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shermansays's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Addiction, and Chronic illness
Minor: Abortion
brenreads's review
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
I thought the world-building was fantastic. The ending felt a bit rushed for my taste I would have loved to see more happen on Eko Yi but all in all this book is fantastic, thought provoking, and filled with twists I didn’t expect. Would definitely recommend if you’re into A.I. and technology ethics.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness
Moderate: Abortion, Violence, Addiction, and Murder
Minor: Xenophobia, War, and Sexual content
liam_bennett03's review
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content
Moderate: Abortion
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
tigger89's review
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I like my sci-fi with a heavy helping of philosophy, so this book was my jam. What does it mean, to be an intelligent life form? How do we assign value to entities in society? Who should be given priority, when resources or jobs are scarce? The world felt real to me. I don't have enough science to know if it was entirely realistic, but the author had spent enough time worldbuilding that it felt consistent with itself, like a place that could potentially be real, which is what matters to me.
One thing I didn't like was that the ending felt a little rushed. I would've liked to see more of how Welga was coping with things. Contrary to some of the other reviewers, I'm okay with how the plot was resolved. I took the "thesis" of the book to bechange may be painful, but it's both inevitable and a good thing. Stagnation is death, and we need to always keep moving forward rather than seeking to return to some kind of golden days of the past. And the ending fit with that. Between the ending as written and the fact that it felt a little rushed, I wonder if there's not going to be a sequel at some point?
As an aside, to anyone looking for a LGBTQ-focused read, contrary to the tags you should look elsewhere. I was surprised to see the tag when I added the book to my list because I hadn't been made aware of any LGBTQ content in any of the blurbs I'd read. Well, I read and found out, and I can tell you that it amounts to: one non-binary secondary character(loved them, zero complaints there), a couple blink-and-miss-it gay/trans background characters, and the use of a non-binary category when listing gender percentage statistics. The viewpoint characters and their immediate plot concerns are cis-hetero. Is it anti-queer? No, it's not. It's got some solid rep in it, and I liked that the author remembered to think beyond the binary with her population statistics. But is it queer? Not really, at least not in the sense of how we usually discuss books being LGBTQ. There's more to it than "a queer person exists in this book," you know?
One thing I didn't like was that the ending felt a little rushed. I would've liked to see more of how Welga was coping with things. Contrary to some of the other reviewers, I'm okay with how the plot was resolved. I took the "thesis" of the book to be
As an aside, to anyone looking for a LGBTQ-focused read, contrary to the tags you should look elsewhere. I was surprised to see the tag when I added the book to my list because I hadn't been made aware of any LGBTQ content in any of the blurbs I'd read. Well, I read and found out, and I can tell you that it amounts to: one non-binary secondary character(loved them, zero complaints there), a couple blink-and-miss-it gay/trans background characters, and the use of a non-binary category when listing gender percentage statistics. The viewpoint characters and their immediate plot concerns are cis-hetero. Is it anti-queer? No, it's not. It's got some solid rep in it, and I liked that the author remembered to think beyond the binary with her population statistics. But is it queer? Not really, at least not in the sense of how we usually discuss books being LGBTQ. There's more to it than "a queer person exists in this book," you know?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Addiction, and Abortion
Moderate: Death of parent and War
For the abortion CW, one of the viewpoint characters seeks an abortion due to economic reasons, but under the law she needs her partner's permission and he opposes the action on religious grounds. The resolution: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
madarauchiha's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
0.25
❤️ 🧡 💛 💚 💙 💜 my about / byf / CW info carrd: uchiha-madara 💜 💙 💚 💛 🧡 ❤️
Do you ever enjoy something, and then later on you find out the author is a sexual abuser, or a homophobe, or something like that? And then you look at the first thing you read and go ah! So that's why the themes and portions of the book felt off in a bad way.
That's this book. I thought the author was really horny in a bad way for the military. I also thought they were really weird about personhood and organic bodies not in a way relating to the plot.
I enjoyed this book. I sought out other media form this author, and one short story called 'Runtime' confirmed it. Divya has some fucked up racist ideas about trans people, and race / ethnicities in general. They're also really horny for the military. Combines these together or with anything, and you get a real bad time. The book came out long after that short story. Whether Divya has matured in their views of trans people or not I'm unaware.
I wrote about the transphobia, transmisogyny, racism in 'Runtime' here, briefly. https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/d277a718-169f-4d59-b32c-c826c4a6b03b
This book is great. It's fun. It's an interesting, unique plot--if you can get past the idea we're rooting for private military soldiers and assisting governments in suppressing civilians. If you are socially aware, then the ending makes absolutely no sense and comes off like a fairy tale wand wave.
The writing is lovely and mature. If you read YA you won't like this. If you read Hard Science Fiction, this is probably more softer than what you usually enjoy. It gets a star because it's competently written, but I can't justify liking or promoting it beyond this single review. I have no interest in engaging with Divya's works any more.
content warnings
minor child abuse, religion catholicism, sexual content,
mediums abortion, body horror, gun violence, kidnapping, sexual content, suicide, vomit
major abortion rights, addiction, child death, claustrophobia, death, drug abuse, drug use, explosions, gore, injuries, murder, outer space, pregnancy, religion catholicism, suicide bombers, violence, gun violence
Do you ever enjoy something, and then later on you find out the author is a sexual abuser, or a homophobe, or something like that? And then you look at the first thing you read and go ah! So that's why the themes and portions of the book felt off in a bad way.
That's this book. I thought the author was really horny in a bad way for the military. I also thought they were really weird about personhood and organic bodies not in a way relating to the plot.
I enjoyed this book. I sought out other media form this author, and one short story called 'Runtime' confirmed it. Divya has some fucked up racist ideas about trans people, and race / ethnicities in general. They're also really horny for the military. Combines these together or with anything, and you get a real bad time. The book came out long after that short story. Whether Divya has matured in their views of trans people or not I'm unaware.
I wrote about the transphobia, transmisogyny, racism in 'Runtime' here, briefly. https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/d277a718-169f-4d59-b32c-c826c4a6b03b
This book is great. It's fun. It's an interesting, unique plot--if you can get past the idea we're rooting for private military soldiers and assisting governments in suppressing civilians. If you are socially aware, then the ending makes absolutely no sense and comes off like a fairy tale wand wave.
The writing is lovely and mature. If you read YA you won't like this. If you read Hard Science Fiction, this is probably more softer than what you usually enjoy. It gets a star because it's competently written, but I can't justify liking or promoting it beyond this single review. I have no interest in engaging with Divya's works any more.
content warnings
minor child abuse, religion catholicism, sexual content,
mediums abortion, body horror, gun violence, kidnapping, sexual content, suicide, vomit
major abortion rights, addiction, child death, claustrophobia, death, drug abuse, drug use, explosions, gore, injuries, murder, outer space, pregnancy, religion catholicism, suicide bombers, violence, gun violence
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abortion, Addiction, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Pregnancy, Violence, Gun violence, and Suicide
Moderate: Abortion, Body horror, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Sexual content, Suicide, and Vomit
Minor: Child abuse and Sexual content
kukushka's review
adventurous
challenging
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Abortion, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Medical content, Pregnancy, and Terminal illness
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