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You're Safe Here
Wellness, motherhood, and technology converge in a future California as three women’s seemingly innocuous decisions have consequences greater than they could imagine.
In 2060, the WellPod is the latest launch from the largest tech company the world has ever seen—a fleet of floating personal paradises scattered throughout the Pacific Ocean, focused entirely on health, solitude, and relaxation. Created by an enigmatic founder who will stop at nothing to ensure her company’s success, it is the long-awaited pinnacle of wellness technology. For newly pregnant Maggie, the six-week program is the perfect chance to get away…especially since the baby isn’t her partner’s.
Noa Behar isn’t a perfect fiancée. She’s too distracted, too focused on her work in helping program the WellPod to give Maggie the attention she deserves. But when she discovers something rotten beneath WellPod’s shiny exterior—a history of faulty tech and dangerous cover-ups—she knows one thing: She’ll do whatever it takes to keep Maggie safe.
In 2060, the WellPod is the latest launch from the largest tech company the world has ever seen—a fleet of floating personal paradises scattered throughout the Pacific Ocean, focused entirely on health, solitude, and relaxation. Created by an enigmatic founder who will stop at nothing to ensure her company’s success, it is the long-awaited pinnacle of wellness technology. For newly pregnant Maggie, the six-week program is the perfect chance to get away…especially since the baby isn’t her partner’s.
Noa Behar isn’t a perfect fiancée. She’s too distracted, too focused on her work in helping program the WellPod to give Maggie the attention she deserves. But when she discovers something rotten beneath WellPod’s shiny exterior—a history of faulty tech and dangerous cover-ups—she knows one thing: She’ll do whatever it takes to keep Maggie safe.
320 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 25, 2024
145 people are currently reading
18157 people want to read
About the author
Leslie Stephens
1 book92 followersLeslie Stephens is the creator of the popular newsletter Morning Person. Her work has appeared in the Los Angeles Review of Books, Eater, and other outlets including Cupcakes & Cashmere, where she worked as an editor. A graduate of Wellesley College, she is currently earning her master’s in counseling, with specializations in addiction and ecotherapy, from Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon, where she lives with her pit-mix, Toast. You can find her at LeslieStephens.com and subscribe at MorningPersonNewsletter.com.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 247 reviews
July 8, 2024
WHAT
is what my brain was screaming as soon as I finished this book, which could be the mark of a great book but is certainly the mark of an unsatisfying one. The ending left me wanting so much more, probably because this book goes into such agonizing detail about so many things in a sometimes confusing chronology, but when it came down to resolving the story we were given the scantest details.
I did mostly enjoy this book, and I think it had a really interesting premise and world building. The way it hits so close to home and seems like such a realistic future state of our world made it eerie and unsettling and unputdownable in just the right amounts. The ending, unfortunately, just didn’t wrap everything up in the way the story needed—it moved way too quickly with very little commitment to what the future held for all of these characters. Maybe that was the point, but if so, that doesn’t make it more satisfying. I understand not every book can have a happy ending, especially in this genre and with two somewhat unlikeable and unfaithful main characters, but this story could have benefitted from a more fleshed out ending, if not a happier one. Selfishly I would’ve enjoyed an Emmett takedown by the end, or at least some way in which the characters banded together to outsmart the super smart “villain.”
Also: we all agree Noah wasn’t actually sent to Brazil, right? She was placed in the other simulation chair in the room that Emmett locked? Who else would that be?
is what my brain was screaming as soon as I finished this book, which could be the mark of a great book but is certainly the mark of an unsatisfying one. The ending left me wanting so much more, probably because this book goes into such agonizing detail about so many things in a sometimes confusing chronology, but when it came down to resolving the story we were given the scantest details.
I did mostly enjoy this book, and I think it had a really interesting premise and world building. The way it hits so close to home and seems like such a realistic future state of our world made it eerie and unsettling and unputdownable in just the right amounts. The ending, unfortunately, just didn’t wrap everything up in the way the story needed—it moved way too quickly with very little commitment to what the future held for all of these characters. Maybe that was the point, but if so, that doesn’t make it more satisfying. I understand not every book can have a happy ending, especially in this genre and with two somewhat unlikeable and unfaithful main characters, but this story could have benefitted from a more fleshed out ending, if not a happier one. Selfishly I would’ve enjoyed an Emmett takedown by the end, or at least some way in which the characters banded together to outsmart the super smart “villain.”
