The Bionics Series by Alicia Michaels

The Bionics Series by Alicia Michaels
New Adult/YA Mature, Dystopian, Romance 

(Mature Content)

The year is 4010.

Nuclear war and the wasteful nature of humans have all but destroyed the United States. A new government regime rules the day with strict laws, rationed food, and careful control. When those injured in the nuclear blasts that rocked many of the nations largest cities are offered another chance by the Restoration Project, how could they refuse?

Little do they know that the robotic additions to their body will paint targets on their backs once the government decides that they are dangerous. At the forefront of the resistance is a girl with a bionic eye, Blythe Sol, who wants nothing more than to be a normal girl. Blythe has yet to realize that normal will never exist again for her, or anyone else.

The Revolution has begun...

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War, Romance, Suspense...Full of awesomeness!, September 3, 2014

I am reviewing this series as a whole, because I read them back to back in a week's time. The Bionics 8/27, Titanium 8/28, Secrets 8/30, Spark 9/1, & Flame 9/2. 

Once I began this series I could not put it down. If it hadn't have been for my kids getting sick immediately followed by two birthday parties I would have finished it a few days earlier. LOLz 

 

Where to begin...These 5 books are are fairly short, but do not be fooled...they are full of awesomeness! Book 1 was sort of Blythe's story along with an introduction to everything this "family" has survived so far. A great beginning to a fast paced story that quickly proved one of my favorites. Book 2 was more of Dax's story which I fell for in Book 1, & was rooting for him from then on. In Book 3 we get a much deeper story for Gage (who, by now I am totally falling for), & by Book 4 I am totally pissed at all of them! They now have me completely wrapped up in their world & it is so intense between the war, politics, romances, secrets, "bromances", hate filled fury, & heart string pulling emotions.   

 

These characters are full of depth & layers that slowly wither away allowing us to grasp their inner awesome one small glimpse at a time. The first connection I made was with Blythe. She is hard & shut of from everyone except for a very few who she trusts over all others. I quickly felt connected to her through Michael's emotional retelling of her past & the amazing woman she becomes. Dax, faithful to the end, is stuck between being the BFF & the love of a lifetime. I am pulled in two different directions as Gage is now thrust into our midst & demanding our attention. Alas, Love is always just out of arm's reach during this battle filled time. And just when I fear that no one will break through that wall Blythe has put up we are smack in the middle of a heart-breaking "What If" moment. It gets real interesting real quick with all of the new characters & action added to the mix. I easily found so many endearing qualities in each of the new additions. The Professor, Jenica, Agata, Laura, Tamryn, Baron, & even Monkey Arms playing such crucial parts in this tale! I highly recommend this series to anyone who enjoys dystopian, military, end-of-world type books, freedom fighting, paranormal, romance, or any mix there of!!
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THE BIONICS SERIES by Alicia Michaels

The Bionics ~ Book 1

Publication Date: September 13, 2013

Most nineteen year-old girls are thinking about college, stretching the wings of newfound adulthood, and boys. Well, I’ll probably never go to college and all my dreams of the future are gone. I’ve been an adult for much longer than I should have been and my girlhood was stolen the minute the North Koreans dropped their nukes over the United States. As for boys … well, that’s pretty much out of the question now, too. My love life is too messy to even talk about.

I have nothing.

Except, maybe, my cause, my mission, The Resistance. It is the hope I have to cling to, I am counting on it to pave the way to my future. As things heat up and the terrorist sect known as The Rejects make themselves known opponents of society in this war, the choice to be on the side of good is harder than ever. My friends are broken; Olivia is a shell of her former self and Jenica is barely hanging on. Dax and Gage … well, we’re not talking about my love life, remember? 

The Rejects, the government, President Drummond; they are pressing in on us from all sides and the weight is tremendous. Still, when given the choice to crumble or stand, I’d rather stand. Times are dark, but we are here, a rebellion, a whisper in the dark, a spark that lights the flames of change.

FREE!!!

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Titanium ~ Book 2
Publication Date: September 10, 2013

We stand on the brink of a double rescue mission, a plan so foolhardy that even our bravest men are quaking inside with fear. Storm the capitol, free the prisoners, don’t get killed. It seems like a suicide mission, but not a single one of us has anything to lose. In my past life, I was a scoundrel; a drug peddling street thug who cared nothing for anyone because I had no one to care for me. The nuclear blasts of 4006 reminded me of the value of life, and a girl with the saddest eyes I’ve ever gazed into gave me someone to care for. Now, as we embark on our most dangerous enterprise, I can only hope that we make it out alive and that those we have lost can be recovered. Foolishness… fear… hope… These are the elements that threw our revolution into motion. As the momentum of the Resistance continues to build, we can only pray that hope continues grow larger than our fear.

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Secrets ~ Book 3

Publication Date: September 23, 2013

Before The Resistance, my life was one of privilege and comfort. Before The Resistance, mine was a mindset of naivet? and blind trust in a broken and corrupt government. Before The Resistance, I'd never stood up or fought for anything in my life. Now, there is everything to fight for and everything to lose. All for a glimmer of hope in our future. It may seem a small thing but with the smallest bit of hope, men have risen against their oppressors with fists raised, even when they knew they stared into the face of death. Now that I have found something to fight for, I can only hope that my past will not become a roadblock to my future and that the secrets I've kept from those whose trust I've gained will not come back to ruin the new life I've made. If they do, I fear that I will not only lose my place as part of the Resistance, but the heart of the girl I am slowly coming to love.

