Reviews with content warning for Confinement - Little Eyes

I couldn't picture these Kentukis as anything other than Furbys. Doesn't matter if it's described as a crow, bunny, or dragon, my brain says Furby.

I did end up overwhelmed by how many different POVs we are given here. Instead of being numbered, each chapter is titled with a town name. Some we only see once, others several times. We see new POVs almost right up until the end, so it would take me a few paragraphs sometimes to remember who the people are.

The first chapter is essentially what you first think is going to happen in a situation like this. Also, imagine my surprise when the first chapter is titled South Bend, which is only 30 minutes from my hometown, and a place I've been a million times. Definitely makes it more real, but that was one town the book only visited once.

We do get a variety of situations throughout the story, but I don't believe any of them are happy endings. Since there are so many POVs, it also feels like we are viewing the stories from a distance (maybe in our own Kentuki ?). For me I think I would have have been more interested in delving into some of these stories deeper, and understanding the characters a bit more, instead of having some of the one off POVs.

You definitely need to have a sense of disbelief going into this, as the entire concept is something that just would not work in reality. The legality of it is extremely sketchy, security would be a nightmare, but all countries agreeing on something like this would just never happen.

Overall this just ended up as an average read for me. I felt most of the POVs stayed too surface level, as the connections with the Kentukis would be cut right as things were getting interesting. There are two more books by this author that I am interested in reading though, so I will be checking out more of her writing.

Content Warnings

kaabtik's review against another edition

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challenging mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

Read this for the Book Lust Reading Guild's BOTM.

A very unique premise that was executed well. The beauty in it was that it gave the readers enough of a glance of the world from all angles, but still keeping the story within that of the characters. It mirrored reality in a way that didn't come off as pretentious or too on the nose, which I appreciated. Also had me changing and fixing up my digital footprint lololol.

BOTM Discussion:

Q1: Kentuki
Do you think that something similar to the kentuki could ever exist in the real world? Would you like it to be?

Though I wouldn't want there to be little anonymous people in my house, something similar to the Kentuki is definitely possible. Autonomous delivery robots already exist, and drones have become more commonplace.

Q2: Owner or dweller?
If the kentuki were real and you were to receive one (you can't say no!), would you prefer to be a dweller or to own one? Why?

Dweller, definitely, as I'm someone who liked to cut back on travel expenses as much as possible lolol. A pretty shallow reason but to be an owner and to have a stranger in my house at all times is something that would take years off my life every day.

Q3: The stories
Do you think the stories were easy to follow? Which ones did you like more? The creepy ones, the ones that gave just a glimpse of a connection, the sad ones...

The stories were pretty easy to follow, and I think I liked Emilia's and Grigor's the best as they were the most intriguing. Their stories were opposites, with Emilia having little tech experience to Grigor's wide understanding of it. I didn't like Marvin's a lot as I found the 'revolution' very meh and couldn't really get behind the whole cause. I did like the touch of how the kentuki would be involved in legal stuff though, but the whole "liberation" thing was... not it.

Q4: Characters
Which character (or characters) did you like best?

I liked Enzo the best as his interactions with his Kentuki were very sincere imo. Though it turned out for the worse, I still think he was acting out of a place of love for his son — and one out of loneliness.

Q5: The vibes
One thing I really enjoyed of this book was the subtle creepiness that emerged from time to time. What about you?

I liked how it didn't shy away from the darker aspects of the kentuki being used and what was in store for them. There had never been a moment in the book that I felt safe in the presence of the kentuki, yet I could see why the characters acted the way they did. Which made it more creepy and fun to read. A bit emotionally exhausting though, not going to lie.

