Girl Parts by John M. Cusick

I have never been what one would call picky when it comes to reading. I'm more of your all-you-can-eat buffet type of girl--a little of this, a little of that, a side of this.... I find that this is especially true when it comes to downloadable audiobooks, where I'm less impacted by the cover art, less likely to browse by genre, and more likely to pick based on what's available at the library that day.

Because of this open-mindedness (or, as some would call it, lack of standards) I regularly wind up reading something that isn't at all what I expected it to be. This is certainly true of Girl Parts, a first novel by John M. Cusick.

Girl Parts could certainly be called science fiction, but not so "heavy" that haters of the genre should shy away from it. It is somewhat futuristic, but not so far into the future that our world is unrecognizable--call it "near future." In this near future, we meet two very different young men. David is rich, popular, and constantly connected to the online world. After David witnesses a classmate committing suicide online and does nothing to stop it, the school counselor and David's parents decide he is suffering from disassociative disorder, or, the inability to make true human connections. The counselor suggests David get a "Companion," a robot in the form of a young woman who is programmed to teach young men how to develop healthy relationships. When "Rose" arrives, David is immediately compelled by her, despite knowing she isn't human.

Charlie is a neighbor and classmate of David's, but there the similarity ends: "Charlie Nuvola was weird. He looked weird; he acted weird; he was interested in weird things. Worst of all, he didn't seem to know or care that everyone else thought he was weird." In the high-tech, sophisticated world he lives in, Charlie seems a throwback, a gentleman and a scholar.

When David and Rose's relationship takes an unexpected twist, Charlie is uniquely situated to come to the rescue. But can Charlie and Rose outrun the evil Sakora corporation? Can true love really happen for a boy and a robot? Will you find out by the end of this novel? The answer to that last one is...not really--it's a cliff-hanger ending and controversial with a lot of reviewers. The good news is there's a sequel coming "soon" according the author's Facebook page. Ahhh the suspense!

P.S. MHS Book Club is currently reading this one, so if you'd like to join in the conversation, see Mrs. C.

P.P.S. For video reviews/trailers, see:
http://www.60secondrecap.com/library/
http://video.yahoo.com/watch/7478360/19803270