Silver Lining

by Viola Tempest, Ryn Katryn Digital Art (Illustrator)

Tired of one-night stands and failed relationships, Marissa Sinclair sets out to change her luck by creating Silver Lining, a revolutionary contact lens that matches people with their one true love.

Like Marissa, Bethany Rose, among others, is hopeful the lens will help her find the love of her life. But soon, the perfect solution becomes her worst nightmare…

A major malfunction blurs the line between reality and disaster. Bethany, a once bright, beautiful young woman, loses touch with reality. Her life spirals out of control and leads her down a dark tunnel between madness and the consequences of gambling with her love life.

Witnessing the disturbing transformation, Thea is convinced the technology is to blame. The only problem is, no one believes her. With her desperation growing stronger and her desire to pull her friend out of the abyss, she risks everything to let the world know the truth.

But will she succeed in her mission, or will the desperate all fall victim to the Zetas?

176 pages, Paperback

Published September 26, 2021

About the author

Viola Tempest is a dystopian fantasy and paranormal romance author who yearns to expose the truth of those in the modern world: the good, the bad, and the ugly. Her inspiration primarily stems from life experiences, those who annoy her, ex-boyfriends, and the crazy dreams that pop into her head every once in a while.

Reviews

[Alex (Bri's Book Nook) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Marissa can’t remember ever being in a truly healthy and happy relationship. After her most recent failed endeavor, she feels like love just isn’t for her. She decides to go the route of AI when looking for her perfect match. Marissa creates a program called Silver Lining. All you do is go for a small procedure that places a contact lens-like structure over your eye. The machine will connect to your brain and allow you to see your AI soulmate in the real world. No more failed dates, no more cheating, no more cold partners. Your soulmate will love you entirely and will be perfect for you in every way. Marissa is happy with her soulmate, and Bethany and Dixon decide to also get the Silver LIning consoles after being hurt by failed relationship attempts. This story follows these three characters and their experiences in their own Silver Lining world.

I love sci-fi novels that show both the good and bad sides of technology. I could tell that this wasn’t going to go exactly to plan when I realized that other people weren’t able to see the soulmate Zetas, but even I couldn’t predict exactly where this story was going. It was a short read, but it had such an interesting world. Bethany and Dixon were also great characters, even though I was a little confused when the POV switches started. This was a short story that had a lot going on, but I could keep up.

This book also starts an interesting narrative about relationships. Many people in real life have had failed relationship after failed relationship and may feel close to giving up. But is the real answer to turn to computers and AI? This book gives one possible answer to that question.

Another question this book asks is who really creates the technology we enjoy and can we trust them? Marissa is a character that has a lot of layers, and those layers start to peel away as the story goes on.

I would recommend this short novel to anyone looking for a new adult science fiction story to delve into.

I received a copy of this book and this is my voluntary review.

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 books.

[Lily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Technology is so much a part of our lives, it's not too far a stretch to think that one day people might turn to it to have the perfect romantic partners, too. It's not a particularly long book, but it's unique, and I loved getting to see three different experiences centered around the same AI program. It definitely raises the question of how far are we willing to go for the perfect relationship, and how far is too far? A great sci-fi read!

[Vicky · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received a free copy of this book from the author, and I really enjoyed it. It shows the POVs of different characters, which I found interesting, and it shows how the perfect world can sometimes not be so perfect. This is a great read for dystopian lovers. I look forward to reading more of Viola's releases.

I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Kaylie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a new author for me, and this story has such an interesting take on AI and love. I’m excited to read more of this author’s work.