
Member Reviews

May Webb has lost her job to AI, her husband is only able to find gig work through an app and they are struggling to support their two children. She is offered an opportunity to make ten months worth of pay if she is willing to have a procedure done that will slightly alter her face. In a world where technology is taking over, this experiment is an attempt to see what will happen if surveillance is unable to detect her face. In desperation, she accepts the offer and then splurges on a 3 day family vacation at Botanical Gardens, an expensive retreat lush with forests, animals, fresh fruit, real beds. The kids are horrified when May insists that they unplug and leave all technology behind. Her plan to escape reality at such an elite paradise results in unexpected obstacles and events that threaten her family.
Hum is the exploration of technology in the future, a lost Mother’s attempts at protecting her family in a desolate world. This book gave me anxiety, and made me sad although I believe that was the intention.
Thank you Simon Element, S&S/ Marysue Rucci Books for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley.

Hum was an anxiety inducing, dystopian peek into the natural trajectory of our own world, but with so much to say, I feel that it wasn't able to say enough about any one theme is attempted to explore.
May has hit a rough patch in life. Recently laid off from her job due to the rise in automation and the introduction of artificial beings into the workforce called Hums, she has been struggling to land on her feet so she can continue to help support her husband Jem, a gig worker, and her two children, Sy and Lu. After a former coworker connects her to a local startup that is apparently exploring how to surgically modify faces to become unrecognizable to the big brother-esque security networks, May has enough money to finally have a bit of a safety net for her family, and a slightly new face. She takes this opportunity to buy a three day stay for her family to the Botanical Gardens, a half fake nature oasis in the middle of the city where they can disconnect and explore urban nature. After MUCH coaxing, May convinces Jem to leave his phone and removes her children's "bunnies" or child friendly computing devices (think apple watches, or iPads on demand for kids), they finally start to enjoy themselves despite the growing tension between Jem and May that she would make such an expensive purchase when they need to save in their financial instability. After a scary incident at the gardens, the family narrowly avoids tragedy with the help of a Hum, but this is just a start to their problems as the family tries to return to their stressful lives. Dealing with the fallout of this incident and their daily lives which includes incessant advertising, distant children addicted to screens, a lack of mutual trust with Jem, and the world's eyes casting judgment, May is stretched thinner than ever, desperate for a life line so she doesn't drown.
Despite the over arching story being fairly straightforward, there was a LOT going on in this book. Each tiny chapter about May's life was filled with advertising, natural disasters, technology addiction, viral videos, and job insecurity. Just about every dialogue she had with her son Sy mentioned another depressing fact about some animal going extinct or a viral video the children were addicted to. Every conversation with a Hum was littered with advertising. Every description of the outside focused on the heat, the humidity, the air quality index, and the crowds. I understand the purpose of this, but with so much going on, it was difficult to find the message here. While this whole book might be summarized as "phone bad," I do think an attempt was made to make it more nuanced. But this was lost in the attempt at creating this building anxiety within the reader. I think that was intentional, but I don't think it was intentional to distract from the main takeaways from the story. This could have been really interesting had it been a bit more focused in what it was trying to do by perhaps eliminating some of the more unexplored themes like the dangers of "going viral," the strangely out of place tension May seemed to have with Jem, or the seeming afterthought of humanizing Hums. Overall, it was a bit convoluted for me to really enjoy. While this could have been very thought provoking, with so much going on, I fear the meat of it isn't really going to stay with me.

Absolutely loved so much about this novel. May is a wonderful protagonist whose anxiety towards AI is so familiar the more Machine Learning and everything tied to that seems to evolve daily.
Phillips is excellent at framing not only that feeling of anxiousness that comes with these advancements but also the occasional guilt that creeps up when one is forced to acknowledge still using this technology despite the ramifications of training it means you actively contribute to the unintentional harm that comes along with it.
AI exists to make our lives easier, in theory, but with the continued use of it there is the risk of employment opportunities dwindling and privacy becoming a luxury. The environmental effects of online shopping and the risk of automated cars, etc. On the flipside, the kneejerk reaction of unplugging yourself from the word to exist above it all, only makes you susceptible to something else.
I'm not the type of person to read stories that are rooted in motherhood when the children aren't adults but after reading this I'll definitely open myself up to it more, it was kind of eye-opening? I love solid portrayals of families and this was definitely one of them.
A lot of the technology in this exists sorta-kinda already which really made it so easy to imagine, which really drew me into the story start to finish. There are no wasted moments and I honestly would not do anything different. This could have easily been a story about fearing everything about technology but it wasn't that. I think a lot of people will enjoy this one and I will immediately check out more of Phillips' work.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.

I approve of this transaction! Fast-paced and anxiety provoking, Hum is a perfect blend of problems in our current society and how they may look in the not-so-distant future. I am not often drawn to science fiction novels, but I was drawn to Helen Phillips' exploration highlighting our society's deeply entrenched consumerism and judgement towards motherhood. I loved the main character May and could empathize with her hopes and fears related to her family.
An intimate portrayal of a family, the difficulties with everyday life, and how just a few minutes can alter your future. I often found myself reflecting on my own motherhood and how I would have responded if facing the same challenges as May. In a world of technology and influence, this book may make you want to unplug - in the best way!
Thank you so much to Simon Element, S&S/ Marysue Rucci Books, and Net Galley for an ARC of this book! I really enjoyed it and hope others will have the same experience.

Reminiscent of a Black Mirror episode. Very thought provoking and horrifying, especially in a world where technology seems to be advancing at an alarming rate.

This book gave me such anxiety! It is hyper consumerism/capitalism with AI/robots, about motherhood and family. A must read!
I just reviewed Hum by Helen Phillips. #NetGalley