Girl Parts

ifeelbookish - I'm kind of having Girl Parts withdrawals at the moment. To be fair, the ending was really unjustified but plausible because of the somewhat-strange plot. I'm kind of really mad at the author because the ending didn't wrap up the book very well. I felt like it was very rushed. Before elaborating more, I need to tell you what happens in the book. So David and Charlie are complete opposites. David is a really popular guy, while Charlie is a shy wallflower. After David unknowingly witnesses someone committing suicide on the internet, his guidance counselor thinks that David is depressed and assigns him a robot . Her name is Rose, and she is So how is Charlie connected to David in some way? Well, David and Rose (the girl robot with extremely realistic proportions) go out on a drive and accidentally hit Charlie who is riding a bike. David thinks Rose as more of a robot, than a human being which causes Rose to jump into a lake and therefore permanently damages her system which used to instruct her and choose her decisions. After that, she finally has control of her own decisions and Rose is rescued by Charlie. They start to fall in love, but Charlie really cares about Rose. That's pretty much all I can tell you about the book because I'll spoil it if I tell any more. Anyway, on to why the ending is like the worst ending ever (just kidding, Allegiant is worse). The ending does not wrap the book up. It's just really annoying and that's pretty much my only problem with it. This is a really short review actually.

July 26, 2010
In a very near future America where 750 viewers watch a teenager commit suicide online and do nothing, are humans more human than an android who looks and acts the part? With an almost anthropological eye, first-time novelist Cusick digs into the connections people make—physically, emotionally, and technologically. After David Sun’s parents learn that he witnessed the local girl’s death and didn’t intervene, they grow concerned that he has become “disassociated” from life, due to an overreliance on technology. The solution? More technology, of course, in the form of Rose, a Companion bot, which “dissuades dehumanizing behaviors and encourages healthy human interaction.” Rose is a redheaded bombshell, and while there are the requisite moments of misunderstood slang and other faux pas, she’s no more lost than the teenagers she meets, like scruffy loner Charlie. It’s Rose’s growth, with Charlie’s help after she’s brutally rejected by David, which forms the emotional core of this bittersweet and prescient novel, and which make the teenager-as-robot metaphor work so well. “He’s the whole universe,” Rose says of David, who alone she’s programmed to connect with. “What am I supposed to do?” Ages 14–up.

October 1, 2010

Gr 9 Up-With cold detachment, David views a classmate's video blog while she deliberately downs a toxic cocktail. He and his peers seem unfazed having witnessed her online suicide. The adults, shocked out of their reverie, notice that their children are "disassociated" from the real world. David's father, a techno tycoon, teams up with the school counselor to intervene. Enter Rose, an attractive robot girl designed to befriend David. She is beautiful, with silky hair and warm downy skin, and programmed to please. Electronic Rose will teach David how to love and feel again. No joke! Meanwhile, classmate Charlie is the antithesis of David. He and his botanist dad live off the grid on the outskirts of town. Charlie, a disheveled loner, rides a broken-down bike, and the school counselor labels him as depressed. He first suggests drugs and then a Companion, like David's. Rose generates much desire in her boy, but no substance. He remains a selfish, spoiled jerk addicted to surround monitors that flow constant communication among friends, all the while simulating suggestive images. When David discovers that Rose is more Barbie than girl-she is without "girl parts"-he casts her aside and breaks her "heart." Soon she takes up with Charlie and romance ensues. When the story digresses to Rose experiencing tender feelings and desiring "girl parts," the narrative stumbles. David remains artificially connected, Rose develops contrived humanistic drama, and Charlie falls for her. What began as a smart and sexy cautionary tale is ultimately disappointing.-Alison Follos, North Country School, Lake Placid, NY

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