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Anne Frank meets mecha sci-fi genre.

86 is a book that deals with very interesting subjects such as fascism, racism and all kinds of discrimination combined with aspects of the usual mecha genre, full of action, friendship and even romance to a certain degree.

The story is heavily influenced by world war 2, which is even said by the author herself. Right from the start we're thrown into, at the first glance, perfect highly developed country called the Republic, which is inhabited only by pure people with white hair (Alba). Our main character, Lena, a republican soldier with a strong sense of justice is assigned as a ... handler to the Spearhead Squadron. She represents a teen girl learning the truth of the sad world she lives in, learning about the pain of the so called Eighty-Six who have been dehumanized to the point where their own country (the Republic) treats them as pigs whose only job is to fight the Legion, machines created by the fallen Empire, with the sole mission to destroy the enemy. The other main character, Shin is an Eighty-Six that used to live in the First sector of the Republic but eventually, like everyone else who was unfortunate enough to be different from Alba, ends up in the military. And "somehow", he managed to survive longer than everyone else, eventually becoming the captain of the Spearhead Squadron.


"Therefore, if you were to define someone speaking a different tongue, someone of a different color, someone of a different heritage as a pig in human form, any oppression, persecution, or atrocity you might inflict upon them would never be regarded as cruel or inhumane."
- Vladilena Milize, Memoirs

This quote is something that is really interesting to look at because, even though this book is heavily inspired by world war two and position of jews at the time (the Eighty-Six from the book) it's also a story that feels rather modern. Discrimination that is shown is also part of the modern world. Topics such as racism, discrimination are presented in a way that feels applicable, relevant to modern world, and some authoritarian governments today.


Now, as for the minor problems I found within the novel:

There are plot holes in the story, some things don't exactly make sense.
Side characters are sometimes hard to understand, not as memorable and somewhat badly written.
Tech used in this world isn't explained the best and it is kind of hard to understand how all these things function.

As for the positive things,

main characters are very likeable although Lena is annoying at some points; they are well written with a good backstory, world building is good, action is nicely done, up to the smallest details of mecha vehicles, guns etc.
It's a really interesting story that you can't help but keep reading, I mean how could you not when you see the art of a beautiful Vladilena in her uniform and her garter-belts that our author herself seems to like a lot.
Questions just keep appearing in your head and with every chapter you just want to learn more about the world, to figure it all out.
But the absolute best thing about the novel is the way it sends us a strong message about the cruel world everyone lived in during world war 2, during the war between the Republic and the Legion and what's the most important thing it even applies to the somewhat corrupted society that is as it is today.

"Freedom and Equality are ideals far too premature for us, Lena. For us, for all of humankind... And perhaps they will always be"

I'll end the review with the quote that could sum up the main thing this novel wants us to realize and change, something that is very much seen in the modern world, something that has to be fixed, something that people unfortunately have to experience even today, something all of us see in everyday lives but mostly ignore.