Revolution 19 by Gregg Rosenblum (review)

Intent on saving humans from themselves, robots have initiated The Great Intervention, destroying or "re-educating" those who resist. A few people have escaped, eking out a meager existence deep in the forests and trying to avoid detection. When their encampment is discovered and their friends and family captured, teenage siblings Nick, Cass, and Kevin are determined to rescue their parents from their prison in the City, where humans live docile, constrained lives under robot control. The eldest, Nick, allows himself to be captured to protect the others from detection, so Cass and Kevin must carry on without him while Nick finds ways to avoid—or survive—being reprogrammed by the robots. This is absolutely a genre piece, with no new ground broken on the topic of human rebellion against robot tyranny; the story is also light on characterization, and the three siblings are largely one-note, typecast characters who never change or evolve. It's nonetheless very entertaining, with an action-packed story that suggests a cinematic blockbuster. Consistent pacing and a focus on plot with bursts of fighting connected by suspense-building scenes of hide and seek between the heroes and their robot foes, make it easy to overlook the shortcomings, and the writing is engaging enough that timeworn tropes still entertain. Readers looking for a lively adventure through a dystopian future that isn't hopelessly bleak may therefore get on board for this revolution and relish its obvious set-ups for a sequel.