Review: Girl Parts by John Cusick

Jul 23, 2010 by shanyn

Title: Girl Parts
Hardcover, 240 pages
Author: John Cusick
Publisher: Candlewick
Publication Date: August 10, 2010
Source: Book Expo America

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Book Summary:
“Hello, David. My name is Rose. It’s a pleasure to meet you. We are now entering minute two of our friendship. According to my Intimacy Clock, a handshake is now appropriate…”
David and Charlie are opposites. David has a million friends, online and off. Charlie is a soulful outsider, off the grid completely. But neither feels close to anybody. When David’s parents present him with a hot Companion bot to encourage healthy bonds and treat “dissociative disorder,” he can’t get enough of luscious red-headed Rose — and he can’t get it soon. Companions come with strict intimacy protocols, and whenever he tries anything, David gets an electric shock. Severed from the boy she was built to love, Rose turns to Charlie, who finds he can open up, knowing Rose isn’t real. With Charlie’s help, the ideal “companion” is about to become her own best friend.

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Review:
Girl Parts has a very interesting premise, which made me seek it out at BEA. The cover is also particularly cool (and I’ve heard a lot of others agree with me on that point).

At the beginning of the book I wasn’t sure I would like it much. The viewpoint flips between David (rich jerk) and Charlie (quiet boy), and sometimes I would have to stop and remember what had been happening to David or Charlie the last time I had read about them. Unfortunately, most of the first half is spent with David, who I did not much care for. After awhile, though, we do flip to a Charlie focused narrative, as the story switches from one boy to the other.

The most interesting part of this book is obviously the Companions. They are described in great detail, almost making it seem believable that they could exist. It kind of freaked me out thinking that the guys in the book couldn’t tell they were robots because they looked so lifelike. Towards the end I actually got a little offended that all of the Companions were women – many of the boys that had them were very sexually based, and this helped to form part of the plot – I would have been more comfortable if it were an equal gender type thing. It kind of made me feel objectified as a woman.

I expected to learn the most about David and Charlie in this book, but I really ended up learning and growing more with Rose, the Companion, which is why I didn’t like it as much as I wanted to. It was a very interesting read, but I’m very much into that human growth and learning thing, which obviously can’t happen if I’m connecting with the robot.

Girl Parts is a great creative debut by Cusick. His ideas as an author hold a lot of promise – with a little more character development I could see having one of his books on my top lists. Unfortunately, this one falls a little short, but I’m looking forward to reading something by him in the future. 

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