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shalini_gunnasan's review against another edition
2.0
I really disliked the main character. A lot of what she did as an adult who should know better does not sit well with me. She calls herself damaged but at the end even she realized that it's just chronic selfishness. This is not a science fiction story, it's really a romance story with a robot as the patient and kind love interest.
I did like Finn however, and the fact is this story would have been tons better if it focused on him instead, and his shackled self awareness, the fight for robot independence taking place around him, his thoughts on his own self awareness. I liked the part where the author specified that Finn doesn't see himself as human, but a sapient being just the same. That is a better perspective to explore, not idiot women and their self preoccupations.
I did like Finn however, and the fact is this story would have been tons better if it focused on him instead, and his shackled self awareness, the fight for robot independence taking place around him, his thoughts on his own self awareness. I liked the part where the author specified that Finn doesn't see himself as human, but a sapient being just the same. That is a better perspective to explore, not idiot women and their self preoccupations.
deannne's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
5.0
northwestbooksies's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
3.0
whatsmacksaid's review against another edition
3.0
Three and a half stars. While I enjoyed the first half, the story's second half picked up noticeably. I found myself thinking of Jeffery Eugenides' work several times while reading--there was a lot of upper-middle class stuff happening, like the drive to live a "normal" life and emotionally neglectful parents. The main character's mother objects to her philosophy degree, and during/after college the main character goes to work a slightly shameful job where she dresses up and flirts with the men she sells hand-rolled cigarettes to. She marries a serial entrepreneur and spends her days in the bored haze of a trophy wife.
Overall, though, I enjoyed the story. I liked Cat's journey to redemption, and I liked watching her become her own person. It wasn't necessarily my ideal cup of tea, but The Mad Scientist's Daughter was well-written and moving.
Overall, though, I enjoyed the story. I liked Cat's journey to redemption, and I liked watching her become her own person. It wasn't necessarily my ideal cup of tea, but The Mad Scientist's Daughter was well-written and moving.
patchworkbunny's review against another edition
5.0
One evening Cat’s father brings Finn home. He is to be her tutor. But Finn is no normal tutor; he is a robot, and not just any robot but a billion dollar prototype; one of a kind. To Cat, he is her friend. Her father tells her Finn’s kindness is a program but as she grows, so do her feelings for him. In a world where robots have helped humankind return from the brink of destruction, they struggle to be accepted. Is her father right? And if so what future can they have?
This book is just stunning; a beautiful story about the nature of love and the sentience of artificial intelligence. It’s a very intimate tale following Cat from her childhood through to adult via marriage and grief. The politics of the robot situation sits perfectly in the background, enough to fuel the plot but not so much that you need to be interested in robots to enjoy the storytelling. Cassandra’s prose is wonderfully descriptive and paints a vivid picture of Cat’s world. From the cottage that feels like an enchanting escape from the hostile world to the sterile environment of the glass house.
Cat’s a multi-faceted character and one you won’t always like. Home-schooled and isolated in childhood she can be a bit self-absorbed and has moments of selfishness. She takes far too much for granted but there is a prevailing sense of loneliness and your heart will break repeatedly for both her and Finn. She is a brilliant example of a flawed character that you can fall in love with. I cried bucket-loads and their story stayed with me long after the last page.
This book is just stunning; a beautiful story about the nature of love and the sentience of artificial intelligence. It’s a very intimate tale following Cat from her childhood through to adult via marriage and grief. The politics of the robot situation sits perfectly in the background, enough to fuel the plot but not so much that you need to be interested in robots to enjoy the storytelling. Cassandra’s prose is wonderfully descriptive and paints a vivid picture of Cat’s world. From the cottage that feels like an enchanting escape from the hostile world to the sterile environment of the glass house.
Cat’s a multi-faceted character and one you won’t always like. Home-schooled and isolated in childhood she can be a bit self-absorbed and has moments of selfishness. She takes far too much for granted but there is a prevailing sense of loneliness and your heart will break repeatedly for both her and Finn. She is a brilliant example of a flawed character that you can fall in love with. I cried bucket-loads and their story stayed with me long after the last page.
smolbean_reads's review against another edition
5.0
A MILLION STARS.
*Holds book to chest and never lets go* ...
Man this book was heavy. This book was heavy.
It dragged me down to a place where the whole world around me disappeared and was replaced by purple wisterias, concrete cities, curls of kudzu, electric skies, sticky summer air, thick cigarette smoke, bitter frost that chilled my bones and ghostly moonlight.
It was so good I can't even formulate proper brain function to write a review. I don't wanna ruin it with my ugly ramblings. Maybe I'll manage a proper review at some point.
