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A review by gayathiri_rajendran
If You, Then Me by Yvonne Woon
4.0
If You, Then Me by Yvonne Woon is a YA contemporary set in the tech world. I was pleasantly surprised by this book. It was an enjoyable read.
Xia is a high school student who is a computer genius. She creates an AI which she names Wiser, who gives advice to Xia which she might give if she was older. She lives with her single mom who is mostly away for work. Xia creates Wiser mainly to keep herself company since she is alone most of the time. She applies to go to the Foundry, a finishing school in California for tech prodigies and gets in. After getting permission from her mom, she moves to California.
The majority of the book is set in Silicon Valley with it's cutthroat companies and start ups. The background given was very detailed. The rest of the story follows Xia and how she navigates in this world. Xia struggles with the classes and when her tech idol Mitzy notices her, Xia starts following her around losing sight of her priorities. This book also focuses on several other themes like work ethics, values and integrity. It also touches upon the gender bias in the tech world.
There's also the underlying layer of a person called ObjectPermanence who Xia messages regularly who also goes to the Foundry. The mystery of who it could be keeps us on our toes throughout he book and the result is somewhat unexpected. Xia makes a lot of mistakes throughout this book but her character was very relatable and her vulnerabilities felt real.
The ending felt a bit rushed but it was a quick, breezy read!
Xia is a high school student who is a computer genius. She creates an AI which she names Wiser, who gives advice to Xia which she might give if she was older. She lives with her single mom who is mostly away for work. Xia creates Wiser mainly to keep herself company since she is alone most of the time. She applies to go to the Foundry, a finishing school in California for tech prodigies and gets in. After getting permission from her mom, she moves to California.
The majority of the book is set in Silicon Valley with it's cutthroat companies and start ups. The background given was very detailed. The rest of the story follows Xia and how she navigates in this world. Xia struggles with the classes and when her tech idol Mitzy notices her, Xia starts following her around losing sight of her priorities. This book also focuses on several other themes like work ethics, values and integrity. It also touches upon the gender bias in the tech world.
There's also the underlying layer of a person called ObjectPermanence who Xia messages regularly who also goes to the Foundry. The mystery of who it could be keeps us on our toes throughout he book and the result is somewhat unexpected. Xia makes a lot of mistakes throughout this book but her character was very relatable and her vulnerabilities felt real.
The ending felt a bit rushed but it was a quick, breezy read!