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Sunny
A woman whose life is upended when her husband and son disappear in a mysterious plane crash is left alone with an unnerving home robot.
In near-future Japan, Susie Sakamoto is mourning the loss of her husband and son to a plane crash. Alone in her big modern house, which feels like more of a prison, she spends her days drinking heavily and taking her anger out at the only “sentient” thing left in her life: Sunny, the annoying home robot her husband designed. She despises Sunny, and sometimes even gets a sinking feeling that Sunny is out to hurt her.
To escape her paranoia and depression, Susie frequents the city's seedy, drug-fueled bars, where she hears rumors of "The Dark Manual," a set of guidelines that allows owners to reprogram their robot for nefarious purposes. In hopes of finding a way to turn off Sunny for good, Susie begins to search for the manual, only to learn it’s too late: The machines are becoming more sentient and dangerous.
In near-future Japan, Susie Sakamoto is mourning the loss of her husband and son to a plane crash. Alone in her big modern house, which feels like more of a prison, she spends her days drinking heavily and taking her anger out at the only “sentient” thing left in her life: Sunny, the annoying home robot her husband designed. She despises Sunny, and sometimes even gets a sinking feeling that Sunny is out to hurt her.
To escape her paranoia and depression, Susie frequents the city's seedy, drug-fueled bars, where she hears rumors of "The Dark Manual," a set of guidelines that allows owners to reprogram their robot for nefarious purposes. In hopes of finding a way to turn off Sunny for good, Susie begins to search for the manual, only to learn it’s too late: The machines are becoming more sentient and dangerous.
288 pages, Paperback
First published December 5, 2023
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3268 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 59 reviews
January 9, 2024
With the technophobic spirit of a Black Mirror episode and Ex Machina, it's no wonder that Colin O'Sullivan's Sunny is already being adapted into an Apple TV+ series.
The premise of the book was intriguing. When Susie Sakamoto loses her husband and son in a plane crash, she withdraws into herself by drinking heavily and developing a deep hatred for the home robot her late-husband designed, Sunny.
The first 75% of the book or so is bogged down with Susie's depressive inner thoughts (i.e. if it's a trigger for you, there are multiple instances of suicidal ideation). And while some of this is an effective study of grief and loneliness in the face of ultimate loss, it becomes far less effective when the story abruptly shifts perspectives with the introduction of new characters in later chapters. The sudden shift from third person limited narration (Susie's POV) to an omniscient POV (minor characters included ... and even Sunny, too) was jarring and unnecessary.
The last quarter of the book is where all of the action happens. And yet the ending sadly feels rushed - a patchwork-quilt of ideas that weren't fleshed out enough to really make an impact. It's so jam-packed with action your head will be spinning with the everything-but-the-kitchen-sink "twists" the author throws at you.
While well-written, the execution of this book fell flat for me. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the TV adaptation is more successful and cohesive than its source material.
* Thank you to Edelweiss & Mariner Books for the digital review copy *
The premise of the book was intriguing. When Susie Sakamoto loses her husband and son in a plane crash, she withdraws into herself by drinking heavily and developing a deep hatred for the home robot her late-husband designed, Sunny.
The first 75% of the book or so is bogged down with Susie's depressive inner thoughts (i.e. if it's a trigger for you, there are multiple instances of suicidal ideation). And while some of this is an effective study of grief and loneliness in the face of ultimate loss, it becomes far less effective when the story abruptly shifts perspectives with the introduction of new characters in later chapters. The sudden shift from third person limited narration (Susie's POV) to an omniscient POV (minor characters included ... and even Sunny, too) was jarring and unnecessary.
The last quarter of the book is where all of the action happens. And yet the ending sadly feels rushed - a patchwork-quilt of ideas that weren't fleshed out enough to really make an impact. It's so jam-packed with action your head will be spinning with the everything-but-the-kitchen-sink "twists" the author throws at you.
While well-written, the execution of this book fell flat for me. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the TV adaptation is more successful and cohesive than its source material.