*Holds book to chest and never lets go* ...
Man this book was heavy. This book was heavy.
It dragged me down to a place where the whole world around me disappeared and was replaced by purple wisterias, concrete cities, curls of kudzu, electric skies, sticky summer air, thick cigarette smoke, bitter frost that chilled my bones and ghostly moonlight.
It was so good I can't even formulate proper brain function to write a review. I don't wanna ruin it with my ugly ramblings. Maybe I'll manage a proper review at some point.
amethystbookwyrm's review against another edition
2.0
This and my other reviews can be found at http://amethystbookwyrm.blogspot.co.uk/
Thanks to Netgalley and Angry Robot for giving me this book to review.
When Cat gets a tutor she first thinks that Finn is a ghost as he acts strange and does not eat. However, Finn is a robot, and as Cat grows up she struggles to accept that Finn is not sentient and feels nothing towards her.
The Mad Scientist’s Daughter is a romance book with a sci fi twist, however, it just is not my type of book as I prefer sci fi with a romance twist (I know it sounds the same but it isn’t). I liked the book at the start with Cat as a child, as I thought it was interesting to explore about the world she lived in but as she got older I just found myself bored and the pacing slowed as it jumped through the years.
As the plot jumped forward in time a lot I felt I did not know adult Cat a lot so could not connect with her. Also I did not understand her attraction to Finn as he did not change and I could not see a spark between them. However I would have liked to get to know Finn more in this book as see how life is like for him, but I felt we did not understand him enough.
Why I have put it 2 stars instead of 1 is that the Mad Scientist’s Daughter is not my usually type of book, and therefore might be brilliant for those who like kind of genre. I would recommend this to people who like the Time Travellers Wife film (and probably book as well but I have not read it so I can’t say).
Thanks to Netgalley and Angry Robot for giving me this book to review.
When Cat gets a tutor she first thinks that Finn is a ghost as he acts strange and does not eat. However, Finn is a robot, and as Cat grows up she struggles to accept that Finn is not sentient and feels nothing towards her.
The Mad Scientist’s Daughter is a romance book with a sci fi twist, however, it just is not my type of book as I prefer sci fi with a romance twist (I know it sounds the same but it isn’t). I liked the book at the start with Cat as a child, as I thought it was interesting to explore about the world she lived in but as she got older I just found myself bored and the pacing slowed as it jumped through the years.
As the plot jumped forward in time a lot I felt I did not know adult Cat a lot so could not connect with her. Also I did not understand her attraction to Finn as he did not change and I could not see a spark between them. However I would have liked to get to know Finn more in this book as see how life is like for him, but I felt we did not understand him enough.
Why I have put it 2 stars instead of 1 is that the Mad Scientist’s Daughter is not my usually type of book, and therefore might be brilliant for those who like kind of genre. I would recommend this to people who like the Time Travellers Wife film (and probably book as well but I have not read it so I can’t say).
callidice's review against another edition
5.0
This story was utterly amazing....I had no idea that it would be as complex as it was. I loved how I got to see Cat grow up, from a carefree and curious young child, to a young woman who struggled with and tried to ignore her feelings, to an adult who finally chose to face the mistakes of her past.
I especially enjoyed seeing the relationship between Cat and Finn develop and evolve. It was hard, seeing Finn through Cat's eyes, as she always believed him to be an actual person, but kept denying to herself that there was any possibility that he could feel as humans could, since he was an android. She tried so hard to live her life the way she felt she should have been, without realizing that she was never really living at all, and went so long denying herself any form of happiness, distancing herself from not only Finn, but everyone around her.
This novel truly got me thinking about many different things - not only about Cat and Finn's relationship, but about what it means to be happy, and the choices that people make in their efforts to try and achieve that happiness, especially when they struggle with trying to live up to society's expectations.
I'm going to stop now because I'm still trying to take it all in, but all I can say is that I highly recommend this novel to anyone and everyone.
I especially enjoyed seeing the relationship between Cat and Finn develop and evolve. It was hard, seeing Finn through Cat's eyes, as she always believed him to be an actual person, but kept denying to herself that there was any possibility that he could feel as humans could, since he was an android. She tried so hard to live her life the way she felt she should have been, without realizing that she was never really living at all, and went so long denying herself any form of happiness, distancing herself from not only Finn, but everyone around her.
This novel truly got me thinking about many different things - not only about Cat and Finn's relationship, but about what it means to be happy, and the choices that people make in their efforts to try and achieve that happiness, especially when they struggle with trying to live up to society's expectations.
