I nearly put this one down in the first few chapters and, looking back, I wish I had. The opening section reads like a creative writing thesis — overwrought prose, a thesaurus clearly set to maximum, and a self-conscious literary quality that feels more like performance than storytelling. It was a slog to get through.
To the book’s credit, the story eventually finds a direction that has real potential. There were a few chapters when I thought it might become genuinely compelling. Then the ending arrived, and that potential evaporated completely. Ridiculous is the right word for it. It felt like the author wrote herself into a corner and opted for spectacle over sense.
On the subject of AI — which is ostensibly the thematic heart of this novel — there is nothing here you haven’t encountered before. No fresh perspective, no ideas that will challenge or surprise you, nothing that advances the conversation in any meaningful way. If you’re looking for a novel that does something new with artificial intelligence as a subject, keep looking.
I cannot recommend this one. The writing style will frustrate you early, and if you push through hoping for a payoff, the ending will frustrate you again.