A review by artsymusings
Everything About You by Heather Child
3.0
'Is there some overarching power of the smartface that gives everyone what they want, by hook or by crook?'
So Everything About You is definitely quite similar to an episode of Black Mirror in the way that it's about the dangers of living inside an echo chamber and how virtual assistants are basically nightmare fuel for someone who's already emotionally vulnerable. Yet it's somehow lacking.
The world-building of Everything About You is quite well-executed as the world has advanced to the point that there are scarves with internal heat, drone takeaways and the extreme prevalence of personalization tech. Unfortunately, that also means that every technology that's introduced in the book comes with deep reflections attached to it that it becomes almost boring to read about how nothing is safe in a world that relies this much on technology.
Yet for all the world-building, the main character seems to be as clueless as the reader as to how her own world works so every discovery or a plot twist comes with the question of how come Freya didn't have a clue which kind of became annoying at some points because of its repetitiveness. Nevertheless, reading about Freya's relationship with her missing foster sister and then with her personal assistant with the same personality was eerie, thought-provoking and lead to some great discoveries about Freya herself.
In the end, though everything that happens in Everything About You makes technology looks like the big bad from every angle and I can't imagine that there's not even a single positive thing to be said about it here. So despite not being wholly impressed with the big, predictable reveal and being slightly put off by where the book itself ended, I think it tackles an interesting concept that might be more enjoyable for readers going in with lower expectations.
Favorite quote: 'Everyone gets what they want. But a little too much. It's always interesting to see what someone does when they get too much'
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Another Black Mirror-sounding book! KEEP 'EM COMING
Tragedy siblings? Tragedy siblings.
So Everything About You is definitely quite similar to an episode of Black Mirror in the way that it's about the dangers of living inside an echo chamber and how virtual assistants are basically nightmare fuel for someone who's already emotionally vulnerable. Yet it's somehow lacking.
The world-building of Everything About You is quite well-executed as the world has advanced to the point that there are scarves with internal heat, drone takeaways and the extreme prevalence of personalization tech. Unfortunately, that also means that every technology that's introduced in the book comes with deep reflections attached to it that it becomes almost boring to read about how nothing is safe in a world that relies this much on technology.
Yet for all the world-building, the main character seems to be as clueless as the reader as to how her own world works so every discovery or a plot twist comes with the question of how come Freya didn't have a clue which kind of became annoying at some points because of its repetitiveness. Nevertheless, reading about Freya's relationship with her missing foster sister and then with her personal assistant with the same personality was eerie, thought-provoking and lead to some great discoveries about Freya herself.
In the end, though everything that happens in Everything About You makes technology looks like the big bad from every angle and I can't imagine that there's not even a single positive thing to be said about it here. So despite not being wholly impressed with the big, predictable reveal and being slightly put off by where the book itself ended, I think it tackles an interesting concept that might be more enjoyable for readers going in with lower expectations.
Favorite quote: 'Everyone gets what they want. But a little too much. It's always interesting to see what someone does when they get too much'
-------
Another Black Mirror-sounding book! KEEP 'EM COMING
Tragedy siblings? Tragedy siblings.