'A Robot in the Garden' Book Review

This book which I am about to post the review to was a bit of a spontaneous read for me. 

On an online library of ebooks, I was searching for a certain book to read, and I casually decided to glance through the 'recently added' catalogue. The title and cover caught my attention, and I briefly read the short summary the website provided. I thought it looked absolutely adorable and fascinating and decided to borrow it. I am certainly happy I did! 

THE BOOK:

The Title: A Robot in the Garden

The Author: Deborah Install

The Genre: Contemporary Fiction, Science Fiction

The Publish Date: 23 April 2015

The Page Count: 288

The Summary: What would you do if you found a rickety robot sitting under a tree in your back garden?

For 34-year-old Ben Chambers, the answer is quite obvious: find out where it came from and take it there to be fixed-- even if it means risking his marriage in the process. 

Determined to achieve something for once in his life, Ben embarks on a journey that takes him and the endearing robot, Tang, to the far side of the globe...and back again. Together they will discover that friendship can rise up under the strangest circumstances and that Artificial Intelligence can teach a man what it is to be human.

THE OPINION:

The Plot: It's almost childish, really: a man packs a backpack and takes a robot on a global adventure. However, it was brilliant nonetheless, and I loved the quirkiness of it. 

The Characters: The realistic and lifelikeness of these characters are absolutely wonderful-- a round of applause to the author. The character development of the main character, Ben, was also realistic. A lot of stories, I realise, tend to have a character acting one way, and suddenly their views change far too quickly to seem natural. It's not usually like that in real life, I think. It's more slow and steady. The author did brilliantly at showing that. 

Tang is absolutely adorable! The way he talks, his curiosity, the way he asks questions, and his actions are childlike, though it is obvious that he is still just a robot. A lot of times when there is a character of distinct difference-- for example, the little yellow minions from Despicable Me-- it is nice to see them in little spurts, but it often becomes quite overwhelming when they appear more frequently. This was not the case with Tang. I wish he had roamed into my back garden, for I want a wee little rickety Tang of my own!

The Setting: The story first takes place in England sometime in the future, though the author doesn't say when. There are androids roaming around and a few differences that indicate it is a different time period. However, it was very much like nowadays, and I loved that. One thing you often see in books and movies based on the future is a lot of typical things one expects: flying cars, telecommunication, aliens, &c. Though all that is good and I have nothing against it all, I really loved how the author made it seem like a bit more realistic future, if you know what I mean. It doesn't seem as far-fetched as many forms of entertainment like this are. 

The Writing Style: The book was written in first-person POV, though I didn't think it too basic. It wasn't very difficult to read, but the way the author worded certain things didn't make it dull, either.

At the end, it seemed like the author was simply trying to squeeze more things into the story to make it interesting still, which held a few expected outcomes and seemed to drag on. However, it is hardly something to complain too terribly about. 

The Heads-Up: The amount of cursing was a bit too much for my taste-- though not as terrible as in my previous book review. The adult humour at some points was a tad inappropriate. Also, there were many... suggestive situations that certainly are not considered PG, and there were a few places where it mentions the fact that two persons had sexual relations.

The Recommendation: I recommend this book to people who enjoy a quirky tale. Due to the above, I do not recommend this for children or young teenagers. This is not YA fiction, which supports my recommendation and should say something concerning the audience. 

The Rating:

I found this book adorably charming. I absolutely loved the flow of everything, and if it were not for the negatives I mentioned above, I would've given it five stars.

This story made me chuckle, and the plot twists were often as surprising as they were meant to be.

I hope to find more stories like this in the future!