autistic MC? check
queer MC? check
trans rep? check
anti-AI? check
a dystopian space world? check
a heist? check

Kelli lives a relatively quiet and unassuming life as the supervisor of an AI that writes scripts for entertainment media when she's contacted by an old friend and flame who needs her help. It's a trap, but an interesting one, and one that brings Kelli's life into focus as an autistic, queer kid, and how far she's strayed from the issues and activist work she once wanted to do.

Copy of my review on GoodReads

This novel ticks a lot of boxes:

* hard SF with a focus on computer science, and especially generative AI / cybersecurity
* neurodivergent characters
* queer characters
* technological singularity - what happens to society when it becomes ruled by AI overlords and 90% of the population relies on basic income to survive (there are barely any jobs anymore, everything has been automated)
* space pirates, fast-paced adventure
* intellectual property laws - what happens to artistic creation when megacorporations can copyright ideas?
* censorship, and especially banning queer and political content

All those themes come together in a novel that could be an awful soup, but somehow, it works.
The exposition was quite long, and I had to "hang in there". Around 30% in, the reward came (and it was massive). This is a compelling adventure relying on exquisitely built characters, fine grained world building, and a somewhat unreliable narrator. Queer and/or neurodivergent characters are never archetypes here. They are whole people, sometimes endearing, sometimes insufferable.

<i>Ignore All Previous Instructions</i> is as much about the evolution of the main characters' relationships as it is about space pirates and AI. This was well done, with no caricature and great sensibility. I am queer and neurodivergent myself and felt "seen". It does not mean that this is a novel for queer / neurodivergent readers. The story is compelling enough to appeal to a broad audience, I would even recommend this novel to teenagers. Without spoilers, my "age" line is about sex, sheer violence and unbounded morality. There is no such thing here. You can totally gift this to a fourteen year old who enjoys SF.

Some non-spoiler highlights:
* the prompts! Very innovative idea. It totally works and provides the reader with a lot of "food for thought"
* relatable computer security content - privilege escalation, geeking about file systems, serialization attack (more of this please!)
* elaborate exploration of what it means to produce fiction with an AI

Cherry on the cake, <i>Ignore All Previous Instructions</i> features a satisfying end. There could be a sequel and I would buy it, but this works really well as a standalone novel.

This novel was provided to me as an ARC by NetGalley and Tachyon Publications. Special thanks to the editor and to Ada Hoffmann for a great novel. I will buy this book.

Ignore All Previous Instructions is a simultaneously moving and rollicking ride of action, ideas, and emotions. It's a love story and also a love letter to the power of human creativity and imagination as resistance. Beautifully queer and neurodivergent to its core, this is science fiction with heart, soul, and brains.

Absolutely loved this! I expected this to be largely a sci fi book, but that theme is secondary to the character developments. The main characters have queer representation, both for sexuality and gender, along with neurodiversity. Really interesting exploration of the use of ai (or robots as the book describes it) and their harm in oversimplifying mental health support.

A great flow and easy to read. It read to me like a YA novel, which I didn't have an issue with at all, I would have loved this in school.

The protaganosit is an autistic lesbian (same), I could relate to some elements of the character, but they definitely presented with different autistic traits than I do. At parts I felt a bit unsure about the accuracy of the representation, particularly the character's naivety, but had to remind myself that it's called a spectrum for a reason!

Hadn't heard of this author before this book but will definitely be seeking out their other books.

Ignore all Previous Instructions is a book about AI, and a book about being human. It's also a book about autism and queerness in a world of censorship that feels much like the current age.

This is a sci fi book that has space travel and such, but also feels very grounded in reality. The AI and AI company work pretty much the same way as AI in the real world, only this is a more dystopian setting where this form of AI is integrated into pretty much everything, and where all media is mostly AI generated.