* Thank you to Edelweiss & Mariner Books for the digital review copy *
January 30, 2024
I was really excited to read this and thought this was going to be a really cool scifi book about creepy robots, but there was too many plots. Her missing son and husband, plane crash, creepy robots, basketball players, and owls? Like there was so much going on that I felt like I couldn't follow and really appreciate what on earth what was happening.
January 6, 2024
First off I'll state that I won this book in a GoodReads Giveaway. That in no way colors my review of this book.
I felt the early part of the book was a bit slow and rambling. The writing almost in a stream of consciousness style. It picked up rapidly in the second half of the book and I think although this is a work of fiction, concerns about AI in the future should be of concern to us all.
The story is set in the not too distant future in Japan where an Irish lass has married a Japanese man and they have one son. The husband works in developing AI -- especially "housebots" which are intended to serve in the home and do all the labor: cooking, cleaning, and other household chores. In this future setting it is difficult to know whether the housebots are thinking on their on and if so, are their thoughts good or evil?
The family in the story has a housebot named Sunny. The husband and wife are Masa and Susie and their son is named Zen. Masa and Zen have been presumed killed in a plane crash but little is known of the details. They are presumed to have been lost at sea.
Susie then has to deal with her husband's housebot Sunny and Susie becomes increasingly fearful of the bot. It doesn't seem to always follows her commands. Thus begins the tale.
I felt the early part of the book was a bit slow and rambling. The writing almost in a stream of consciousness style. It picked up rapidly in the second half of the book and I think although this is a work of fiction, concerns about AI in the future should be of concern to us all.
The story is set in the not too distant future in Japan where an Irish lass has married a Japanese man and they have one son. The husband works in developing AI -- especially "housebots" which are intended to serve in the home and do all the labor: cooking, cleaning, and other household chores. In this future setting it is difficult to know whether the housebots are thinking on their on and if so, are their thoughts good or evil?
The family in the story has a housebot named Sunny. The husband and wife are Masa and Susie and their son is named Zen. Masa and Zen have been presumed killed in a plane crash but little is known of the details. They are presumed to have been lost at sea.
Susie then has to deal with her husband's housebot Sunny and Susie becomes increasingly fearful of the bot. It doesn't seem to always follows her commands. Thus begins the tale.
tabled
February 17, 2024DNF at 35%. Synopsis was really intriguing, but after 35% we were all over the place and nowhere near it. Moving forward.
February 22, 2024
If my parents dedicated a book like this garbage to me, the way this author has to their children, I would think they hated me
June 5, 2024
I picked this because I was in the mood for a techno thriller. Sadly, this was anything but. I was mostly bored, to be honest.
July 29, 2025
I watched the Apple TV+ series based on this book before I read it, and I remember thinking it was a bit scattered with some pacing issues and lots of loose ends. I wondered whether it was a classic case of the book being better than the movie (or show, in this case), but the pacing in the novel was even more confusing somehow.
The first …85ish? percent of the book follows Susie and shows us her grief, angst, frustration, rage, with little sprinkles of plot points that really all come together in the last 3-4 chapters. I found myself googling “is there a sequel to Sunny” towards the end because I couldn’t tell how or when, in so few remaining pages, the author would be able to wrap up everything that was mentioned so far. He did manage to do it though, and I have to say I liked the end more than I thought I would, though it does feel a little bit absurd and requires some suspension of disbelief.
One thing I really enjoyed was the writing style — I haven’t read anything like this before but it was very much a stream-of-consciousness kind of style with lots of long, lilting run-on sentences and alliteration and repetition. It helps to get you in Susie’s mind, really seeing how she’s thinking rather than just narrating it in a more disconnected way.
Plot-wise if you’re going in expecting a thriller about The Dark Manual™️ this isn’t exactly that, but it’s an interesting character study and an interestingly written story. I’d give it 3.5 stars if Goodreads allowed that but for now it’s going in as a 3.
The first …85ish? percent of the book follows Susie and shows us her grief, angst, frustration, rage, with little sprinkles of plot points that really all come together in the last 3-4 chapters. I found myself googling “is there a sequel to Sunny” towards the end because I couldn’t tell how or when, in so few remaining pages, the author would be able to wrap up everything that was mentioned so far. He did manage to do it though, and I have to say I liked the end more than I thought I would, though it does feel a little bit absurd and requires some suspension of disbelief.
