Machinations

3/5 stars
The Skinny:
In a world in which machines have taken over, Rhona Long loses her life. In a planned out maneouver, she is brought back in the form of a clone. Although lacking some of her memories, Rhona is essentially the same person she once was. Because of this, she must once again fill the important role she once held. Rhona, the spark that everyone believes in, needs to help defeat the machines once and for all.

Thoughts:
Machinations had its good moments. I like the whole idea of the cloning of Rhona, and I thought the basis of the story line was captivating. This being said, I had a hard time getting through the whole novel because it wasn’t quite as exciting or detailed as I felt it could have been.

Why no likey?
1) Main character wasn’t badass.
Machinations is similar to another book I read, Fortunte’s Pawn, in that the main female character is badass…or supposed to be. Rhona kinda talks the talk, but she doesn’t always walk the walk. In the novel there is really only one ‘major’ fighting sequence (that Rhona is involved in) in which Rhona shows her stuff. This scene takes place towards the end. I kept waiting for kickass action the entire novel and am kind of disappointed at the lack there of. Also, Rhona acts, at times, like a love sick puppy; she perseverates over her past relationship with Camus a tad too much. Half way through I hoped they WOULDN’T get together so a) I wouldn’t have to hear about him anymore, and b) because Camus acts pretty douche-ish.

2) I wasn’t able to visualize the enemy.
In Machinations, the main threat against the world comes in the form of machines. I honestly had a hard time picturing what these machines looked like. I stole bits and pieces from other machine related books and movies I’ve seen and created my own image, but I would have liked some more descriptive details in that area.

3) The mysterious rallying powers of Rhona.
I am puzzled as to why Rhona has such a fan-base. Towards the end of the book she has a very Katniss Everdeen moment where she gives a speech and it rallies all of these people together. While it is easy to understand how Katniss is able to inspire the masses, I am unsure as to why everyone is behind Rhona. I’m thinking she must have been a super great motivator before she became a clone. I feel like Rhona’s greatness is hinted at but never truly explained.

Overall:
I lost interest while reading this book because certain things were glossed over and not described to my liking. I’m not the type that enjoys an overabundance of unnecessary detail, but I felt that this book would have benefited from a bit more. Also, where was badass Rhona?? <—the biggest question.