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wordsareworlds's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Overall, it's a good first novel and I enjoyed the writing style and variety of cultural touchstones that I feel like barely exist in most American books. Tonally, it lives somewhere weird in the space of spec fic, spy thriller, and women's lit and I found that a bit jarring. The pro-military language and PoVs felt kind of heavy-handed at times, and the book emphasizes America's bigoted relationships with Muslim nations.
It's been a while since I finished this book, and I'm still not sure I feel satisfied by the ending. We're definitely left with the sense that things are still evolving and changing, but the major reveals and climax felt rushed, and then very little time is spent on the implications of all those changes. It's absolutely thought-provoking on many levels, and I still think about aspects of the world building and conflicts regularly. I do recommend it if people are in the mood for a strong debut that tackles the ethics of artificial intelligence, performance enhancement and bodily autonomy and how those all fit into a ultra-capitalist global gig economy.
CNs violence, drug use (pharmaceutical, legal, performance enhancing - this is a major part of the world building and normalized across global population), addiction, grief, unexpected pregnancy, abortion, chronic illness, reflection on past miscarriage, religious-based terrorism, racism (called out on page), seizures, body modification, attempted sexual coercion
It's been a while since I finished this book, and I'm still not sure I feel satisfied by the ending. We're definitely left with the sense that things are still evolving and changing, but the major reveals and climax felt rushed, and then very little time is spent on the implications of all those changes. It's absolutely thought-provoking on many levels, and I still think about aspects of the world building and conflicts regularly. I do recommend it if people are in the mood for a strong debut that tackles the ethics of artificial intelligence, performance enhancement and bodily autonomy and how those all fit into a ultra-capitalist global gig economy.
CNs
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Chronic illness, Drug use, Violence, Pregnancy, Racism, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Body horror, Gun violence, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Miscarriage
anxiousnachos's review
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.75
Machinehood is a dark picture of our future, a future where gig work dominates, where AIs and robots do most jobs and where people can design drugs in their own kitchens. The worldbuilding in this is phenomenal and absolutely the best part of this book. I am absolutely loved that though this is set 100 years in our future, little tidbits are dropped (e.g. the line about Arizona abortion law) to see how we got from where we are now to where the world in Machinehood is, making it all the more terrifying and realistic. The world itself is also just fascinating, this world where funders hire people to design drugs in their own kitchens, the reliance on pharmaceuticals to do anything. There are hints dropped about a pandemic era that occurred that led to this which was particularly eerie and unsettling now.
What I was less sure of was Welga, one of the POV characters. She was a bit too “pro US/our military is the most ethical even though they abandoned me and my team and left us for dead” for me (not a spoiler). I will say, it’s definitely a novel that makes you uncomfortable and will make you think regarding the worldbuilding around military and protest and pharmaceutical companies though I’m not sure it always felt *intentional*.
But altogether, a very interesting read with an absolute fascinating world!
Content warnings: abortion, forced pregnancy, miscarriage, gore, drug use, addiction, withdrawal, violence, gun violence, war, racism, death, assault, body modification
What I was less sure of was Welga, one of the POV characters. She was a bit too “pro US/our military is the most ethical even though they abandoned me and my team and left us for dead” for me (not a spoiler). I will say, it’s definitely a novel that makes you uncomfortable and will make you think regarding the worldbuilding around military and protest and pharmaceutical companies though I’m not sure it always felt *intentional*.
But altogether, a very interesting read with an absolute fascinating world!
Content warnings: abortion, forced pregnancy, miscarriage, gore, drug use, addiction, withdrawal, violence, gun violence, war, racism, death, assault, body modification
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abortion, Pregnancy, Miscarriage, Gun violence, Violence, Drug abuse, Addiction, Gore, and Death
Moderate: Racism, Sexual assault, and War
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