One thing I really enjoyed was the writing style — I haven’t read anything like this before but it was very much a stream-of-consciousness kind of style with lots of long, lilting run-on sentences and alliteration and repetition. It helps to get you in Susie’s mind, really seeing how she’s thinking rather than just narrating it in a more disconnected way.
Plot-wise if you’re going in expecting a thriller about The Dark Manual™️ this isn’t exactly that, but it’s an interesting character study and an interestingly written story. I’d give it 3.5 stars if Goodreads allowed that but for now it’s going in as a 3.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 1, 2024
Thanks to Goodreads for sending me this giveaway!
I am a sucker for the whole "skynet" vibes, and dangerous twofaced agenda driven charaters are my meat and potatoes, I would have liked this book better if the storyline focused on fewer side ventures. Not a bad read, but deeper focus on a handful of characters was what I was expecting when I opened this cover.
I am a sucker for the whole "skynet" vibes, and dangerous twofaced agenda driven charaters are my meat and potatoes, I would have liked this book better if the storyline focused on fewer side ventures. Not a bad read, but deeper focus on a handful of characters was what I was expecting when I opened this cover.
December 27, 2024
I won this book in a goodreads drawing.
In a near future Japan inundated with robots, a woman loses her family, and is overcome with grief. She has a robot that seems to be taking over her life, and robots are taking over everything.
Reminded me a lot of The Demon Seed.
In a near future Japan inundated with robots, a woman loses her family, and is overcome with grief. She has a robot that seems to be taking over her life, and robots are taking over everything.
Reminded me a lot of The Demon Seed.
October 13, 2024
Very strange book. I'm not even sure what's going on at the end. The TV producers really had to work hard to get anything out of this one. The first two thirds of the book we're subjected to Susie's worsening depression before a chance encounter with a Japanese basketball player? finally sets off the "action" of the story. I was not entertained.
November 26, 2024
The pacing really turned me off from this one, but the ending paid it off.
December 7, 2023
Sunny by Colin O’Sullivan
(Ad - pr product) blog tour
In near-future Japan, Susie Sakamoto is mourning the loss of her husband and son in a plane crash. Alone in her big, modern house, which feels more like a prison, Susie spends her days drinking heavily and taking her anger out on the only "sentient" thing left in her life: Sunny, the annoying home robot her husband designed. Susie despises Sunny, and sometimes even has a sinking feeling that Sunny is out to hurt her.
To escape her paranoia and depression, Susie frequents the seedy, drug-fueled bars of the city, where she hears rumors of The Dark Manual, a set of guidelines that allow owners to reprogram their robots for nefarious purposes. In hopes of finding a way to turn Sunny off for good, Susie begins to search for the manual, only to learn it's too late: machines are already becoming more sentient and dangerous. Thrust into the center of a dark, corporate war, Susie realizes there's someone behind the code, pulling the strings. And they want her dead.
Susie is a grieving widow and mother and is struggling with her new, forced upon her life. Her once home is now a large, vacant and soulless space, a prison. And the longer she stays there alone the worse she feels. Her only company is Sunny, the home robot. However she starts to feel uncomfortable around her and even threatened!
To try and escape the house she starts to visit some very dodgy bars in a very dodgy area, whilst there she hears about a Dark Manual, which explains how to reprogram the robots for other uses and Susie wonders if she can switch Sunny off completely.
However this leads her to more danger and she is now scared for her life!
Want to know more? Then you need to read the book! I’m trying to avoid spoilers here but I will say that this book is a rollercoaster of a thriller, Colin O’Sullivan portrays a terrifying peep into AI future technology. Is robot technology the way forward or are we setting ourselves up for disaster?!
Dark, disturbing and amusing at times, Sunny is perfect for thriller, dystopian and science fiction fans.
