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A review by kaelaceleste
Machinehood by S.B. Divya
4.0
3.5.
Finished this up last night and I really enjoyed it. I don't read a lot of sci-fi so this was a bit of new territory for me.
Things I loved:
- The representation! So many cool diverse characters and different types of people peppered in throughout in a way that felt natural and real. I really especially represented the nonbinary & gender nonconforming rep, with characters even saying their pronouns when introducing themselves. Love.
- The day-to-day worldbuilding. I loved reading about stuff like their automated kitchens, the tip jars, the constant surveillance - lots of little details that brought it to life. I also loved that it was set in 2095, which feels like it's not too close to present day that this was unrealistic but also not too far in the future that it puts you a lil on edge.
- The pro-/anti-machine rights movement scenes and overarching plot. I just thought it was super interesting and again, could easily be likened to issues today that made it feel like this isn't THAT far off of real life. Same with the themes of drug use and addiction with the pills - just some really thought provoking stuff in there.
- Both narrating MCs. Normally in stories like this that have swapping narrators I tend to be much more interested in one story than the other, but I really loved both Welga and Nithya, and the little shifts in perspective that showed how they see things differently.
Things I wasn't crazy about:
- All the different terminology used. Most of it I was able to pick up within a few chapters, but there were a lot of words for things in this world that I wasn't entirely sure I understood right up to the end
Overall a good read and glad I picked it up!
Finished this up last night and I really enjoyed it. I don't read a lot of sci-fi so this was a bit of new territory for me.
Things I loved:
- The representation! So many cool diverse characters and different types of people peppered in throughout in a way that felt natural and real. I really especially represented the nonbinary & gender nonconforming rep, with characters even saying their pronouns when introducing themselves. Love.
- The day-to-day worldbuilding. I loved reading about stuff like their automated kitchens, the tip jars, the constant surveillance - lots of little details that brought it to life. I also loved that it was set in 2095, which feels like it's not too close to present day that this was unrealistic but also not too far in the future that it puts you a lil on edge.
- The pro-/anti-machine rights movement scenes and overarching plot. I just thought it was super interesting and again, could easily be likened to issues today that made it feel like this isn't THAT far off of real life. Same with the themes of drug use and addiction with the pills - just some really thought provoking stuff in there.
- Both narrating MCs. Normally in stories like this that have swapping narrators I tend to be much more interested in one story than the other, but I really loved both Welga and Nithya, and the little shifts in perspective that showed how they see things differently.
Things I wasn't crazy about:
- All the different terminology used. Most of it I was able to pick up within a few chapters, but there were a lot of words for things in this world that I wasn't entirely sure I understood right up to the end
Spoiler
- The abortion plotline. Still not really sure what this was supposed to accomplish other than showing women still don't have rights in 2095? Make me hate her husband? I guess it's supposed to be more social commentary but it was the only part that felt really heavy-handed and unnecessary to me.Overall a good read and glad I picked it up!