Only One Opinion (Girl Parts)

Review of Girl Parts, by John M. Cusick

Quickie: It was unsatisfactory to me

Full: I thought that the story line was fascinating and held much potential, but was ultimately disappointed. The concept was interesting: Help disassociated boys (why just boys?) who were too wrapped up in technological gadgets form appropriate relationships with the opposite sex by giving them a "Companion"... aka a fembot. This fembot was programmed to give an electronic shock to the boys if they tried to cop a feel or whatnot before a certain amount of time. The rich snotty boy, David, gets a fembot and once he discovers that she has no "girl parts" shuns her and makes her feel worthless. She runs away, right into Charlie- the quiet misfit boy. Charlie feels more comfortable with her since she isn't real, and befriends her. Things happen (I won't spoil everything for you!) and the fembot gets taken back by the company.

My main complaint with the book is that it was undeveloped. There was so much untapped potential! The character of Doctor Roger, for example. He's a strange new guidance counselor who recruits the boys into the "Companion" program. There is a scene where Dr. Roger is sitting with Charlie, and Charlie discovers that Dr. Roger's "private" meetings with him were in truth being recorded, probably by the big company. In anger Charlie runs out of the room. That's it. I sat there a moment thinking, "That's it?". No pursuit. No anything. No ramifications of any kind. Dr. Roger himself could have been totally awesome in his creepy all-knowingness, but he just lacked.

Another problem I had was the ending. I wasn't satisfied. You don't really know the fate of the fembot- who by the end I was respecting and wishing well. The boys only know that the company has reclaimed her. Was she decommissioned? Torn apart? Reset? You never find out. I really wanted her to run away and live her own life.
It seems to me that this is a book for boys. *shrug* I think it might be one of those books that I just plain didn't get. A lot of it focused on sex, and teen males wanting sex sex sex. Both boys do end up getting sex, which was.. odd. There wasn't much of a lesson, if there was supposed to be one. Honestly it was hard to tell.

I give this book 3 stars out of 5.