Urban Sci Fi Fantasy: REVISION

Many times while reading REVISION by Andrea Phillips, I was reminded of the Arthur C. Clarke quote "Magic's just science we don't understand yet."

The blurb: "Mira is a trust fund baby playing at making it on her own as a Brooklyn barista. When Benji, her tech startup boyfriend, dumps her out of the blue, she decides a little revenge vandalism is in order. Mira updates his entry on Verity, Benji’s Wikipedia-style news aggregator, to say the two have become engaged. Hours later, he shows up at her place with an engagement ring. Chalk it up to coincidence, right?

Soon after, Benji’s long-vanished co-founder Chandra shows up asking for Mira’s help. She claims Verity can nudge unlikely events into really happening — even change someone’s mind. And Chandra insists that Verity — and Mira’s newly minted fiance — can’t be trusted."

Quick and dirty review: I had fun reading it. Quick, easy to get into. Given the technical aspect of the power at hand, it falls into the sci fi realm. However, this also had the feel of an urban fantasy, so I'm calling it Urban Sci Fi Fantasy. This isn't romance heavy at all, even with the fiance bit. The main character has a lot of growing to do, and she did irritate me at times, but by the end I was rooting for her.

A little more info: When I first started reading the book, I thought that Mira was trying to make it on her own, but as I got to know her better, it became apparent that she's just been playing at being a grown up. I get wanting to have a low stress job and not fitting into your parents' expectations. Mira, though, felt like she hadn't moved past rebellious teen. She said she didn't want her trust fund, but she also called up the family lawyer if she couldn't make rent.

Then she discovers that her boyfriend's Wikipedia-like site can actually alter reality. At first it just seems crazy. There's no way that typing  a sentence on a website can make a guy go from dumping you to proposing, right? Then she uses it to save a friend, but it doesn't take long to see darker implications. She also meets a mysterious person who warns her about Verity, tries to get Mira to help, but is so distrusting that she herself isn't trustworthy.

It's a jumbled mess for our lead, who along the way starts realizing that she has been wasting her potential and has not been a remarkably good friend.

The tech was interesting but not overwhelmingly heavy or complex. It all seems quite magical. I'm good with magical.

Mira isn't the typical kick-ass heroine. It takes her awhile to figure things out. Once she does though, and has a very important meeting, things clicked into place in rapid succession.

I'll be on the lookout for more from Phillips.

Find pre-order links for REVISION at http://www.firesidefiction.com/books/.

[received a review copy]