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jnegankunicki's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
slow-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
4.5
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for this ARC! I have not won a Goodreads giveaway before and was unsure what to expect. I enjoyed this book quite a bit. I loved the discussion of the past, memory, and self-understanding within the context of AI. This book as a whole had an ethereal feel to it, a book that felt largely grounded in reality but with an appropriate touch of mystery. My only critique is that at points it starts off a bit too slow for my liking. All that being said, it was a good read and something I would recommend to friends who like a bit of drama mixed with sci-fi.
bayleaff's review
4.75
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for the digital ARC. I devoured this strange, gorgeously written story. The sci-fi elements mesh well with the overall lit fic tone, and some of the flashbacks tell me that Oliva Gatwood has got to have at least one amazing young adult book in her. I loved how well she captures the insidious nature of loneliness and how it can impact the way you interact with the world. The characters and the Santa Cruz/Arizona settings were so vivid, and the relationships all felt very believably messy and complicated. It was a little grislier than I expected, which I loved. It wasn't perfect — certain elements felt a little twee (not necessarily a bad thing) and the word "grin" was used about a thousand times — but I loved this book. It doesn't remind me of anything super specific, but it has elements of "Klara and the Sun" by Kazuo Ishiguro, maybe some Emma Cline, maybe some Melissa Broder. I'll def be preordering, and will probably re-read when it's published this summer.
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