(Ad - pr product) blog tour
In near-future Japan, Susie Sakamoto is mourning the loss of her husband and son in a plane crash. Alone in her big, modern house, which feels more like a prison, Susie spends her days drinking heavily and taking her anger out on the only "sentient" thing left in her life: Sunny, the annoying home robot her husband designed. Susie despises Sunny, and sometimes even has a sinking feeling that Sunny is out to hurt her.
To escape her paranoia and depression, Susie frequents the seedy, drug-fueled bars of the city, where she hears rumors of The Dark Manual, a set of guidelines that allow owners to reprogram their robots for nefarious purposes. In hopes of finding a way to turn Sunny off for good, Susie begins to search for the manual, only to learn it's too late: machines are already becoming more sentient and dangerous. Thrust into the center of a dark, corporate war, Susie realizes there's someone behind the code, pulling the strings. And they want her dead.
Susie is a grieving widow and mother and is struggling with her new, forced upon her life. Her once home is now a large, vacant and soulless space, a prison. And the longer she stays there alone the worse she feels. Her only company is Sunny, the home robot. However she starts to feel uncomfortable around her and even threatened!
To try and escape the house she starts to visit some very dodgy bars in a very dodgy area, whilst there she hears about a Dark Manual, which explains how to reprogram the robots for other uses and Susie wonders if she can switch Sunny off completely.
However this leads her to more danger and she is now scared for her life!
Want to know more? Then you need to read the book! I’m trying to avoid spoilers here but I will say that this book is a rollercoaster of a thriller, Colin O’Sullivan portrays a terrifying peep into AI future technology. Is robot technology the way forward or are we setting ourselves up for disaster?!
Dark, disturbing and amusing at times, Sunny is perfect for thriller, dystopian and science fiction fans.
December 20, 2023
Do you remember Hal 9000? Well Sunny is the new cutting edge homebot with two red wide eyes that Susie hates with all her heart!
We're in a near future Japan where the main protagonist Susie, an Irish woman who's made a life here, is faced with the sudden loss of both her husband and son. And we get to witness her despair and never ending grief in a stream-of-consciousness prose that effectively convey the pit of sadness and hate for life that she has fallen into.
Amongst all this she focuses her hate on the homebot Sunny and with a primordial instinct she senses that something is not right with it, and she must turn it off for good! That's what sets her in motion, determined to find some alternative guidelines supposedly written to override the normal homebot program settings, with potential matter-of-life-and-death consequences for the whole of humanity! But what is really happening and where are her loved ones?
At the same time Nature is also stirring and we are faced with familiar scenes reminiscent of Hitchcock's film The Birds, which I have to admit were very satisfying!
I really liked this novel, from the background, the premises, the characters and the on point prose, very poetic at times but never forced or difficult to read. In fact, because of Colin O'Sullivan's writing I was flying through the pages!!
Although it starts slowly before getting to the meaty bits, I didn't mind as I found the initial part important to understand the mindset of Susie and the story's context. I also wouldn't label it as a mere technological thriller but a novel looking at different aspects of humanity and human emotions, and their evil side through machines..
With a beautiful prose sprinkled with dark humour and luddism this is a multi-layered novel that I believe will please most readers for different reasons.
Thank you to Colin O'Sullivan, Harper Collins and RandomThingsTours for a copy and this is my honest opinion.
We're in a near future Japan where the main protagonist Susie, an Irish woman who's made a life here, is faced with the sudden loss of both her husband and son. And we get to witness her despair and never ending grief in a stream-of-consciousness prose that effectively convey the pit of sadness and hate for life that she has fallen into.
Amongst all this she focuses her hate on the homebot Sunny and with a primordial instinct she senses that something is not right with it, and she must turn it off for good! That's what sets her in motion, determined to find some alternative guidelines supposedly written to override the normal homebot program settings, with potential matter-of-life-and-death consequences for the whole of humanity! But what is really happening and where are her loved ones?
At the same time Nature is also stirring and we are faced with familiar scenes reminiscent of Hitchcock's film The Birds, which I have to admit were very satisfying!
I really liked this novel, from the background, the premises, the characters and the on point prose, very poetic at times but never forced or difficult to read. In fact, because of Colin O'Sullivan's writing I was flying through the pages!!