The story is told through a dual timeline. The main story in the present is from Kelli's POV. She's a supervisor of a mostly AI generated show, which she has to keep within the strict rules of the company. I found the rules mentioned very interesting, and they really speak to both threats of censorship and common discourse. The show is expected to constantly explain itself, treating its audience like children who otherwise wouldn't understand. And everything is expected to be as generic as possible with super broad appeal but without much depth or humanity. Pretty much how AI works in the real world. Kelli created the character of Orlando, and while he is very limited in who he can be by the AI's rules and how much is required to be generated, he still feels like a part of Kelli's imagination, and she is a storyteller, putting as much humanity in the output as is feasible within this system, even if she does also follow all the rules to the letter.

Kelli is contacted by Rowan, her ex, and a trans man who she dated when they were teenagers and Rowan still presented as a girl. He is in some financial trouble and needs her help, and against her better judgement, Kelli goes with him.

At the same time, there's a past timeline set during their childhood, when they went to school together, and this feels a bit more YA, but it's also quite heavy. It's about growing up queer and neurodivergent in a world that is quite hostile to these things. The past timeline is all from Am/Rowan's POV, and it shows some other uses of genAI in this world, including a robot Kelli has that's supposed to help her socialize with her autism but doesn't work at all, and therapybot program Elaine (another one of their friends) goes to talk to, which isn't shown on page, but is often referenced, and is also pretty much useless. Queerness is censored and considered something inappropriate for children, and while it is not forbidden for consenting adults, it's not talked about at all. This obviously has a huge effect on how Kelli and Am/Rowan develop and grow up, not really having access to the information they need.

I liked how this book portrays a genAI company as the main villain, and makes it very effective while also showing how useless genAI is for many purposes. Rowan's expertise as a criminal is prompting the genAI to let him into everything, and of course, they use genAI in pretty much everything. The autism assistance bot constantly gives very generic advice that's not helpful at all. The therapy bot doesn't help improve Elaine's mental health at all, and is programmed not to talk to her about any queer topics at all, making it even less helpful.

Would highly recommend this book

I received an Advance Reader Copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This is my first time reviewing an ARC, and I wasn’t expecting this level of polish. I began reading this in late 2025, but in retrospect, I’m glad this is the story I started 2026 with.

I highly recommend Ignore All Previous Instructions. It’s a compelling read, and the most authentic queer writing I’ve personally encountered. Some books simply find their audience, and this one felt uncannily aligned with my own experiences. I’m an enthusiastic AI user interested in AI ethics; I’m queer and in a closed-triad polyamorous relationship; and I’ve worked as a care support worker supporting autistic people. I’ve never read a novel where those identities meaningfully intersected until now.

Previously, I have pretty much bounced off of queer and LGBT. I find that queer authors tend to get caught up in the freedom of expression, and the actual writing suffers. That, or they become encumbered with therapy speak, which is a pet peeve of mine. This book did not have those problems. In fact, I think the characters shared a portion of my derision on the therapy speak note. The queerness was integral to the story and the characters, but they didn't become it. These are three-dimensional people with careers, fears, and conflicting motivations, and that depth was genuinely refreshing. It has raised my expectations for the genre.

Not that I wasn't nervous. When the book started, it was going into a huge amount of detail about the protagonist's routine. The hairs on my neck were rising because I have seen so many goofy and insulting interpretations of autism. I've had to be an advocate for autistic friends and family, so innately, I was bracing. The book didn't pathologise autism, though. Instead, it was detailed, felt intimate and world-building. It was very show-don't-tell heavy, and it was stunningly accurate, at least to some people's experience of autism. It continued to toe this line throughout the entire book. Showing us, and structuring the internal dialogue to walk us through the protagonist's experience of Autism. It was tasteful and so refreshing? Even as the book began to have two characters learning about queer topics afresh, it kept that tasteful, believable tone rather than collapsing into a sermon.

This still wouldn't be a book I'd recommend to an audience not on board with LGBT themes, but, a neutral party? I think I would be happy to give this book to someone entirely neutral to Queer or Autistic discourse and let it stand as a foundational text for their understanding and help define their empathy on the subject.

