The Bionics Series by Alicia Michaels
THE BIONICS SERIES by Alicia Michaels
New Adult Dystopian Romance
(Mature Content)
Published through: Crimson Tree Publishing
(The Adult Imprint of Clean Teen Publishing.)
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The year is 4010.
Nuclear war and the wasteful nature of humans have all but destroyed the United States. A new government regime rules the day with strict laws, rationed food, and careful control. When those injured in the nuclear blasts that rocked many of the nations largest cities are offered another chance by the Restoration Project, how could they refuse?
Little do they know that the robotic additions to their body will paint targets on their backs once the government decides that they are dangerous. At the forefront of the resistance is a girl with a bionic eye, Blythe Sol, who wants nothing more than to be a normal girl. Blythe has yet to realize that normal will never exist again for her, or anyone else.
The Revolution has begun...
The Bionics (Book 1)
FREE
(New Adult or YA Mature)
Most nineteen year-old girls are thinking about college, stretching the wings of newfound adulthood, and boys. Well, I’ll probably never go to college and all my dreams of the future are gone. I’ve been an adult for much longer than I should have been and my girlhood was stolen the minute the North Koreans dropped their nukes over the United States. As for boys … well, that’s pretty much out of the question now, too. My love life is too messy to even talk about.
I have nothing.
Except, maybe, my cause, my mission, The Resistance. It is the hope I have to cling to, I am counting on it to pave the way to my future. As things heat up and the terrorist sect known as The Rejects make themselves known opponents of society in this war, the choice to be on the side of good is harder than ever. My friends are broken; Olivia is a shell of her former self and Jenica is barely hanging on. Dax and Gage … well, we’re not talking about my love life, remember?
The Rejects, the government, President Drummond; they are pressing in on us from all sides and the weight is tremendous. Still, when given the choice to crumble or stand, I’d rather stand. Times are dark, but we are here, a rebellion, a whisper in the dark, a spark that lights the flames of change.
Titanium (Book 2)
(New Adult or YA Mature)
Secrets (Book 3)
(New Adult or YA Mature)
NEW RELEASE:
SPARK (Book 4)
(New Adult or YA Mature)
(New Adult or YA Mature)
I am awakened by my internal alarm system and all I want is to ignore it.
Last Sentence:
"I wasn't telling you, I was telling Agata."
*** This review is for the first book in this series, The Bionics. ***
What a start to this exciting series! Even though The Bionics is a novella, it excels in building a world that is well thought out and described fluidly. I was able to read this story in one sitting and devoured it. The story quickly draws you in with the skilled writing and descriptive world.
I'm a fan of dystopian young adult books, and The Bionics holds its own with the popular books in this genre. The concept behind the world is intriguing, and I found myself wanting to read more to discover all the details that I could. This book was told from the point of view of Blythe, and she was an excellent introduction to this story and this world.
There is a sprinkling of romance, but it doesn't overshadow the rest of the story. The tension, with the romance and the society, is brimming over the edge. As soon as I finished this part of the story, I wanted to continue reading the rest of it.
If you're a fan of the Divergent or The Hunger Games with a SciFi twist, you'll love The Bionics!
**I received this book free of charge in exchange for an honest review. My thanks to Clean Teen Publishing and Alicia Michaels.
Interview with Alicia Michaels
- Which book do
you think everyone should read at least once in their lifetime? I
think The Great Gatsby is one of those great American classics that
everyone should read. And not just because of the movie, LOL! But because
it’s all about the American dream, which is something we all aspire to.
Other books I think everyone should read: 1984, Gattaca, The Color Purple.
- Do you have a
writing ritual? What does it entail? My home life is too chaotic for a
writing ritual! With three kids to care for (two of whom stay home with me
during the day) I have to write when and where I can. I have to tune out
noise and distractions (though not so much that I don’t notice one of the
kids trying to burn the house down), and create in just about any
environment.
- If you could
choose any TV show to promote your book on, which would you choose? Almost
Human. I think it’s one of the few shows out right now with the same feel
as The Bionics series. Plus, I just love the show.
- Why did you
choose the genre you write in? I’ve always been fascinated by
dystopian books and movies. I like playing with this idea of a grim future
because of the decisions we are making today. It definitely makes you
think about the way we, as a society, treat each other as well as the
earth.
- Which was your
favorite chapter to write? Oh, I definitely can’t choose a
favorite, but any scene where there’s romance or heat. Those scenes cause
me to invest myself emotionally, and creating them gives me this feeling
unlike anything else.
- Chocolate or vanilla? Oh chocolate for sure! Vanilla is boring unless you mix things in! (like chocolate)
A Day in the Life of Alicia Michaels
No day of the week is the same for me as the day
before. Not even the time that I wake up. My seven month old seven son is my
alarm clock, and his sleep patterns are as varied as snowflakes. Seven,
six-thirty, four … depending on his mood he wake and sleeps, controlling my
days and my nights as if with a puppet master’s strings. Usually, while holding
the bottle with one hand (the lazy little guy still won’t hold it himself!), I
try to check emails, which takes up far more of my time than it should. In fact,
I spend most of my day doing things that have nothing to do with writing.