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Spark ~ Book 3
Publication Date: January 22, 2014

Most nineteen-year-old girls are thinking about college, stretching the wings of newfound adulthood, and boys. Well, I’ll probably never go to college, and all my dreams of the future are gone. I’ve been adult for much longer than I should have been, and my girlhood was stolen the minute the North Koreans dropped their nukes over the United States. As for boys … well, that’s pretty much out of the question now. My love life is too messy to even talk about. I have nothing. Except, maybe, my cause—my mission—The Resistance. It is the hope I have to cling to. I am counting on it to pave the way to my future. As things heat up and the terrorist sect known as The Rejects make themselves known opponents of society in this war, the choice to be on the side of good is harder than ever. My friends are broken; Olivia is a shell of her former self, and Jenica is barely hanging on. Dax and Gage … well, we’re not talking about my love life, remember? The Rejects, the government, President Drummond… they are pressing in on us from all sides, and the weight is tremendous. Still, when given the choice to crumble or stand, I’d rather stand. Times are dark, but we are here, a rebellion, a whisper in the dark, a spark that lights the flames of change.

 

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 Flame ~ Book 5

Publication Date: June 26, 2014

War has come to the United States. It’s been brewing for years as the government and Military Police wage war on the outcasts known as the Bionics. It’s spilling out into the streets as the militant Rejects continue waging war against the ‘inferior’ humans, the M.P.s are raiding neighborhoods and putting Bionics to death, and I am fighting alongside the Resistance to save our kind from extinction. To top it all off, the president has now declared martial law, and the rights of American citizens are being stripped away one by one.

Together, with the vigilante known as The Patriot, and my Resistance family, I am prepared to fight the impossible fight—to stand up for what’s right. From a single spark, our little rebellion has grown into a revolution, a roaring fire that will envelop the nation. At the same time, things in my personal life are finally turning around. I’m in love with a beautiful girl who loves me back, and we might have a shot at a real future… unless the enemy manages to snatch away everything that I hold dear.

 

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“I wish that I had died that day,” I admit, unable to look away from his gaze no matter how much my mind tells me that I need to. “I wish that all the time.”

He inches closer to me on the bed. “Is it really so bad? Professor Hinkley gave you and the others a second chance at life. It’s not fair that the government has decided you and others like you pose a threat.” 

I think about a news broadcast I saw a couple of weeks ago, showing a surveillance video of a man with an arm identical to mine smashing in the window of someone’s car and beating them to a bloody pulp for no reason, before pulling a limp body from the driver’s seat and driving off in the stolen vehicle. Of course the thief was found and immediately executed; no trail, no jury, no questions asked. 

“Some of us are dangerous,” I answer, and of course, it’s the truth. 

“Some people are dangerous,” he insists. “Bionics are still people….just modified.” 

“Right now your blood pressure is 124/90, your heart rate is an elevated 70 beats per minute; not bad, but still high for a healthy male that I assume is athletic. You have a tattoo on your left arm of an eagle, and a fractured rib.” 

“That is amazing.” 

I shrug. “It’s my eye. It is capable of reading a person’s body heat signature as well as their vital statistics. It allows me to pull away individual layers, such as clothing, skin, and muscle to expose what’s underneath. It’s how I knew about the rib.” 

I reach out with my bionic arm and poke the rib for emphasis, raising my eyebrows as he winces in pain. “Still think I’m human?” 

Gage reaches for my arm—my robotic arm—and grabs it by the hand. I can’t feel it, or his hand circling the wrist above it. His eyebrows wrinkle as he turns my arm over, inside facing up. He traces the inside of my arm, his fingers sliding over the cool metal and, for the first time since I woke up with that hunk of machinery on the other end of my elbow, I am wishing that I could feel the damn thing. 

“Cold,” he murmurs as he draws circles on the metal. His fingers stop on the inside of my elbow, on the line where the titanium ends and I begin. I hear his breath catch in his throat and another noisy swallow as the pad of his index finger slides over my skin. I gasp as he trails it up the inside of my arm, flesh now on flesh. The human contact that I’ve denied myself for years has left me sensitive to every touch, and I feel as if I’m being caressed for the first time. 

Of course Dax has held my hand from time to time; he’s even held me against him some nights when the nightmares get particularly bad until I fall back asleep. But he’s never touched me like this, and while I’m no virgin I certainly feel like one right now. A thousand emotions are exploding in me at one time and just as many sensations are following the path his finger traces up to my shoulder, pausing at the strap of my tank top. 

“Warm,” he says with a smile. “Only about….what…ten percent of you is metal. When I got past your elbow, I felt skin, blood flowing through veins, muscle, and…goose bumps?” 

He says that last bit with a smile, forcing me to look away in embarrassment. He holds his arm out toward me, pulling up the sleeve of his shirt and revealing a tanned arm sprinkled with light blond hair, which is standing on end. He leaves the sleeve above his elbow and holds his arm out in front of me. 

“See?” he says gently, his head way too close to mine, his breath brushing my cheek. “I have them too.” 

~ Alicia Michaels ~
Ever since she first read books like Chronicles of Narnia or Goosebumps, Alicia has been a lover of mind-bending fiction. Wherever imagination takes her, she is more than happy to call that place her home. The mother of two and wife to an Army sergeant loves chocolate, coffee, and of course good books. When not writing, you can usually find her with her nose in a book, shopping for shoes and fabulous jewelry, or spending time with her loving family.

Blog ~ Facebook ~ Goodreads ~ Amazon ~ Twitter @fantasybyalicia

Published through: Crimson Tree Publishing
(The Adult Imprint of Clean teen Publishing.)