In the Lives of Puppets by TJ Klune

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From the Publisher:

In a strange little home built into the branches of a grove of trees, live three robots—fatherly inventor android Giovanni Lawson, a pleasantly sadistic nurse machine, and a small vacuum desperate for love and attention. Victor Lawson, a human, lives there too. They’re a family, hidden and safe.

The day Vic salvages and repairs an unfamiliar android labelled “HAP,” he learns of a shared dark past between Hap and Gio–a past spent hunting humans.

When Hap unwittingly alerts robots from Gio’s former life to their whereabouts, the family is no longer hidden and safe. Gio is captured and taken back to his old laboratory in the City of Electric Dreams. So together, the rest of Vic’s assembled family must journey across an unforgiving and otherworldly country to rescue Gio from decommission, or worse, reprogramming.

Along the way to save Gio, amid conflicted feelings of betrayal and affection for Hap, Vic must decide for himself: Can he accept love with strings attached?

I really, really enjoyed this one! Klune has this way of making, what I felt was, a very action packed and plot driven novel still seem very quiet and contemplative. Set in a dystopian future, our characters always seem to be on the verge of grave danger and yet, still find humor and joy throughout their days. If anyone can write a whimsical, dystopian love story, it’s Klune. Full of adventure in a futuristic setting, at it’s heart, In the Lives of Puppets is a magical story of found family, loyalty, acceptance, and love.

If you’d like to add this wonderful novel to your shelf, you can click on the cover or here for ordering information.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for the opportunity to read and review this title. All opinions and mistakes are my own. This post may contain affiliate links, including Amazon Associate Links, and I may earn from qualifying purchases.

The Future is Yours by Dan Frey

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If you could take a peek into your future, would you look? It sounds like such a simple question. Of course I would! Who wouldn’t? The Future is Yours by Dan Frey examines what happens when ordinary people are given an extraordinary ability and the cost that ability has on the world. 

Told through a series of text messages, emails, news articles, and television transcripts, The Future is Yours tells the story of two friends, Ben and Adhi, and their computer that is able to read the internet of the future. As their computer proves more and more successful, the two men become exponentially richer and more driven. Pushing the limits of their computer’s ability also pushes their relationship, and the relationships they have with friends and family, to the limit. 

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. It brings up so many interesting and thoughtful questions about humanity and its relationship with time. When we think about wanting to see our future, we tend to assume that we will see ourselves doing something somewhat expected, just in the future. But what if you didn’t see yourself? What if you found your obituary? What if you found yourself the victim, or perpetrator of a crime? What if? What if? What if? There are so many what ifs that this book brings up that I couldn’t wait to find out how it would end. 

The Future is Yours is also an examination of the bonds of friendship and how much those bonds can handle. Ben and Adhi begin as mutual acquaintances but it’s their individual interests that bring them together. Ben wants nothing more than to be a successful entrepreneur. Adhi is a brilliant genius who can create intricate software programs. When Ben wants to pursue a future in the booming silicon industry, it’s obvious that Adhi is his key to success. As the two pursue their business venture together, the two become better and better friends, and as their success becomes more and more, their friendship begins to show signs of strain. Seeing their relationship grow and change from both points of view provides an intimate look at how they really felt towards each other, and how their relationship changes with their increasing success.

The novel’s epistolary form, especially the modern nature of the text messages, emails, and social media threads lends an intensity and urgency to the plot. Seeing the differences in how the characters write and express themselves gives us a clearer and more in depth picture of them as people. The novel is full of so many twists and turns, each one better than the last, that I was kept guessing all the way to the end. It’s another novel that kept my attention from start to finish, and I read the entire book in one sitting. 

Absorbing and fascinating, The Future is Yours is a thrilling look at money, power, and humanity. 

Interested in adding this title to your collection? You can find ordering information here:

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for the opportunity to read this title. All opinions and mistakes are my own. 

This post also contains affiliate links and I earn from qualifying purchases. 

Remote Control by Nnedi Okorafor

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Set in a near-future Ghana, Remote Control tells the story of Death’s adoptive daughter and her quest to find the mysterious object that gifted her with her deadly touch. As she travels across dirt roads and through the villages, Sankofa fills the people she encounters with fear and dread. Her powers are widely known but, even to Sankofa, a great mystery as to how they work and why. Her journey is made even more difficult by her inability to interact with the large amounts of technology found in each city and town she comes to. As she closes in on her final destination, we learn how Sankofa began her transformation from innocent child to a powerful and determined young woman. Through her imaginative and descriptive writing, Okorfar transports readers to a beautiful and intriguing world full of fascinating technology and interesting characters. Remote Control is an engrossing and compelling story of family, acceptance, and finding your place in the world. 