Also: we all agree Noah wasn’t actually sent to Brazil, right? She was placed in the other simulation chair in the room that Emmett locked? Who else would that be?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 23, 2024
Have you wondered what would happen if we lived in a world where Elizabeth Holmes was actually competent? Or if she somehow managed to fail upwards, like Elon Musk, despite being a woman? You’re Safe Here posits a wealthy female supervillain, a disgruntled coder, and a pregnant girlfriend chasing solitude in lieu of enlightenment. Leslie Stephens looks to draw together the disparate threads of quantified wellness, middle-class yuppie obsession with individualism, and the classic trope of not wanting to talk to one’s partner about important stuff.
Maggie is preggers and decides it’s the best to embark on a six-week jaunt in a WellPod adrift in the Pacific Ocean. Her partner, Noa, is a programmer at the company launching the pods—but she spots a problem and tries to sound an alarm. As their respective storylines unfold, Stephens also dives into their respective backstories, their relationship, and some of the life of Emmett, the enigmatic founder behind it all….
This is a weird book. It straddles the line between thriller and thought experiment, but like so many literary attempts at what is ultimately a form of science fiction, it often falls flat and ends up sounding like so much empty noise. There’s a kind of absurdist fatalism to the story that left me off balance the entire time. On one hand, so many of the twists (such as the identity of Gamma) felt imminently predictable. On the other hand, the plot careens forward without truly stopping to shore up the main characters, their feelings, and indeed their motivations.
When I went into this book, I thought it was more on the horror end of thriller—and that’s on me for that misapprehension, yet I can’t help but feel let down. None of the characters work for me. Maggie and Noa have a terrible relationship, and it’s weird that they don’t know how to act like adults and talk to each other. No one ever comments on the cheating in this book like it’s, you know, wrong. It’s just happening.
Emmett is also a really disappointing villain. Stephens set her up as quite arch, yet in the end her plans are cozily small-E evil in that they really only involve Maggie. The soapy twist that Maggie is Emmett’s daughter separated-at-birth is, as I said, somewhat predictable and also … unfulfilling.
It just feels like Stephens is trying to have her cake and eat it too. If You’re Safe Here is meant to be a serious deconstruction of how individualized wellness tech is dehumanizing us and cutting us off from each other, then the WellPods need to be more overtly sinister than they actually are. All we really get are a few hints—like with Maggie’s disaffected mother. If, on the other hand, this is supposed to be a more intimate portrait of the lengths one might go to reunite their family, I would have wanted a more sympathetic slant on Emmett.
The ending, instead, is a hot mess of mixed up tropes. Noa and Maggie don’t get closure. Emmett gets no comeuppance, and no one ever challenges the WellPods-as-apps-on-steroids metaphor. That is to say—what is the point here?
You’re Safe Here is a perfect example of what happens when you hand someone a lot of tropes as ingredients and say, “Write a compelling novel.” Like cooking, writing is more than just following a recipe. There’s technique. I’m not sure what technique Stephens used here, but it doesn’t work.
Originally posted on Kara.Reviews.
Maggie is preggers and decides it’s the best to embark on a six-week jaunt in a WellPod adrift in the Pacific Ocean. Her partner, Noa, is a programmer at the company launching the pods—but she spots a problem and tries to sound an alarm. As their respective storylines unfold, Stephens also dives into their respective backstories, their relationship, and some of the life of Emmett, the enigmatic founder behind it all….
This is a weird book. It straddles the line between thriller and thought experiment, but like so many literary attempts at what is ultimately a form of science fiction, it often falls flat and ends up sounding like so much empty noise. There’s a kind of absurdist fatalism to the story that left me off balance the entire time. On one hand, so many of the twists (such as the identity of Gamma) felt imminently predictable. On the other hand, the plot careens forward without truly stopping to shore up the main characters, their feelings, and indeed their motivations.
When I went into this book, I thought it was more on the horror end of thriller—and that’s on me for that misapprehension, yet I can’t help but feel let down. None of the characters work for me. Maggie and Noa have a terrible relationship, and it’s weird that they don’t know how to act like adults and talk to each other. No one ever comments on the cheating in this book like it’s, you know, wrong. It’s just happening.
Emmett is also a really disappointing villain. Stephens set her up as quite arch, yet in the end her plans are cozily small-E evil in that they really only involve Maggie. The soapy twist that Maggie is Emmett’s daughter separated-at-birth is, as I said, somewhat predictable and also … unfulfilling.
It just feels like Stephens is trying to have her cake and eat it too. If You’re Safe Here is meant to be a serious deconstruction of how individualized wellness tech is dehumanizing us and cutting us off from each other, then the WellPods need to be more overtly sinister than they actually are. All we really get are a few hints—like with Maggie’s disaffected mother. If, on the other hand, this is supposed to be a more intimate portrait of the lengths one might go to reunite their family, I would have wanted a more sympathetic slant on Emmett.
The ending, instead, is a hot mess of mixed up tropes. Noa and Maggie don’t get closure. Emmett gets no comeuppance, and no one ever challenges the WellPods-as-apps-on-steroids metaphor. That is to say—what is the point here?