Content Warnings

allyjshand's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

The concept behind the novel is brilliant. I was so intrigued by kentukis and their depicted global popularity. Whilst some argue that kentukis are unrealistic, I would disagree. Given the rate at which we have absorbed technologies into our homes that utilise voice recognition and cameras, I'd argue that the us machines like kentukis is not unlikely. The whole novel was reminiscent of the dystopian TV show Black Mirror which, like Little Eyes, uses futuristic technologies to reflect human nature. To top it off, the writing was extremely fluid and engaging - making it easy to fall into Schweblin's world. However, I found the novel quite dark and graphic at times (although, this is a matter of reader preference). Also, whilst the use of multiple perspectives was seamless, I felt that less POVs could have been included to allow for the remaining narratives to be developed more. Regardless, Little Eyes is a though-provoking novel that will definitely stay with me.

Content Warnings

jhbandcats's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Reading this book is like watching an accident in slow motion where you know how awful it's going to be but you can't do anything to stop it.

Kentukis are cute little animals on wheels. People elsewhere in the world control them, seeing through the camera in the eyes. You can be either a keeper, who owns the little animal, or a dweller, who controls it with a tablet, moving around and interacting with the keeper.

The thing is, dwellers can't communicate with the keeper. There's translation software so the dweller can understand the keeper speaking - but the keeper only, not anyone else in the room - but no official way for the dweller to communicate. Some keepers use Ouija boards or Yes / No / Don't Know / Ask Another Question plots on the floor, and some keepers hold up signs with phone numbers and email addresses in hopes the dweller will get in touch.

These things are all over the world. In upscale areas, 25% of households have at least one kentuki, and the numbers are growing. Now imagine the worst possible types of dwellers - who are these unknown people hiding inside the kentukis, watching you in the bedroom and bathroom, seeing your important papers in your office? Are they sweet little old ladies or are they pedophiles? And what about the keepers? Who would want a technological spy in their home, even if it's benign?

Very, very thought provoking and, to be honest, terrifying. An excellent book.

Content Warnings

horizonous's review against another edition

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dark reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

Content Warnings

mangofandango's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

"Little Eyes" is a narrative made up of a series of alternating vignettes from the POV of several recurring characters and a few one-offs as well. That set up makes it sometimes a bit hard to follow at first, though as things go along the recurring characters firmed up for me and I could easily keep track of who was who. It's like a collection of short stories set up around the concept of the technology central to the plot - internet connected toys who are operated by a random "dweller" anywhere in the world, and owned by "keepers" who allow the toy access to their home through movement and webcam/audio. Those are one-way connections, so unless the involved users devise a way to communicate, the dwellers can see and hear the keepers but the keepers cannot tell who dwells in their device. Obviously there is a huge range of possible ways this scenario can play out touchingly, heroically, sweetly, and a zillion ways it can be absolutely horrific to consider. These short stories are basically brief explorations of some of those possibilities. I enjoyed it, and I wished for a bit more depth, exploration, and back story to some of them - which honestly, may have been an intentional choice on the part of the author, since those feelings are very similar to the one-way connection a dweller has with a keeper? Anyway, I thought it was interesting. While it's very obviously A Commentary For Our Times, it's...well, it's a fair assessment. Of course, this book leans heavily into the darkest interpretations, but we all know the darkest ones do exist in the technologies we consider (culturally, if not factually) to be benign.

Content Warnings

whatellisreadnext's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵, 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘨𝘢𝘥𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘬𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘬𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦, 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘻𝘪𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘬𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴.

They're not pets. Not ghosts or robots. These are kentukis, and they are in your home. They're everywhere. They're watching you...

I really enjoyed this absolutely bizarre book, that didn't feel that far off a realistic future for humanity. Kentukis are little robot animals, that people either buy and choose to be watched, or buy a server and end up the watcher. I loved how the book was structured, showing us the links all over the world. Giving some characters only a few pages, before a watcher drove a kentuki into a water fountain because their owner was insufficient, or coming back again and again to characters whose link lasted more than a few hours.

It had me contemplating about how voyeuristic the Internet is in general. How we post our lives and talk to strangers on a daily basis. This whole book felt like a comment on the sinister side of the Internet, and how it could evolve to be even more intrusive.

Little Eyes really got me thinking, and I adored how it wasn't afraid to go to dark places. I've had Fever Dream by Samantha Schweblin on my TBR for way too long and shall definitely be picking that up soon.

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