ARC REVIEW: Spare and Found Parts by Sarah Maria Griffin + GIVEAWAY!

ASIN: B01AFY3AES  Title: Spare and Found Parts Author: Sarah Maria Griffin Publisher: Greenwillow Books Publishing date: October 4, 2016 Format: eARC Number of pages: 268 Genre: Young Adult, Science Fiction, Fantasy

“Nell Crane has always been an outsider. In a city devastated by an epidemic, where survivors are all missing parts—an arm, a leg, an eye—her father is the famed scientist who created the biomechanical limbs everyone now uses. But Nell is the only one whose mechanical piece is on the inside: her heart. Since the childhood operation, she has ticked. Like a clock, like a bomb. As her community rebuilds, everyone is expected to contribute to the society’s good . . . but how can Nell live up to her father’s revolutionary idea when she has none of her own?

Then she finds a mannequin hand while salvaging on the beach—the first boy’s hand she’s ever held—and inspiration strikes. Can Nell build her own companion in a world that fears advanced technology? The deeper she sinks into this plan, the more she learns about her city—and her father, who is hiding secret experiments of his own.”

“Secrets, Nell, are the most important thing when it comes to changing the world. Not always the keeping of them but the timing of their release.”

HOLY SHIT THIS BOOK IS IMPOSSIBLY GREAT

In Black Water City, there are three rules:

1. The sick in the Pale, the healed in the Pasture.
2. Contribute, at all cost.
3. All code is blasphemy.

Nell always thinks that she’s like a clock – or perhaps a time bomb. She’s ticking from the inside because of her mechanical heart. Every second of the day, she ticks. She feels like she’s a time bomb ticking, waiting for the right time to explode. She likes learning, likes building yet she is struggling to figure out what contribution to her healing and broken-down city will she make.

Reading the blurb, I immediately thought of Pinocchio, a boy made from wood that suddenly came to life. And Spare and Found Parts gave me its own unique version of Pinocchio I was expecting.

If you guys don’t know me yet, I love books where revolutions occur, where people can stand up for what they think is right, a book full of strong characters. I never expected it, but Spare and Found Parts fulfilled my need for those too.

She would be a new woman, unveiling a new man. A new man, a door, a key.

Penelope “Nell” Crane, this female main character is like no other. First thing I love about Nell is her desire, her desire to thrive, achieve her dreams and make something greater than what her father and mother achieved and contributed to their city. Her desire to build and create things is alive, burning. There’s passion and will burning inside Nell.

 

Nell’s character development was on point. I’ve gone from pitying her to admiring her to hating her and loving her. From “God, she deserves to be happy” to “God, she’s sick.” real quick. She’s incredible and unbelievable. You know what she is thinking, but you’ll never guess what she’ll do next.

“I am your maker,” you say. I open my eyes again and . . . love. Yes, this is love. Your hand is wrapped around mine. This is what it is to be alive.

 

Io, the machine Nell Crane made, he’s making me lost for words.

I’d know your heartbeat anywhere. Ten thousand songs, and it is still the most marvelous thing I have heard.

 

Have you ever fell in love with something that is definitely not a human? With a machine? How can a machine make me fall in love? How can a machine make me feel pain? How can a machine make me laugh? How can a machine bring me to tears?

I am the product of the greatest minds that ever walked this planet. I am the last of my kind. Because of creations like me, your people poisoned one another to death. Might like mine draws wonder and terror, and in the year I was programmed I was as powerful as any god your people ever had. I will not let you make the same mistakes again.

Io, his point of view will never make you confused. He’s a machine. His brain is a computer. He’s working because of a computer. A point of view not of a human but of a machine is definitely new for me. I thought it would be confusing, but it did not. Reading how a computer works or perhaps how a computer thinks (I really don’t know how to address it) is astounding. He knows almost everything. How complex he was made is nothing compared to what complex things he can grasp. He was made – and written excellently. And I will never doubt Io’s capability of making his readers fall in love with him, because I already did.

