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4.0 AVERAGE
4.0 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I loved this book - unlike anything else I’ve read. It’s a story about power, money, and technology, but also about family, secrets, and human nature. The way the story weaves together different threads - jealousy, ambition, societal forces— - through the lens of a family is great. A beautifully told, tightly woven story.
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Car accident
Minor: Vomit
emotional
reflective
tense
fast-paced
challenging
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
reflective
tense
medium-paced
challenging
informative
emotional
informative
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A self-driving vehicle gets in an accident and kills a sweet elderly couple. Who is to blame? The teenager in the driver’s seat who didn’t have his eyes on the road, his sister who screamed from the back seat and startled him, his father who was sitting in the passenger seat working and not paying attention either…or the designer of the AI that may or may not have malfunctioned resulting in the accident?
Holsinger explores the thorny ethical issues of AI using the accident as the taking-off point. That’s when this novel is at its best — when it’s considering these issues. There’s definitely a saggy middle to this book, though, as we spend a lot of time with this family on their week-long vacation to recuperate after the accident.
I did enjoy this, though — it’s a quick read and asks some important questions we should all be thinking about as AI (for better or worse…mostly worse) becomes more and more an inescapable part of our lives.