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mar's review
reflective
slow-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? Yes
2.5
I... have very mixed feelings about this book, because the premise was really promising, and I think it covers some really fascinating concepts and themes, but the execution of it is... hm. well! Not Great, imo. Like, I don't think I would've finished it if it weren't an ARC from Netgalley - and I AM glad I did, bc I think the ending of the novel is actually really solid and narratively satisfying, concluding the character arcs quite well (though it could've been build up to more in Lal's case, honestly). Still, that doesn't make up for how I spent the majority of the book alternating between bored and frustrated.
The idea of a transition point between current society and a world where most jobs are done by auts and the societal&economic tensions that would arise in such a transition? SUPER fascinating in theory. As is the potential introduction of conscious AIs. But the book never really delved into those as much as I wished except maybe at the very end, and I was rly disappointed how little auts actually featured in the story. Seriously, for the majority of the novel all the interesting stuff just got sidelined for the sake of things like irrelevant romantic drama I could NOT bring myself to care about. Especially since none of the characters are particularly likeable, which, considering this is a primarily character-driven book, is Not Ideal. And they weren't even unlikeable in an interesting way, they just felt... kinda flat and boring and passive.
(Also, I kept waiting for the fact that Lalessentially got all her ex-coworkers and friends fired (and then had the audacity to have sex with one of them? and proceed to ghost him???) to come up, but it somehow... never... did? like. i am genuinely baffled there was never any sort of repercussions for that, no narrative follow-up?? NOTHING? bruh. okay.)
So. Yeah. Unfortunately this book did not live up to my expectations ๐
(Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC)
The idea of a transition point between current society and a world where most jobs are done by auts and the societal&economic tensions that would arise in such a transition? SUPER fascinating in theory. As is the potential introduction of conscious AIs. But the book never really delved into those as much as I wished except maybe at the very end, and I was rly disappointed how little auts actually featured in the story. Seriously, for the majority of the novel all the interesting stuff just got sidelined for the sake of things like irrelevant romantic drama I could NOT bring myself to care about. Especially since none of the characters are particularly likeable, which, considering this is a primarily character-driven book, is Not Ideal. And they weren't even unlikeable in an interesting way, they just felt... kinda flat and boring and passive.
(Also, I kept waiting for the fact that Lal
So. Yeah. Unfortunately this book did not live up to my expectations ๐
(Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC)
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent, Drug use, Grief, and Sexual content
Minor: Vomit
whatellisreadnext's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
๐๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฌ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ'๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ช๐ค๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ง๐ข๐ด๐ค๐ช๐ฏ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ท๐ข๐ญ๐ช๐ฅ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ด. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ธ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ง๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ณ๐ถ๐ต๐ฉ ๐ช๐ด ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ค๐ฉ ๐ด๐ช๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ณ; ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ'๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ซ๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ ๐ข ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ข๐จ๐ฐ.
Lal, Janetta and Rose are living in a time of technological advancement. The rich get richer, whilst the working class lose their jobs to artificial intelligence. How will they survive when they are all replaced?
This book had a lot to say, and didn't feel all that far from a genuine future for humanity. We've already seen a rise in self service machines and robots in warehouses and factories. But when I was reading this book I just couldn't stop thinking, would this actually happen?
I feel like maybe I have too much faith in humanity or I'm just a bit of a realist, but I couldn't suspend my belief enough to see this as a genuine future. People without jobs, means no money to shop in these places that have 'Auts' as staff, the whole economy would collapse. It brought up some really interesting arguments, and I did love the speculative nature of it, and how all three of the main characters represented different stances.
I enjoyed the book overall, the journeys the characters went on were interesting and that definitely compelled me to keep reading. What I will say is, they all felt like the same person, and other than the experiences they faced in the book, they had no defining features.
This one came out today and if you like robot centred books like Klara and the Sun and Machines Like Me you will absolutely love this one. But I think I've just got to come to terms with the fact that artificial intelligence just doesn't work for me, however much I want it to.
(AD-PR Product) Thanks so much to Jo Fletcher Books and Quercus Books for the gifted copy in exchange for an honest review๐งก
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent
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