I update my social media pages between making
breakfast for a 6 year old and 2 year old. I make a mental list of things to be
done today as I drive my daughter to school. Some days my boys go to a
babysitter—those are the days I get most of my writing done. Of course on other
days I’m entertaining two little boys while setting up blog appearances,
ordering books for events, approving book cover designs, or sprucing up my
website. And of course I have to have my snuggle time with my boys. Though,
while Sesame Street is one, my mind is wandering to plot ideas.
I’m reading while cooking dinner, thinking up
even more plot ideas while eating it. Even while I spend the evening with my
family, Faeires, shape-shifters, and futuristic cyborgs march across my mind,
shouting their life stories at me. Some nights I write late into the night
after everyone has gone to sleep. Other nights I collapse before ten, too tired
to even think of putting my fingers to the keyboard.
Tomorrow will not be like today. And the day
after that will be its own day as well. So life, for me, is an adventure of
sorts, which is really appropriate considering my profession. New days bring
new things, which bring inspiration, which can be found in the smallest of
things.
EXCERPT FROM THE BIONICS:
“I wish that I had died that day,” I admit, unable to look away from his gaze no matter how much my mind tells me that I need to. “I wish that all the time.”
He inches closer to me on the bed. “Is it really so bad? Professor Hinkley gave you and the others a second chance at life. It’s not fair that the government has decided you and others like you pose a threat.”
I think about a news broadcast I saw a couple of weeks ago, showing a surveillance video of a man with an arm identical to mine smashing in the window of someone’s car and beating them to a bloody pulp for no reason, before pulling a limp body from the driver’s seat and driving off in the stolen vehicle. Of course the thief was found and immediately executed; no trail, no jury, no questions asked.
“Some of us are dangerous,” I answer, and of course, it’s the truth.
“Some people are dangerous,” he insists. “Bionics are still people….just modified.”
“Right now your blood pressure is 124/90, your heart rate is an elevated 70 beats per minute; not bad, but still high for a healthy male that I assume is athletic. You have a tattoo on your left arm of an eagle, and a fractured rib.”
“That is amazing.”
I shrug. “It’s my eye. It is capable of reading a person’s body heat signature as well as their vital statistics. It allows me to pull away individual layers, such as clothing, skin, and muscle to expose what’s underneath. It’s how I knew about the rib.”
I reach out with my bionic arm and poke the rib for emphasis, raising my eyebrows as he winces in pain. “Still think I’m human?”
Gage reaches for my arm—my robotic arm—and grabs it by the hand. I can’t feel it, or his hand circling the wrist above it. His eyebrows wrinkle as he turns my arm over, inside facing up. He traces the inside of my arm, his fingers sliding over the cool metal and, for the first time since I woke up with that hunk of machinery on the other end of my elbow, I am wishing that I could feel the damn thing.
“Cold,” he murmurs as he draws circles on the metal. His fingers stop on the inside of my elbow, on the line where the titanium ends and I begin. I hear his breath catch in his throat and another noisy swallow as the pad of his index finger slides over my skin. I gasp as he trails it up the inside of my arm, flesh now on flesh. The human contact that I’ve denied myself for years has left me sensitive to every touch, and I feel as if I’m being caressed for the first time.
Of course Dax has held my hand from time to time; he’s even held me against him some nights when the nightmares get particularly bad until I fall back asleep. But he’s never touched me like this, and while I’m no virgin I certainly feel like one right now. A thousand emotions are exploding in me at one time and just as many sensations are following the path his finger traces up to my shoulder, pausing at the strap of my tank top.
“Warm,” he says with a smile. “Only about….what…ten percent of you is metal. When I got past your elbow, I felt skin, blood flowing through veins, muscle, and…goose bumps?”
He says that last bit with a smile, forcing me to look away in embarrassment. He holds his arm out toward me, pulling up the sleeve of his shirt and revealing a tanned arm sprinkled with light blond hair, which is standing on end. He leaves the sleeve above his elbow and holds his arm out in front of me.
“See?” he says gently, his head way too close to mine, his breath brushing my cheek. “I have them too.”
Ever since she first read books like Chronicles of Narnia or Goosebumps, Alicia has been a lover of mind-bending fiction. Wherever imagination takes her, she is more than happy to call that place her home. The mother of two and wife to an Army sergeant loves chocolate, coffee, and of course good books. When not writing, you can usually find her with her nose in a book, shopping for shoes and fabulous jewelry, or spending time with her loving family.
Giveaway
There are two different prizes to win during my blog tour with Clean Teen Publishing! One winner will get three ebooks of their choice from the catalog of Clean Teen Publishing and their imprints. Click here to see the books you could win. The second winner will win a $10 gift card to Amazon. Both are open to international entries. Good luck!
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