I'm going to stop now because I'm still trying to take it all in, but all I can say is that I highly recommend this novel to anyone and everyone.
christajls's review against another edition
4.0
This review originally posted at More Than Just Magic
The Mad Scientist’s Daughter is a beautiful book. Even if you’re not a science fiction fan and don’t care for stories about robots (side note: Robots are cool! What’s wrong with you?) this book has definite cross genre appeal.
There is just SO much to this story. We follow Cat from childhood to adulthood and experience everything in between. Her first boyfriend, bullies at school, university, marriage, the death of her mother. All the highs and lows of her life. I think this grand overview worked in the context of this story – though at the expense of some secondary character development – because we got to see the relationship between her and Finn develop, adapt and change over time. Sometimes it was sweet, other times it was pushed to the limits. There were no easy so solutions or fade-to-black happily ever afters. All actions had consequences – both positive and negative and their relationship didn’t exist frozen in time. I really appreciated the authenticity and honest of it all.
In addition what made this book so heart warming for me was the way if raised questions about the nature of love. What does it mean to love someone and be loved in return? Can love conquer all? What lengths should you go to be with the one you love. The list goes on. I thought the constantly evolving relationship between Cat and Finn (from tutor-student to potentially more) was beautifully constructed and more romantic than I would have ever expected.
Now before you begin worrying that this book is all about love, I think The Mad Scientist’s Daughter also raised some fascinating questions about the nature of human consciousness. Specially, what makes someone human and when does “sentience” become human thought and intelligence. Where is the line and how will we know when we’ve crossed it. I think these are interesting questions to be asking ourselves in an age of constantly evolving technology and ideas of Artificial Intelligence. There was one particular scene that reminded me A LOT of Hal in 2001: A Space Odyessy and I think Cassandra Rose Clarke drew some interesting parallels.
So though, The Mad Scientist’s Daughter is science fiction, it is also a romance. And it is an interesting blending of the two. There are no heroes or heroines. It is simply the story of their lives over time. I think some amazing conversations can spring from the reading of this novel and it will definitely have a home on my shelf for years to come.
Recommendation: Even if you don’t consider yourself a science fiction fan READ THIS BOOK. It is gorgeous and thought provoking and fascinating. Even better – try and get someone else to read it at the same time. It’s a novel that demands to be talked about.
The Mad Scientist’s Daughter is a beautiful book. Even if you’re not a science fiction fan and don’t care for stories about robots (side note: Robots are cool! What’s wrong with you?) this book has definite cross genre appeal.
There is just SO much to this story. We follow Cat from childhood to adulthood and experience everything in between. Her first boyfriend, bullies at school, university, marriage, the death of her mother. All the highs and lows of her life. I think this grand overview worked in the context of this story – though at the expense of some secondary character development – because we got to see the relationship between her and Finn develop, adapt and change over time. Sometimes it was sweet, other times it was pushed to the limits. There were no easy so solutions or fade-to-black happily ever afters. All actions had consequences – both positive and negative and their relationship didn’t exist frozen in time. I really appreciated the authenticity and honest of it all.
In addition what made this book so heart warming for me was the way if raised questions about the nature of love. What does it mean to love someone and be loved in return? Can love conquer all? What lengths should you go to be with the one you love. The list goes on. I thought the constantly evolving relationship between Cat and Finn (from tutor-student to potentially more) was beautifully constructed and more romantic than I would have ever expected.
Now before you begin worrying that this book is all about love, I think The Mad Scientist’s Daughter also raised some fascinating questions about the nature of human consciousness. Specially, what makes someone human and when does “sentience” become human thought and intelligence. Where is the line and how will we know when we’ve crossed it. I think these are interesting questions to be asking ourselves in an age of constantly evolving technology and ideas of Artificial Intelligence. There was one particular scene that reminded me A LOT of Hal in 2001: A Space Odyessy and I think Cassandra Rose Clarke drew some interesting parallels.
So though, The Mad Scientist’s Daughter is science fiction, it is also a romance. And it is an interesting blending of the two. There are no heroes or heroines. It is simply the story of their lives over time. I think some amazing conversations can spring from the reading of this novel and it will definitely have a home on my shelf for years to come.
Recommendation: Even if you don’t consider yourself a science fiction fan READ THIS BOOK. It is gorgeous and thought provoking and fascinating. Even better – try and get someone else to read it at the same time. It’s a novel that demands to be talked about.
colorfulleo92's review against another edition
5.0
This was everything I could possibly have wanted to night from a book. Compelling characters, cool setting with the sci-fi, robots and loads of feelings, I very rarely cry because of books but this almost made me cry but that's okay because the book was amazing. It's part about robots but mainly about humanity I believe. Such a good story