1.39k reviews for:

Hum

Helen Phillips

3.61 AVERAGE

librarylacquer's review

2.0

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There's definitely allegory to be had here, but on the surface this is a book about parenting and the fear, joy, and impossible choices that come with it. As someone who does not have or want children, I found little here to relate to. The speculative fiction elements, as always, were what intrigued me the most. Unfortunately they weren't incorporated into the story in a way that made this narrative compelling. I enjoyed the very end and the very beginning, but not much in between.

brokenwings's review against another edition

4.0

tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

rmartin93's review

3.0

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3.5

A well-written speculative look into the near future and the role robots ("hums", short for humans) will play in our day-to-day life. Helen Phillips is a talented writer, absolutely...but I didn't feel like the synopsis accurately advertised what I actually read. It's not even that it was inaccurate, perhaps just that the main premise seemed to be a bit of an afterthought.

Went a little bit out of my usual reading realm. I would still read the author's past books and her future ones as well.

klanca's review

3.0

emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

annawhit's review against another edition

3.0

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i felt very neutrally about this book as a whole but now any time i see any kind of ad or commercial i’m like Oh God

smaxdilweed's review against another edition

3.5

medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Loveable characters: No

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Interesting and bleak (but realistic) world-building. I liked that it was a concise, defined story (and fairly short book), but the ending was a little too open-ended for my taste. 

The kids were so annoying, especially the way that they were voiced by the audiobook narrator.  

hscbilli's review against another edition

2.5

informative reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

karalyn_rae's review

4.25

dark reflective tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

kgb5183's review

3.0

fast-paced

sbee88's review

4.5

challenging emotional fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes