This had the potential to be something great but unfortunately it ended up being underdeveloped.
Elias started off as a hard-boiled homeless guy, then as soon as he returned home he regressed to a whiney teenager and his character never really recovered. I felt as if the author never really had a true grip on Elias' personality or his history. Also there were points where I almost felt she was hinting that Elias was a synth himself, but that line of thought was either a red herring or me reading too much into certain phrases.
I never really felt the romance between the leads and since Ario was a sex robot it would have helped to know he wasn't just following his programming. There were hints but it wasn't a strong enough connection for me to be sure.
The plot kind of went haywire for me towards the end, things reaching a crescendo and being wrapped up too quickly.

Had some interesting ideas on humanity and what makes us human but failed to deliver on the romance front and a solid end to the plot.

It was clear pretty much from the start that this author could write. The writing flowed well, and the characters’ voices came through strongly, especially Elias’s. Ever since his boyfriend died 10 years ago, he hadn’t been the same, and he’d been homeless because, to him, that was better than being forced to be someone he wasn’t and to live a life he didn’t want. He was partly sympathetic, partly frustrating, and overall believable. It was also revealed later in the book *SPOILER (I wouldn’t call this a spoiler, but since it wasn’t told to us right away, I’m hiding it to be safe)* that he had autism, which was why he was able to understand and connect with synths better than he could with humans. *END SPOILER* There was also a twist that I had not seen coming but that brought out a thought-provoking aspect and made me rethink my whole view of the things in the book.

I think, however, that this book could have benefited from being longer. There was so much potential and so many thought-provoking and interesting topics that could’ve been explored (like the whole thing about synth rights, *SPOILER* how Elias was trying to make them more human, how he had been in love with a synth, *END SPOILER* and even Elias’s relationship with his father), but there wasn’t enough time for any of it to really be developed. A lot of things, including Elias’s feelings for Ario, felt rushed. And as I got further into the book, the writing got more telling and dialogue heavy, things started making less and less sense, characters started changing too suddenly to be believable, and it seemed as though things were changing according to what the plot needed.

So overall, the book felt rushed and like it didn’t have time to develop everything that it tried to tackle, but it was still thought-provoking and had a great premise.

"I want to prove to everyone out there that we're capable of living ordinary, fulfilling lives," Elias said. "That's the greatest revolution of all: defying those who say we can't."

Jesus actual CHRIST this book, everyone.

Victoria Zagar has managed to write a far more philosophical, timely and intelligent dystopian in 46,000 words than most authors do in giant sagas. It was so clever, so complex, and so developed - and in 46,000 words??? How did she DO that???

For the love of all that is good and just in this world, please read this. I am mortally offended at the mere four (FOUR!!) ratings that this currently has on Goodreads. I only wish I had a physical copy so I could throw it at people's faces and tell them to read it.

I only got to 42%. I wasn't able to finish this one. It just wasn't for me. I'm not posting reviews anywhere else. I sincerely hope the book does very with other readers.