Reviews

The Electric State by Simon Stålenhag

mysteriouslylovely's review against another edition

4.0

4.5

smzalokar's review against another edition

5.0

Random find and now will have to go back and read the first two books.

jhayden334's review

4.0

Very interesting post-apocalyptic story about a young woman traveling to a destination provided by her small, "robot" companion. The art was lovely and helped set the tone for the work. On a random note, the binding of this edition was high quality. You don't find a lot of mass-produced signature sewn books.

thomw's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious reflective medium-paced

susanw's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.25

ladykatie32's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

juliec25's review against another edition

5.0

This is a jaw-dropping cross genre of dystopian novella and graphic novel, by Swedish Simon Stålenhag. In a not improbable enough alternative America, humankind has given itself up to some kind of augmented reality. We follow a young woman and her sidekick robot in a mysterious road trip through post-apocalyptic landscapes dominated by the sinister presence of an unknown malevolent artificial intelligence.

saravannan14's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

5.0

ptoughneighqueue's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

02/24/2025: Eerie in imagery and unsettling with it's verbal stillness.

Whether Stålenhag had long been working on the narrative or just managed to tie together several of his pieces in a cohesive matter, the end result is quietly striking. I want to know more about the world but the alure of this has always been the mystery and not knowing.

I quite enjoyed it.

novelinsights's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

This was a harrowing and heartfelt tale that captures many facets of human behavior filtered through the lens of a digital addiction-fueled apocalypse. Both the art and the writing were phenomenal. Aesthetically, this book combines so many things I love to see in art: the unsettling feeling of seeing something incomprehensibly large, the decay of human-made structures, and the unwelcome ubiquity of advertisements. I was also amazed by Stalenhag's use of lighting and his ability to work in multiple styles to combine the "real world" with a variety of stylized ads. By the time I finished this, I felt hollowed out and tender in the best possible way. I can't wait to read everything Stalenhag's created.