If I haven't made it clear, I loved this book. It was nuanced, and the story had stakes that made my heart clench. I was invested in the protagonist's success, even if I was just as uneasy as to whether it was the 'correct' thing to do. I don't get to say this about science fiction all the time; it felt very believable (if a little America-centric). The ChatGPT angle was integral to the story, and I really enjoyed the breaks wherein our protagonist is writing 'prompts' that are essentially her trying to process what is happening. The idea of the hacking of the future involving a lot of sweet-talking Grok-like systems was also very appealing to me, but the humour of the situation never diminished the stakes of the story to me. Half the story focuses on children, and I especially found the way the children interfaced with technology very authentic.

I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to read this. Thank you to NetGalley and Tachyon Publications, and especially to Ada Hoffmann, for such a thoughtful and quietly transformative novel. 5 Stars, no notes.

This is for those who like their protagonists neurodivergent, their settings futuristic, and their romance sweet and hopeful. The neat extra twist here is Kelli's employer, a generative AI company, controls which stories can be told. And Kelli has been fine with that, until she discovers other stories are possible. This is a lovely second-chance romance and a sharp commentary on why representation is so important.

Set in the far future, this is a weird and fascinating novel, told from the point of view of a highly successful and autistic writer, about the power of fiction to change and to shape the world. The voice here is great, and the worldbuilding even better.

What do you get when you take two best friends who don’t fit society norms and try to instill in them ideals by a company that has somehow managed to take control of the thoughts, feelings, and emotions of an entire colony? In Ignore All Previous Instructions, you get a space pirate searching for lost freedoms and the right to be true to themselves, and a woman living a routine, somewhat satisfying life, embracing the only way of life she has ever known.

Set on a dystopian/sci-fi planet called Callisto, Inspiration runs the entire colony – there is no freedom of speech, no original thinking. Their reasoning? Those kinds of things previously destroyed people’s sanity and tore countries apart. Inspiration censors everything. Laws exist to prevent adults from talking to minors about topics deemed inappropriate, like sex and sexuality.
Keli and Rowan meet in elementary school when Rowan still goes by Amelia, and Keli has a robot. Rowan is fascinated by the technology, even though he disagrees with why it has been given to Kelli. To Rowan, Kelli’s autism is what makes her exceptional, but neurodiversity is controlled, not celebrated.

Through flashbacks, Kelli and Rowan discover their sexuality, they learn to question the rules enforced upon them, and they learn to grow together without compromising their integrity. Until one decision ruins everything, and years pass before they see each other again.
Flashbacks don’t always work for me, but these don’t stop the progression of the story; they enhance it. They play a critical role in helping the reader to understand the characters, and without them, the story would lose so much of the depth it has.

I was absolutely blown away by the originality of Ignore All Previous Instructions and found it so easy to get lost in the story. The characters grew between the pages, and being brought along for that journey felt like a privilege. It's inclusive and relevant, and sometimes I just wanted to shake Kelli and tell her to just kiss Rowan already!

How fantastic to find a new author to me, who is in fact a seasoned author with a backlog of books I have yet to discover. My TBR pile just grew a few inches taller, and I’d love to know which one to start with.

Ignore All Previous Instructions is one of those books that I want the paperback of, so I can proudly display it on my bookshelf. It gets an easy 5 Stars from me!

This book has a lot to say and a lot it wants to impart, and the fact that Hoffman manages to convey it all as well as she does, along with some liner notes in the back for some things that people might think feel familiar but they're not sure from where, is genuinely impressive. I read and loved Hoffman's short story collection within the last few years, but this is honestly a hell of a novel, and has so much to say about the censorship of queer portrayals, the actual goals of AI, and how maybe it just fucking isn't worth it to mask. There's also some exquisite use of the second person pov, which I am a sucker for, and there may have been a few times where I stepped away from the book for a few days because I identified so much with what Kelli was feeling (yay recent mid 30s ASD diagnosis!). This comes out in May, preorder it the next time the Barnes and Noble presales come along. Also, A++ usage of Virginia Woolf references with Orlando, ngl.