If you expect a literary feat, you’re going to be disappointed. But if you accept that the characters are not going to come as alive as they could, that the text can actually come across as AI, and that the AI companion bot sometimes sounds more animated than the characters, then you’ll be able to enjoy the story for what it represents. It is the unfolding of what could be our realities in the near future and some of the hard decisions we’re all going to have to make. The story keeps moving forward, there’s a bit of mystery, but it’s not going to leave you wondering about the family. The beginning of the story, even though it features the car accident, felt so flat that I had to double check that this was an Oprah pick. I listened to much of it while pressure washing my long driveway so continued bc I was curious about the story trajectory. A good summer read when you have no expectations of literary merit but want a decent story about relevant contemporary issues.