Although it starts slowly before getting to the meaty bits, I didn't mind as I found the initial part important to understand the mindset of Susie and the story's context. I also wouldn't label it as a mere technological thriller but a novel looking at different aspects of humanity and human emotions, and their evil side through machines..
With a beautiful prose sprinkled with dark humour and luddism this is a multi-layered novel that I believe will please most readers for different reasons.
Thank you to Colin O'Sullivan, Harper Collins and RandomThingsTours for a copy and this is my honest opinion.
December 28, 2023
Susie Sakmoto is an Irishwoman in Japan, mourning the loss of her husband and son who went down in a place that crashed into the ocean. Left behind is her husband's creation, housebot Sunny - an interactive semi-AI robot designed to do all the chores around the house. And Susie hates Sunny almost as much as she grieve the loss of her family. Hanging out at a bar she frequents, another regular customer, a party girl named Mixxy, constantly hits on her, and tries to break down the barriers of suffering. When a drunken Susie lets Mixxy take her back home, she finds that Mixxy also has a housebot which she's made some modifications to. Mixxy then informs her about The Black Manual, a supposed mysterious book of code that will enable anyone to reprogram their robot, which has Susie wanting to seek it out in order to shut off it's annoying program and maybe even to assist in killing her. But seeking out the Manual may be more dangerous than they could even imagine.
For most of this book, it felt like it was a character study. And after awhile it became a repetitive, boring one at that. While I get the themes of grief and not being able to let go or move on were the heart of the story, but the same moanings over and over became tedious after awhile. It wasn't until about 2/3 of the way through the book that it suddenly changed course and became more of a sci-fi thriller, at least for a little bit. From there it did have a couple of unexpected twists, but it also ended up falling victim to some over used sci-fi cliches. It wasn't a bad book, especially the last 1/3, but had half the crap from the earlier parts been excised it would have felt like less of a chore to read. 2.5/5*
For most of this book, it felt like it was a character study. And after awhile it became a repetitive, boring one at that. While I get the themes of grief and not being able to let go or move on were the heart of the story, but the same moanings over and over became tedious after awhile. It wasn't until about 2/3 of the way through the book that it suddenly changed course and became more of a sci-fi thriller, at least for a little bit. From there it did have a couple of unexpected twists, but it also ended up falling victim to some over used sci-fi cliches. It wasn't a bad book, especially the last 1/3, but had half the crap from the earlier parts been excised it would have felt like less of a chore to read. 2.5/5*
January 1, 2025
I was really looking forward to this book, based on pre-publication word of mouth and other recommendations. I unfortunately struggled to be pulled into the story as much as I had hoped, initially at least. While well written, with excellent prose, I felt the initial 2/3 of the novel was too meandering, not focused. I understand this was a reflection of the main character's mind and mental state due to her loss and life circumstances, but I failed to connect. The finish of the story happens at a breakneck speed, in complete contrast to the majority of the book, and left me with several 'WTF' moments. I don't feel the novel earned its ending. Comparisons to 'Black Mirror' are apt, but the novel overall needed more polishing.
March 20, 2025
I liked the atmosphere of the appletv+ series. The book is unfortunately completely different.
It's basically an entire book about a woman wallowing in depression, always thinking about her dead husband, and strangely not thinking about her son nearly as much.
The ending was sudden and rather ridiculous. Was it supposed to be comical or terrifying?
Sunny from the book is foreboding and cold. Very different from the cheery Sunny in the show.
If you were hoping the book would expand on the TV show, it is too different. Not that TV adaptations have any obligation to be close adaptations of the book.
It's basically an entire book about a woman wallowing in depression, always thinking about her dead husband, and strangely not thinking about her son nearly as much.
The ending was sudden and rather ridiculous. Was it supposed to be comical or terrifying?
Sunny from the book is foreboding and cold. Very different from the cheery Sunny in the show.
If you were hoping the book would expand on the TV show, it is too different. Not that TV adaptations have any obligation to be close adaptations of the book.
