Book Review: Loving 4-Thur
Author: Adrien Astur
Publisher: BooksGoSocial
Publication Date: April 28, 2020
Review Date: June 21, 2020
I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
From the blurb:
“In a world where AIs are everywhere -- watching everyone, listening to every word -- those who avoid them are the outsiders.
Still haunted by her mother’s death at the hands of an AI, Exe went out of her way to avoid all AIs. When she decides to buy her first house, she discovers she’ll have to share it with an R-thur smarthome system.
She isn’t sure how to feel about R-thur at first, but as Exe settles into her new house, she notices an unexpected bond forming between her and R-thur. Just when she started to feel safe again, she receives a series of strange, encrypted messages revealing a dark truth about the AIs. She finds herself having to make a choice that will forever change her world.
Fans of dystopian sci-fi will love the rich world and engaging characters by this bold new voice in the thriller genre.”
This is a short, sweet sci fi story. A love story between a human and an AI being. The blurb calls it a dystopian story. It didn’t seem seriously, truly darkly dystopian. More of a flavor like A Wrinkle In Time by Ursula Le Guin. It’s really a love story more than anything.
It takes place in San Francisco, which I love because I’ve lived in the Bay Area for 43 years, and I always love reading stories about places I’ve lived, or am very familiar with.
The characters are kind of 2-dimensional, in the way a children’s book’ characters are 2-dimensional. In fact, I think this would be a pretty good children’s book. Like for age 10 and up, if the child is a good reader.
The part that is dystopian is the nature of ubiquity of AI and the lack of privacy that is expanding daily in our current life. The proliferation of facial scanning software, the government tracking cameras that are so wide spread and ever-spreading.
Just as Exe, the protagonist, is dismayed that her newly purchased home came with the R-Thur smarthome package, I refuse to let that kind of thing in my home. For example Alexa, and all the so called smarthome features. Not for me. It’s repugnant enough that I have to deal with Siri on my Apple products.
I dread to think what things will be like in 50 years. So I could relate to Exe’s fears about AI.
The plot was smartly done, with a good pace and nothing extra thrown in to drive the plot, as so many poorly written books use.
I came away from the book with lots of rosy, loving feelings. I give the book 5 Stars and recommend it for people who like sci fi, or even as a middle grade children’s book.
This book was self-published through BooksGoSocial. I have found that the only genre that has had luck with self-publication has tended to be sci fi. This is a good example of that.
Best of luck to Adrien Aster with her literary career.
This review will be posted on NetGalley, Goodreads and Amazon.
#netgalley #lovingrthur #adrienaster #booksgosocial #dystopian #ai