I absolutely love Nnedi Okorafor’s writing and thoroughly enjoyed every page of this novella. The story is so well crafted and the slow reveal of Sankofa’s transformation from young Fatima who loves watching the stars from the branches of a shea tres to the determined and deadly Sankofa who travels across the country alone to seek out her goal is stunning. Okorafor’s writing is incredibly descriptive and you find yourself walking along with Sankofa on the hot, dusty roads and you can feel the anger and fear emanating from the people she encounters. 

Remote Control is an incredible story and don’t let the young protagonist fool you, this is hardly a book for children. If you haven’t had the pleasure of reading Nnedi Okorafor’s work before, this is an excellent place to start. She recently had a story called Mother of Invention read on two episodes of LeVar Burton’s podcast, LeVar Burton Reads, about a smart house that takes on an important role in the birth of a young woman’s baby. Highly recommend-it made painting my new bedroom far more enjoyable. 

If you would like to add this book to your collection, or recommend it to your favorite Librarian, you can find ordering information here:

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for the opportunity to read and review this title. All opinions and mistakes are my own.  This post contains affiliate links and I earn from qualifying purchases as an Amazon Associate.

Followers by Megan Angelo

What starts as a humorous, slightly catty look at social media turns into a chilling and dark commentary on our obsession with likes and followers. I fully expected this to be a light, fluffy read that would keep me entertained for a few hours and instead found myself dropped into a dark and twisted future that seems all to real and likely to happen. 

Told through two timelines, we are introduced to a future where entire towns are filled with reality tv stars and are on camera non-stop.  Marlow, a young starlet who has spent almost her entire life in front of the camera having her everyday life written and directed by the Network, has few memories of her life before.  The face of Hysteryl, a mood stabilizing drug she has been using since puberty, Marlow spends her day in medicated contented bliss.  When the Network decided it's time for her and her husband to have a child, the drug must be stopped during the pregnancy and is slowly weaned off as she prepares for her sowing party, her emotions slowly return and the mental clarity creates her first feelings of dread and uncertainty of spending the rest of her life having her every move dictated by others.  When a lab technician discovers there is a discrepancy in Marlow's DNA, Marlow sets out to discover the truth about her parents and her past. 

As Marlow searches for clues to her past, we learn through flashbacks about the social media rise of the couple that Marlow believes to be her parents.  Floss Natuzzi and Aston Clipp rose to Internet super stardom with the help of blogger Orla Cadden and a series of outrageous stunts.  When their Instagram stardom leads to a reality tv show, the three spend their days pretending to live their real life on camera while a small crew of writers create the scandalous and shocking scripts for them to follow.  After an Instagram message inadvertently causes a horrific event, the three social media stars are cast out as social pariahs.  The fallout of the event helped to spur on the Spill, a tragic and worldwide phenomenon that changed the world forever. 

This book was fascinating! Not only does Megan Angelo give us a world ruled by social media and reality tv, but everyone also has an implanted device that allows them to see their standings and comments from followers.  The devices provide a way for producers to directly influence their stars and direct their behavior.  Living with a complete lack of privacy is second nature to the residents of Constellation, a town completely set up to provide 24 hour access to the followers of the show.  With only one hour a day allowed to themselves off camera, found in the very wee hours of the morning, Marlow and her fellow residents have their every word and movement scrutinized and commented on by their millions of followers. 

How absolutely terrifying!  Even more so when you know someone in our present day has definitely had that idea and there are those out there who would love to watch a group of people live out every moment of their life with no editing or commercial breaks. 

Angelo created a story that deftly combined the two timelines with enough twists and turns that you are always kept guessing as to how the two are truly intertwined.  The Spill, not going to spoil that little nugget, is frightening in it's believability.  To have one event completely change the future of the entire world-terrifying. 

Followers is thought-provoking, chilling, and fascinating. 

More from Megan Angelo:

I have read so many great debut authors this last year, I don’t know how they do it!

More like Followers:

I’m going with the “creepy future I hope never happens” vibe for these.

As always, purchasing books through the links helps support the site.  As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for the opportunity to read and review this title.  All opinions, and mistakes, are my own.