December 27, 2023
Thanks to Edelweiss for the eARC.
I just couldn't get into this one and gave up on it around 25%.
I just couldn't get into this one and gave up on it around 25%.
January 14, 2025
Did not finish! I guess it picks up in the second half of the book, but I couldn’t even get through the first 1/4 where all she talks about is how much she dislikes her robot
April 3, 2025
I found Colin O’Sullivan's style in this book interesting. The story reads like Susie's stream of consciousness a lot of the time. It's like we're in her head and baring witness to her grief stricken thoughts. I was put off by it a little at first but the more i read on, the more I actually found it compelling. I related hard with Susie. My husband and child aren't gone, but I have lost other faniky members and can relate to the sense of total pointlessness of the world and it's mundanities that she feels in the midst of her devastation.
What makes this novel rather marvellous is the author's ability to draw you in without you even realising it. I had read forty pages before I realised it was after midnight, his descriptive and vivid world-building is wonderfully compelling. O'Sullivan paints a beautiful, yet at times, dreary picture of Japan and its inhabitants, making the reader feel even more as if we are in Susie's head.
There is also a certain poetry in the pages of the book, which caught me off guard. Poetry was not what I was expecting and yet, it is there woven in amongst the narrative prose. It's really very brilliant.
Overall, I thought the book was magnificent. The plot, the characters — everything is superbly done. If you're a fan of compelling storytelling, engaging characters, and beautifully crafted prose, then you're in for a treat with ‘Sunny’. Read it now. You won't be disappointed.
What makes this novel rather marvellous is the author's ability to draw you in without you even realising it. I had read forty pages before I realised it was after midnight, his descriptive and vivid world-building is wonderfully compelling. O'Sullivan paints a beautiful, yet at times, dreary picture of Japan and its inhabitants, making the reader feel even more as if we are in Susie's head.
There is also a certain poetry in the pages of the book, which caught me off guard. Poetry was not what I was expecting and yet, it is there woven in amongst the narrative prose. It's really very brilliant.
Overall, I thought the book was magnificent. The plot, the characters — everything is superbly done. If you're a fan of compelling storytelling, engaging characters, and beautifully crafted prose, then you're in for a treat with ‘Sunny’. Read it now. You won't be disappointed.
December 28, 2023
This was such an odd book. For the first half, I didn't like it much at all, and then it kicked into gear and I loved it. The entire first half introduces Susie Sakamoto, an Irish woman who had married a Japanese tech wizard, who then died in a plane accident along with his son. Susie spends day after day deeply despondent and unable to get herself involved in anything. After many, many pages of this, I got tired of Susie's moaning and, therefore, of the book, in spite of the fact that Susie spends a lot of those pages interacting with and thinking about a home robot her husband had designed before he died.
The book is told in a sort of stacatto third person voice that nonetheless gets deeply into Susie's mind. The images created reminded me of the atmosphere of Blade Runner, although the imagined near future world is quite different. The book ends up being about the natural world vs the technological world, which is pretty intriguing to think about. Alexa, Siri, and Google have already made us ask questions about this, and AI is fast on their trail.
There's much to think about in the book, and the pace of the last half keeps the reader engaged. At the end, the author reaches out with some haunting advice.
The book is told in a sort of stacatto third person voice that nonetheless gets deeply into Susie's mind. The images created reminded me of the atmosphere of Blade Runner, although the imagined near future world is quite different. The book ends up being about the natural world vs the technological world, which is pretty intriguing to think about. Alexa, Siri, and Google have already made us ask questions about this, and AI is fast on their trail.
There's much to think about in the book, and the pace of the last half keeps the reader engaged. At the end, the author reaches out with some haunting advice.
September 12, 2023
Oh, look. I'm the first to rate and review this one. Nice. let's go ...
This is going to be a major streaming series? Okay, I can kind of see how that might work. In fact, I think it might work nicer than it did in a book form. Because in book form, it takes a while to get into and for the book to get going, which isn’t ideal, given the lean page count.
