Quite the interesting book. It takes place in Denver, CO and the surrounding area. Hu-bots are robots made to look like real humans and programmed to dominate all humans. The main characters are 6, a girl living away from the city, and a Hu-bot who has a bit of compassion.

Good book. This one kept me interested the whole way through. Although I wish it had more backstory about the great war and the Premier at the end. Leaving 4 stars due to lack of depth in parts of the story.

I believe that the library I borrowed this from had forgotten to label and stock this in YA section.

I chose Humans, Bow Down because it was a genre that I had not explored to any great extent. I quite enjoyed all the James Patterson I have read, all of which are listed somewhere in the description as not typical James Patterson. So, I don't really know what typical Patterson is.

In any case, I quite enjoyed the book even though the storyline was predictable. However, regardless of its predictable outcome, the trip from the beginning to end was exciting, filled with exciting, scary sequences.

The story is set after the apparent end of a war between humans and robots, or more accurately hubots. The hubots won and have enslaved humans. There are, of course, those who are planning to fight back. There is a human girl, one of the two main protagonists/antagonists, and a hubot girl the other of the two antagonists/protagonists.

I will leave the story here for the reader/listeners who choose to enjoy this book. Those of you who do read/listen to the book and have read this review, please let me know if you are also ready for a sequel.

This was kind of a cool read. Unlike pretty much anything Patterson has written except maybe the Bookshot The Dolls (which I loved). Robots vs Humans in a new twist.

Possibly some of the most inauthentic dialogue I have ever read. I was unable to finish this book, it was too painful. I am open to the possibility that this book was actually written by robots.

3/5

I really enjoyed this! So why the lower rating? Well, I'll get to that.

This is a Young Adult novel. It isn't typical James​ Patterson, as I understand (it's the first time I've read anything by him). It isn't actually written by James Patterson, as is the case with most books labeled with his name, as I learned, and to my surprise.

I was give a copy of this by a friend, and was very skeptical. James Patterson? He's that guy that mills out book after book... they can't be good...not with such vast amounts of novels being released so fast. And being popular at that! Because popular books... popular anything... tends to... well... suck.

This was a lightning fast read. The short chapters, the first person narrative alternating, and the illustrations, all made it a fast read. And over all it was gripping and exciting. This is the first time I've rated a book lower like this that I actually really enjoyed. It even has small illustrations all throughout it, which I actually really enjoyed! The illustrations added to the book, for me. I was able to picture the story more vividly on their account.

I love books about androids, dystopianism, humans struggling for survival etc, so this was a fun YA novel.

Below I will elaborate on what was wrong with this book and why I rated it lower despite enjoying it so much.

I will say this, if you can get past preconceptions of what a James Patterson novel "is", the fact of this being a YA novel, and allow the book leeway with some disagreeable aspects, it is actually a very fun book! I loved the idea of robots and emotions and the definition of humanity and the morality of humans and robots and life and death and poverty and oppression. Etc.

NOW... SOME SPOILERS BELOW as I digress into what pained me about this great little book. It's basically a rant in no particular chronology.
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Despite how much I enjoyed this book and how fast I blew through it, it could have been much better. This book has flaws, such as a lot of things not being elaborated upon in the backstory.

Why would they outlaw some hu-bots instead of merely kill or reprogram them all. Sure, one genocide doesn't necessitate another, but it doesn't make sense, given the goal was to convert all Hu-Bots using the Empathy OS or what have you.

Then there the the assassination, or attempted assassination of the premier, who turns out to be human. No clue if he actually died since he was drug into the rebel Hu-Bot limo. I can see him being re-engineered as a Hu-Bot or something. This was tossed in, seemingly last minute.

And what happened in the rest of the world??? Sure, Denver Colorado was the center of victory... but what about the rest of the planet. Were there other armies, other revolts? If not, how could they win? Wouldn't Hu-Bots from other cities or countries simply storm Denver? This is a massive unaddressed issue.

At no point do we get any more of an explanation of the Great War other than it being a 3 day war with the Hu-Bots being the victors and the human race almost exterminated.

At no point is the rest of the world even mentioned, aside from the aforementioned generality above.

Also, why have KrisBo as an android with gender confusion issues. It doesn't fit with the story, does nothing for the story and adds out of place content to the book.

...A male hu-bot, who identifies as a female. Sure it's a hot topic these days with gender being definitionally at question. I've no real issue with that, but I do take issue with how lazily and sloppily this book Incorporated it. It was so poorly done it actually affected my enjoyment of the store. It felt very much... implanted... out of place... randomly tossed in, almost as though at the last minute. It felt like "the token gender identity crisis character" tossed in by the publisher. I wouldn't take issue with it if it wasn't so poorly Incorporated into the story.

The relationship between Six and her Grandfather went from one extreme to another. From violent hatred, to seemingly random love and compassion. It was a snap transition which bothered me a bit. It disrupted the flow and seemed out of place.

And Six's brother hating her, because she got their parents killed when she was a little child by stealing bread.... she was a child... It doesn't fit. It's weak writing, that bit. Her grandfather likewise hated her for that. Again, doesn't fit.

The relationship between MikkeyBo and Six could have been done a bit better but I did enjoy it, seeing Six develop feelings for, not only a Hu-Bot,but a female one at that, was interesting. It was almost warming to read that they fell in love. But, i think the lead up could have been better. I felt the change in Six was too fast. From hatred to love. But it was better executed than the other parts with her grandfather hating then randomly loving her, and the poorly written KrisBo gender confusion.

Another thing I noticed was that it almost seems like the author, Emily, has no sweet clue how a computer works... I mean at all. None. There was no computer terminology which matches reality except the words encryption and hacking. It added a cheesy and amature aspect to the book. But it didn't bother me an awful lot.

This book ended FAST. Some rockets, bit of gun fire, one brigade pinned down, a little rescuing. An impromptu assassination attempt. A bit of lesbian human/android romance. The end. The book should have been longer, more fleshed out.

Overall, I recommend it. But you have to accept its flaws and move on.

Not aa cool as I hoped but entertaining and a quick read.

See my other reviews at Never Enough Books

The Great War has ended and the robots have won. The few humans that survived have two choices – to serve the robots they created or be banished. Banishment means living on the Reserve; a barren, desolate area of land where life is cruel and the humans often crueler.

Not every one though is content with the status quo. Six, a young woman whose parents were killed during the Great War, is one such person. Along with her friend Dubs, most of her time is spent simply trying to survive. When an attempted massacre causes the two friends to run, it sets in to motion a series of events that could either spell salvation or doom for the human race.

If the basic premise of Humans, Bow Down sounds familiar, that’s because it is. Humans create smarter and smarter robots who then rise up against their creators, resulting in war. The robots win (as they generally do) and subjugate the humans, either making them slaves or decimating them almost entirely. A plucky young human does something to garner the robots attention and while running from them somehow manages to come in contact with a secret underground organization that seek to overthrow the robot overlords.

It is a plot that has played out again and again in various media and in this book it is no different. Patterson, while definitely a gifted writer, does little to add anything new to this often overused and abused story line. And while the addition of a transgender character seeks to bring the story in to more modern views, the character herself is little more than a few lines.

The addition of oddly photo shopped pictures every few pages does little to help, either. I’m guessing that they are to help us get a picture of the characters, but I found them to be more distracting than anything else.

As much as I have previously enjoyed Patterson’s books, I found Humans, Bow Down to be rather boring and contrived. The story is nothing new and there have been others who have done it better. If you are looking for a mindless read, you can give it a go but otherwise, I advise my dear readers to skip this one.