Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I will be the first to admit that I am very hesitant about AI and emerging technology. I think we're moving quickly with advances and there are tons of issues and side effects that we haven't stopped to think about. This book did nothing to assuage my fears.

Josh has decided to exact revenge for the death of his adult daughter, Emma, following a bio-chip implantation. The story is told from two points-of-view, the first being transcriptions of vlogs from Josh, and the second being an editor at a publishing house that received the vlogs via email. The editor is crucial to understanding how the vlogs are transcribed, but I felt no attachment to her character at any point and was almost annoyed when her editor notes were inserted between chapters. The pacing of Josh's chapters were well-done and his descent into crazed fervor was like a train wreck - hard to watch but harder to look away.

I think this novel raises some interesting and valid concerns about our not-so-distant technology. It was an engrossing story but not impossible to put down; in fact, it took me longer than usual to finish this one and I'm not sure why. Overall, it was a thought-provoking read and one I will be thinking about for some time.

I'm sad to say that I had to DNF this about 65% in. I could not stand the characters and my irritation grew for every page.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the eArc in exchange for my honest opinions.

I requested this book after seeing Mary Harrington's review on her Substack. I am sympathetic to the ideas behind the book; in seeking to alleviate human suffering, biotech threatens to eliminate humanity altogether. The aspirations of Silicon Valley are, in fact, anti-human and should be resisted. (Not with violence! But in other legal ways.) That being said, I found this book very hard to read because of how dark entering into Josh's preparations is. I almost DNF'd about a third of the way through, but wanted to see the plot to the end. None of the characters were particularly likeable - not that that is necessary for a good book - but it made it hard to hook into someone to keep me going. Emma was a frustrating manic pixie dream girl; I think she could have been more of a realized Zoomer-esque character instead of ~the most smartest unique girl who ever lived~. The last few chapters when Josh visits the church and explores those ideas was a highlight. The twist that the whole thing was a psy-op by the AI was telegraphed but still satisfying. I also wanted to briefly mention to the publisher that there were numerous Britishisms attributed to Josh that should be looked for and edited out ("A&E", "adverts", "in hospital") since he is supposed to be a native Californian.

this book was so good! I love reading about and thinking about these types of potential future issues with all of the possibilities of AI in our current world. It definitely makes you think, and it is very broad, no one knows exactly what will happen.

Thank you to NetGalley, to the author, and to the publisher for this complimentary ARC in exchange for my honest review!!!