At first, you’re just lost inside the grieving protagonist’s stream of consciousness narration for about 50% of the novel. The writing’s pretty good, made dynamic by short sentence structure, but the plot takes its time to get realized.
Once it does, it has a bunch of fun things going (things one might want in a modern steaming series) from AI to conspiracies to fish-out—of-water situation with the main character who is an Irish woman living in Japan to her casual flirtation with a local good-time girl, etc.
Overall, it entertained without wowing. As much as I like stories about AI, this one left something to be desired. Maybe it’s how uneven the book was. Something. Either way, it made for a quick and decent if not especially … special read. Thanks Netgalley.
This is going to be a major streaming series? Okay, I can kind of see how that might work. In fact, I think it might work nicer than it did in a book form. Because in book form, it takes a while to get into and for the book to get going, which isn’t ideal, given the lean page count.
At first, you’re just lost inside the grieving protagonist’s stream of consciousness narration for about 50% of the novel. The writing’s pretty good, made dynamic by short sentence structure, but the plot takes its time to get realized.
Once it does, it has a bunch of fun things going (things one might want in a modern steaming series) from AI to conspiracies to fish-out—of-water situation with the main character who is an Irish woman living in Japan to her casual flirtation with a local good-time girl, etc.
Overall, it entertained without wowing. As much as I like stories about AI, this one left something to be desired. Maybe it’s how uneven the book was. Something. Either way, it made for a quick and decent if not especially … special read. Thanks Netgalley.
Read
January 27, 2024DNF. I have never DNF’d a book before this one. Unfortunately in order to explain why, Goodreads requires the book show as “Read”. So no, I did NOT complete reading this book, I simply want to say why I didn’t finish it. I always finish reading the books I start-even if I don’t like them-I have to finish them (it’s a thing with me!). But I just could not with this one. I can handle stories with a stream of consciousness style or set in the character’s mind for the most part but “Sunny” was flat out unappealing. And I skipped ahead to several parts in the book (and the ending) just to see if it would be worth getting through….and no, this stream of consciousness rhyming wandering style just doesn’t stop. I read more than a third of the book, I more than gave it a fair chance. I absolutely cannot believe that I can’t force myself to continue this book but I just cannot. I’m bummed. My first DNF….EVER.
December 7, 2023
Such an immersive read!
Wow talk about captivating. This is a book you need on your TBR. In this novel we are seeing things from the fmc pov. I enjoyed how the writing style has you feeling like you're living in this characters mind and are privy to all her darker thoughts. Colin really keeps you entertain and pulled into this book with how he switches up his story telling with short snappy sentences to long winded descriptions.
I can defiantly see this being a Netflix series with how well the the plot line was thought out. I love a little AI thriller that has you on the fence with if technology is going to ruin our lives like susie or make it easier. This is definitely a dark and disturbing story that will suck you in from the start. I devoured this book within a day and haven't stopped thinking about it since I've put it down. Something I believe everyone should read.
Wow talk about captivating. This is a book you need on your TBR. In this novel we are seeing things from the fmc pov. I enjoyed how the writing style has you feeling like you're living in this characters mind and are privy to all her darker thoughts. Colin really keeps you entertain and pulled into this book with how he switches up his story telling with short snappy sentences to long winded descriptions.
I can defiantly see this being a Netflix series with how well the the plot line was thought out. I love a little AI thriller that has you on the fence with if technology is going to ruin our lives like susie or make it easier. This is definitely a dark and disturbing story that will suck you in from the start. I devoured this book within a day and haven't stopped thinking about it since I've put it down. Something I believe everyone should read.
gave-up
March 15, 2024Disclaimer: I was sent a copy of this book to review from the publisher. I was not paid for this review. All thoughts are my own and not influenced by the publisher in any way.
I was excited to get this book because it sounded interesting and right up my alley. The writing is lovely and lyrical, but I had issues with the pacing. I appreciated the portrayal of grief, but by 15% I was ready for more to happen. It still hadn’t at 23%. I skimmed ahead some and decided that this book just wasn’t going to be up my alley after all.