“I always thought that someday something would happen that would shake up your perspective and that finally”—he exhaled deeply, these awful words—“you might see me how I see you.”

 

Oliver Kelly. “Why and how, Oliver?” That’s the question I want to ask him. Like Nell, I don’t like him at all but his perseverance made me changed my mind. He’s not a swoon-worthy type of guy. He’s just a smart and ambitious teenager who’s foolishly in love with Nell Crane since they were a child. There are actually nothing special about Oliver. He can even actually be annoying and irritating at times, but Oliver’s perseverance and ambitiousness made me like him at some point especially that despite of being ambitious just like Nell’s father, he is still always on Nell’s, their city’s, and on the good side. I don’t know why, but I honestly love and I’m thankful that Oliver Kelly exists.

Jullian and Cora Crane reminds me of Carry On’s Simon Snow’s parents. Nell’s parents are far too ambitious and greedy – greedy both for knowledge and glory regardless of the price.

The characters have different purposes for their city and the story. I love how well they all developed especially Nell and Oliver. That was on point and something to look up to.

Sarah Maria Griffin’s writing was excellent and fresh, just another author to watch for.

There’s always something new, something different and something to always look forward for in this book. Spare and Found Parts is nothing like I’ve ever seen before. It’ll never disappoint you. You’ll feel alive from the start to the end. Your mind will keep working, as alive as Nell’s.

Spare and Found Parts also kinda reminds me of Melophobia. If people on Melophobia were afraid of music and they see music as bad influence that causes people to commit crimes, people on Spare and Found Parts are afraid of machines, technology and information. They believe that machines or computers are the main reason for the epidemic which caused their city’s devastation. They see the machines and computers as evil and information or knowledge as a threat and enemy.

The book was filled with too many scientific terms, mostly about technology, electricity, and mechanical stuffs. The journey of Nell assembling a machine is too complex, but that’s what I love the most. The assembly part was too precise and complicated. I cannot quite understand easily all the terms and equations but that’s what made this book more exciting and challenging. This is really my kind of book.

There are also chapters of flashbacks which confused me a little at first especially the change of perspectives. That seemed a puzzle to me at the very start but I eventually loved it as I already understood what were those chapters really are for. Those chapters give some little hints, some little clues on what really happened and what will happen next. And I really love those because those chapters definitely made me feel excited.

Soon to the end of the book, I already felt like my soul and energy had completely left my body. I felt shocked, furious, pained.

The end wasn’t a cliff-hanger, it is in fact beautiful. It was a lovely end. It was such an end full of hope but not that satisfying. There are open ends and I’ll say that I am definitely not contended. As a huge fan of those characters, I definitely think that there should be more on that end. There should be more of Nell, Io, and their city’s story.

The story is intriguing, enchanting, electrifying and exciting all through the end. Secrets after secrets, revelations after revelations. You’ll thought that you already guessed where things will lead but you’re uncertain so you’ll keep reading as fast as you could just to know if your suspicions were right. You thought you will finish it fast but you will not. The emotions you’ll feel will make you slow down. The emotions were there and it will be hard to shake those things off. The roller coaster ride of emotions plus the journey of putting things together was insane and unforgettable. What an achingly beautiful experience Spare and Found Parts gave me.

Excellently written, Spare and Found Parts is a powerful novel of hopes, dreams, family and friendship you shouldn’t miss!

 “You’re a nightmare, Nell.”

“I’m a monster, Oliver.”

Sarah Maria Griffin lives in Dublin, Ireland, in a small red brick house by the sea, with her husband and cat. She writes about monsters, growing up, and everything those two things have in common. Her first book, SPARE AND FOUND PARTS, is out now.

Find her on:

Website | Twitter

Amazon | HarperCollins

Thank you very much HarperCollins International for providing me an eARC in exchange of an honest book review.

 

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