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mangofandango's review against another edition
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
Graphic: Animal cruelty
Moderate: Confinement, Violence, and Kidnapping
This book doesn't get particularly detailed or graphic except when describing, briefly, a scene of animal suffering. But it does refer at least obliquely to pretty much any variation on "the dangers of the internet" and "why you want to be careful with your privacy in an online setting", so if references to CSA, trafficking, violence, abuse, etc would be upsetting for you, you may want to proceed with some caution.willardfillmore's review against another edition
dark
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content and Kidnapping
Minor: Pedophilia and Animal cruelty
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