This book is going to be a major streaming series according to the back of the book, so maybe I will try to view the story that way. I did like the lyrical element of the writing but I just needed more of a hook to continue this one. I appreciate the publisher for sending it my way.
DNFed at 66 pages (23%)
I was excited to get this book because it sounded interesting and right up my alley. The writing is lovely and lyrical, but I had issues with the pacing. I appreciated the portrayal of grief, but by 15% I was ready for more to happen. It still hadn’t at 23%. I skimmed ahead some and decided that this book just wasn’t going to be up my alley after all.
This book is going to be a major streaming series according to the back of the book, so maybe I will try to view the story that way. I did like the lyrical element of the writing but I just needed more of a hook to continue this one. I appreciate the publisher for sending it my way.
DNFed at 66 pages (23%)
October 1, 2024
Bought this book due to loving the series on Apple TV. Once I found out it was originally a book, I picked it up and really looked forward to reading it. As others have said, the book seems to meander all over the place and seemed to mainly stick to a narrative of Susie being self-deprecating and depressed. At first I understood this as she lost her son and husband in a plane crash but it just goes on and on and suddenly spins into a conspiracy and something larger than her family.
I didn't want to give up on it but I stopped reading 32% in. I might try again in the future, but as an avid reader with a queue of books to read, I moved on to more enlightening, entertaining or informative books.
I didn't want to give up on it but I stopped reading 32% in. I might try again in the future, but as an avid reader with a queue of books to read, I moved on to more enlightening, entertaining or informative books.
December 8, 2023
This was definitely a bit different from my usual reads as I dived into this sci-fi thriller filled with dark humour. I like how the book is written in Susie’s POV and this perspective makes you feel like you are literally inside her head and going through all the thoughts and motions with her. The story was so gripping it kept me wanting to read chapter and chapter. It highlights how AI and technology could become a problem and how scary this could be! An intriguing and interesting read, definitely opened up my mind to reading for sci-fi in the future!
March 1, 2024
The second half picked up, but this concept has so much unrealized potential. The action didn’t really get going until the last 50 pages, with a bunch of major plot points crammed in at once. In my opinion, if the first 75% of the book was trimmed down (mainly Susie’s repeated internal monologues about her family being gone) and the last 50 pages were paced better, it would’ve been close to four or even five stars. Also I tried, but I just did not get the whole owl subplot. I kinda see what they were going for, but it just did not hit for me.
August 31, 2024
A fascinating look at the near future
I started watching the Apple TV show, which veers a lot from this novel, and was curious about the novel on which it is based. About half of this book is about numbing loss and grief, which honestly was hard to wade through, but it also covers the rise of “helpful” robots. They are fine when not programmed to be evil, but they also free people up from performing everyday useful functions. I enjoyed the characters, including the owls, and the disparate plot lines. A very good cautionary tale.
I started watching the Apple TV show, which veers a lot from this novel, and was curious about the novel on which it is based. About half of this book is about numbing loss and grief, which honestly was hard to wade through, but it also covers the rise of “helpful” robots. They are fine when not programmed to be evil, but they also free people up from performing everyday useful functions. I enjoyed the characters, including the owls, and the disparate plot lines. A very good cautionary tale.
September 16, 2024
Ok, so this was an interesting juxtaposition to the Apple+ show we just finished watching, and which was the inspiration for the series. No yakuza, no dildo shop, Mizzy has a very different role, Zen's appearance is explained, and the book definitely does more with Sunny (and the emergence of AI bots) and the owls. Honestly, I'm not sure which is better. They're both a bit off, storytelling-wise. But neither is bad, per se, just... different. I doubt the show will get renewed or another season. This ending was much more satisfying, I will say. Enjoy!
July 15, 2025
I really liked the show on Apple TV, so I thought the book would be even better. I couldn’t have been more wrong. Sixteen chapters in, and the book had only managed to exhaust every possible way of describing Susie S.'s depression. Later on, other elements—ones not solely focused on her depression—were introduced, but to me, they felt underdeveloped and lacked impact. And what was up with Susie’s last-minute, magical bird-whisperer abilities? It seemed like a desperate attempt to bring this directionless story to a close.
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