as well as experiencing their emotions. The microchips preclude escape-the teens feel pain if they venture too far from the forts-and it's up to Benson to devise a solution. While he was self-absorbed in Variant, here he displays emotional growth through his compassion and love for Becky. But that's not enough to propel a plot that suffers woefully from the lack of action and strong characterization that defined the first book. Readers will be less invested in the fates of the human counterparts as their android versions were far more fascinating. Feedback raises compelling ideas about artificial intelligence and social order, but, unfortunately, the oddly confusing finale leaves more questions than it answers. Purchase if Variant continues to be incredibly popular.-Lalitha Nataraj, Escondido Public Library, CA

Copyright 2013 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 1, 2012
In Variant (2011), Benton Fisher thought he lucked out when he was admitted to Maxfield Academy in New Mexico, and then even luckier when he escaped what turned out to be a virtual prison populated by robot clones, but... Ben and Becky have fled into the forest, with Becky badly injured. Ben has to find help before they're discovered. The hunt for them is on, and the clock is running against them. Ben finds a settlement outside the school grounds, but he is shocked to discover that it's populated by people he already knows...or thought he knew. But these people are real, while the kids from his past were no more than clones of these originals. Hiding out while Becky recovers, Ben tries to learn who is for real and who can be trusted, always looking for a path to safety. But it becomes clear there is only one way to go: back to school to destroy the enemy from within. Picking up only moments after the first book ends, this book features the same nonstop, breathless pace, adding new dimension to old characters and new plot twists that are hard to see coming. The often violent action flows logically from the plot. An absorbing read that won't let fans of the first down. (Thriller. 12 & up)

COPYRIGHT(2012) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

October 1, 2012
Grades 8-11 If you haven't read Variant (2011)and you shouldtread cautiously into these spoiler-infested waters. Having escaped from the prison-like Maxfield Academy with the injured Becky, Benson comes across a town in the wilderness populated by the human versions of the teenage robots back at the school. What's more, these teens have a semi-psychic connection with their android counterparts, through which they can see, hear, and feel. One thing they can't do, however, is run because of the chips implanted in their brains. So Benson plots for a way to get them out from under the nefarious (and still quite mysterious) hand of Maxfield. In many ways, this is a remake of Variant, with Benson trying to outwit the overlords and head for freedom. However, the claustrophobic tightness of the first book is replaced here by a loose series of threats that never solidify into something worth rooting against. Newcomers will be thoroughly lost, but those who rightfully loved Variant will still hold on to hopebecause the final scene has one doozy of a revelation.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2013
This sequel abruptly picks up where [cf2]Variant[cf1] left off. Benson has escaped from sinister Maxfield Academy and its robot students, only to encounter a town of those robots' human counterparts. They're connected to their robot "dupes"--and to Maxfield--through surgical implants. The story is more confusing than its predecessor, but with its nonstop fighting and bloodshed, it's just as intense.

(Copyright 2013 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)