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alexbirdreads's review against another edition
2.0
So...I'm kind of stuck here. On one hand, the book had an incredible premise and a strong narrative start. The first half of the book asked such interesting questions; what happens when we take treating the working class people as replaceable objects to an extreme? What happens when wealthy people dehumanize real children? How does wealth inequality cause so many of our kids to sacrifice their childhood to get even an inch ahead of where they start, or merely survive? Why is society prioritizing technological advancements and easy solutions (like cheaper android employees) over people and human wellbeing?
And the characters were interesting! Max was very soft, babied, and obviously sheltered from real life, but had good intentions. It was so fascinating to watch him react and adjust to reality. Josie going through the psychological struggle of masking as a someTHING instead of a someONE, and grappling with the weight of what she thought her father needed, plus the guilt of knowing what he scarified for her, adding to what she felt like was expected of her instead of what she wanted, was so compelling! And knowing that she was a kid trying to be in charge of everyone else's feelings around her just topped it off. And the Ivy twist? LOVED IT!
And then the second half just sort of...snowballed into a heap of a resolution? It felt like a totally different book. The maze was just sloppy events that were supposed to be dramatic and exciting, but instead felt very forced and rushed, and overall didn't do much other than make Max feel uncomfortable and make maybe a centimeter of character growth. The 'lore' from the events in the maze was pale and weak compared to what you get from the first half of the book. Most disappointingly, the final half seemed to drop all of the big, interesting questions from the first half! Instead of challenging a corporation that ended up turning the human experience into a product, we get...an old lady who wanted friends, and realized robots weren't the answer. Which was fine, but couldn't we have seen that reckoning/paradigm shift within the larger society? We get a nice tidy little bow of seeing the living conditions of the characters improve and, yay, everyone is friends now, but what about everyone else? What about the larger problems? It's like the book just completely forgot about that. Maybe a nice easy solution and 'characters over society' is normal for a kids' book. I don't know. But the second half of this book really did feel so different than the first. It turned from something interesting to something I sighed through and forced myself to finish.
Overall, really interesting and then it fell flat. But it left me wanting to explore the concept of what would happen to a kid growing up around A.I., and what would happen to a person's psyche from pretending to BE A.I.. So at least now I know I'm itching for robot-induced existential dread and wealth-inequality packaged in a human-A.I. society. So yay for introducing me to an interesting premise, I guess!
And the characters were interesting! Max was very soft, babied, and obviously sheltered from real life, but had good intentions. It was so fascinating to watch him react and adjust to reality. Josie going through the psychological struggle of masking as a someTHING instead of a someONE, and grappling with the weight of what she thought her father needed, plus the guilt of knowing what he scarified for her, adding to what she felt like was expected of her instead of what she wanted, was so compelling! And knowing that she was a kid trying to be in charge of everyone else's feelings around her just topped it off. And the Ivy twist? LOVED IT!
And then the second half just sort of...snowballed into a heap of a resolution? It felt like a totally different book. The maze was just sloppy events that were supposed to be dramatic and exciting, but instead felt very forced and rushed, and overall didn't do much other than make Max feel uncomfortable and make maybe a centimeter of character growth. The 'lore' from the events in the maze was pale and weak compared to what you get from the first half of the book. Most disappointingly, the final half seemed to drop all of the big, interesting questions from the first half! Instead of challenging a corporation that ended up turning the human experience into a product, we get...an old lady who wanted friends, and realized robots weren't the answer. Which was fine, but couldn't we have seen that reckoning/paradigm shift within the larger society? We get a nice tidy little bow of seeing the living conditions of the characters improve and, yay, everyone is friends now, but what about everyone else? What about the larger problems? It's like the book just completely forgot about that. Maybe a nice easy solution and 'characters over society' is normal for a kids' book. I don't know. But the second half of this book really did feel so different than the first. It turned from something interesting to something I sighed through and forced myself to finish.
Overall, really interesting and then it fell flat. But it left me wanting to explore the concept of what would happen to a kid growing up around A.I., and what would happen to a person's psyche from pretending to BE A.I.. So at least now I know I'm itching for robot-induced existential dread and wealth-inequality packaged in a human-A.I. society. So yay for introducing me to an interesting premise, I guess!
irishgypsie's review against another edition
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
szpelts's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
disnelyse's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism
librarydosebykristy's review against another edition
4.0
This was a strange, creepy story, like Black Mirror for kids.
Haddox knows how to write a story that keeps kids turning pages.
Haddox knows how to write a story that keeps kids turning pages.
therealbel's review
3.0
A fun book about friendship. Some dodgy plot points with regards to money making things better but overall a decent read.
olliebolen's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
forgottentaxes's review against another edition
adventurous
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
The writing style felt like the author was trying to spell out their message way too slowly.
savbag's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 ⭐️s A fun read! I did have to remind myself that this book is for elementary school students and thus suspend my disbelief on what this society decided to do with their advanced technology though.
djbagwell's review against another edition
adventurous
inspiring
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0