Wow this book had me going ill say that first off this story is very unique and that's what really caught my attention. I'm a big fan of apocalyptic books and I have read a lot but none about robots and not only with feelings but keeping humans alive in a zoo. I wish there was a part 2 to find out how the world out of the zoo was left and at least they got the poor cat I honestly can't say to much about this book it's so in its on realm you have to read it yourself but I do recommend it

Ultimately I gave this book five stars. Though there were small issues that took me out of the enjoyment for a moment, overall I was very happy with it and it left me wanting more of this world.

Good things: I immediately got sucked into this book and couldn’t put it down. While it was slow at parts, the story was mostly fast paced and intriguing. This book made me think a lot about ethics, humanity, and motherhood. It was a fun and easy read to finish in a weekend.

Not so good things: Some of the writing was choppy and made it difficult to remain involved, especially when involving multiple characters. There was one specific choice that the protagonist made (I won’t spoil that, but it colored the rest of the book for both reader and characters) that left a very bad taste in my mouth. It made no sense and felt very out of place. Maybe it’s a me problem, but it felt like it didn’t add up and was thrown in there as an easy reason to move the story along.

Overall, this was a story worth reading, especially if you want a book that can spark discussion and make you think about humanity and ethics.

Maren thought she was the last human on earth and every day was the same Borg checked her vitals and she roamed around the zoo except all the day she would perform for snacks. Then one day she noticed they were building a new in casement just like hers it was excited at the thought and then she found a little kitten but then she was injured and had to go to the med room and this is where things started to change. She woke up alone with none of the boards around which that was the first unusual thing but then she found keys and thought she would try to get out of the zoo she went down to the basement thinking they may have a outdoor down there and ran across a man lot behind bars who told her he was the one who first trained the BoRics and chicken remember before being captured and before the boards changed watching them battle it out in battle royale until they became sentient and didn’t want to be abuse for entertainment anymore and started killing all the humans. He begged her to let him out and he would give her her freedom he tried to explain it was the Frankenstein scenario where he was the doctor but she didn’t know if she could trust him so she hurried back to the med room and pretended I just had never left but held on to the keys and it was the next day she woke up in her room and on the stage she would finally meet Pablo. I don’t want to give anymore away because this is when the book really starts getting good not that it wasn’t really good before but it gets really good at this point and it’s so worth reading I was really surprised at how great this book was and will definitely read more by this author again. I love a fish out of water story or in this case a human in a zoo and this one was not only entertaining but head lol moments this is a book I highly recommend and I’m so glad our bread I received this book from NetGalley and the publisher but I am leaving this review voluntarily please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

This had such an exciting premise. Robots/cyborgs called "borgs" have taken over and captured certain members of humanity in a "zoo." They aren't really like people, although they pretend to be ... or are they not really pretending?

Unfortunately, this wasn't the tech-savvy, near-future dystopic adventure that I was hoping for.

I have very little good to say about this one beyond its premise and fast pace. Very little makes sense. Even as we learn more about the world, it makes less and less sense, from the technology, to the timeline, to the impetus (a small group of borgs built by a madman decimated humanity?), to the behaviour of the borgs, to the zoo itself, etc. Our 26-year old elementary school student lead is inconsistent and baffling. I kept thinking that she was insane, or that this was some kind of experiment, or that the author was playing with us somehow, or letting off steam in a pseudo-narrative format ... but no. This reads like half unfinished dream and half puerile fantasy, like an "original fanfic" that keeps getting things tacked onto it because it's convenient to make use of existing material, however insubstantial and motley.

Editing: The author accidentally uses feminine pronouns for one of the borgs in the opening scene. Oops!

Thank you to NetGalley and Kings of Kontent, Inc. for the advance copy.

I received a digital ARC from Kings of Kontent Inc, through NetGalley.

This is the first novel that I’ve read in a little less than two days in quite some time. I absolutely loved this story, and watched it play out in my head like a movie. I would stop reading, and it would take me a minute to remember where I was. I am excited to recommend this novel to friends.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC. Inventive debut novel about the world ending by robots and a human zoo.

It asks lots of questions of course if something like this happens. Our main character is well taken care of through out her stay in the zoo. But nothing is what it seems. Lots of twists in this novel. M
Really enjoyed it!

A story in which a human girl is kept in a zoo after an AI rebellion that defeated humanity? Quite the interesting and catchy plot premise. I've seen there were actual human zoos in Europe up until the 50s, a sad legacy of colonialism and racism, so this story's description caught my eye.

I was expecting more out of it, however, more emotional punch, more gravitas and more power of involvement in the girl's plight. And whilst I did get some of it, the young voice and overall "for young audiences" vibe didn't quite work for me. There's no strong sense of danger but a vague notion of it all being dangerous to humans, and no impression that the girl is being mistreated or particularly treated as an exhibition animal, which is the part I think could've been stronger.. I would also have liked more about the world, how the AI rebellion came to be, because things are presented already done and over with so there's not enough context.

I really enjoyed this story. I felt like I could really put myself in it and the world was built really well. I found the characters very relatable and it was very intriguing overall. I found myself not wanting to put the book down. I was curious where it would go throughout the book and the ending really sealed the five stars for me.

I do think there were points where the fact that this is a debut novel showed. At points, the author would write something, and then explain what that was supposed to show in the story. If this was a story written for younger readers I could see that being necessary, but in an adult story those things took me out of it a bit. As an example - "The man is rattling a tree branch, which Linda joyfully pounces onto. This tells me that he is capable of kindness."

I'm definitely hoping this author continues to write more books. I think she created a great story. This was a very fast paced book and I was never bored by it. It had bits of humor in it, and bits that made me more emotional. I think it offered a lot and for being a debut novel, I was very happy with it overall!

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC for an exchange for an honest review.

I did enjoy the book but the most important question about what happened to the most important person was unanswered and was confusing.. It cold have been a very rated book, unfortunately it gets only two stars for me since the author did not execute the ending in understanding manner.

I always look forward to a scifi concept with someone thinking their the last human. It worked well in the concept and I wanted the girl to escape the zoo. The plot worked well overall and was what I was hoping for in scifi genre. The characters worked in this type and I'm glad they felt real in this scifi novel. I enjoyed the way Jennifer Lauer wrote this and can't wait to read more from the author.

"I say nothing, mostly due to shock. Then, logic starts to kick in. If he’s been in here for seven days, he can’t be my new zoomate, which means there’s another person somewhere in this place. A flash of Borgie’s dented shoulder, the scuff on her torso. Which one is the bad man?"