You’re Safe Here is a perfect example of what happens when you hand someone a lot of tropes as ingredients and say, “Write a compelling novel.” Like cooking, writing is more than just following a recipe. There’s technique. I’m not sure what technique Stephens used here, but it doesn’t work.
Originally posted on Kara.Reviews.
June 21, 2024
You’re Safe Here by Leslie Stephens. Thanks to @gallerybooks for the gifted Arc ⭐️⭐️⭐️
It’s 2060 and a tech company has just launched WellPod- floating pods in the Pacific Ocean that bring the user a solitary, personal relaxation experience. Noa’s finance, Maggie, is in a pod, when Noa finds out they aren’t as safe as they thought.
I loved this glimpse at the future and the technologies described. A lot of it made sense and seemed like a possible future. My favorite part was reading about these technologies. I did not find myself as interested in the main plot and the action in the story. I felt the story relied too much on the technology and science, instead of developing the characters and connecting the reader to them.
“There are some things you learn best in calm, and some in storm.”
You’re Safe Here comes out 6/25.
It’s 2060 and a tech company has just launched WellPod- floating pods in the Pacific Ocean that bring the user a solitary, personal relaxation experience. Noa’s finance, Maggie, is in a pod, when Noa finds out they aren’t as safe as they thought.
I loved this glimpse at the future and the technologies described. A lot of it made sense and seemed like a possible future. My favorite part was reading about these technologies. I did not find myself as interested in the main plot and the action in the story. I felt the story relied too much on the technology and science, instead of developing the characters and connecting the reader to them.
“There are some things you learn best in calm, and some in storm.”
You’re Safe Here comes out 6/25.
July 14, 2024
I was super on board with this book until a little over halfway through when the super wild twist started to reveal itself. The concept and world is exactly what I look for in a sci-fi, but unfortunately the plot leaves a lot to be desired.
At the end, I’m still left with questions and am not really sure what I’m supposed to be feeling or even thinking? The book felt very black mirror to me throughout and the ending feels just as bleak so I guess it makes sense, but still disappointing.
I think possibly if this book were bigger, or went more into the characters’ backgrounds, it would have been more impactful. As it is, I kept getting lost in where in the narrative I was. Flashbacks came and went with hardly a mention of time or place, making the overall plot feel flimsy at best.
Good bones, great idea, poor execution.
December 13, 2023
3.25 ⭐️ This is probably my favorite ARC I have read all year. While I quite enjoyed the queer, science fiction, impending doom feelings, I just feel like it was missing something. For having quite the premise, aka a wellness pod floating in the ocean where the person inside is doing yoga, drinking matcha, and attending AI therapy sessions, it was very character-driven. I usually prefer character-driven novels, but it has to be one of the other for me; the plot-to-character ratio was strange. I think it must have been quite difficult to create a world that is a climate disaster/technology/political corruption hellscape, I don't think the author took enough time to flesh that out. Overall, enjoyed the Silicon Valley vibes and exploring how and what advanced technology takes away from the human experience.
Thank you, NetGalley for this ARC.
Thank you, NetGalley for this ARC.
January 25, 2024
I’m so glad I stumbled upon this ARC at the bookstore I work at. It’s not quite dystopian, but it is a novel about technology and some of the woes it can create. Most books that describe tech that isn’t invented yet are so hard for me to picture- that is not the case with this one. The writing is absolutely stunning, and I was able to completely visualize all the tech in an incredibly detailed way. Though I didn’t connect/like the charachters of Noa or Maggie much, I was still fascinated all the way through. A fabulous book I’ll be recommending to my customers, for sure.
Read
July 15, 2024Okay that could’ve been cool, but it really went off the rails at the end. I saw the twist coming and also it was silly. And I really just hate cheating storylines so that didn’t help either. Thanks! I hated it! This is what I get for reading outside my genres just because there are lesbians
dnf
October 6, 2024(couldn't fit this rant in the status update but a DNF at 50%)
I tried really hard because I LOVE a good sci-fi thriller but I am not at all invested in any of this. Emmett seems too bland a person to have failed upwards and become a tech billionaire and is obviously the villain here, although I assume even at 50% we are waiting for "the twist" about this. Noa and Maggie are both cheating and yet affianced and have zero discussions about any of this like adults but care deeply about each other and it's all very awkward and confusing (one is pregnant with the child of the man I assume she cheated with and the other openly dating a coworker) and yet they are apparently still recently engaged and taking six weeks away from each other? Very confusing and neither seems very interesting or likeable so I'm going to stop wasting my life and nope out of this one.
I tried really hard because I LOVE a good sci-fi thriller but I am not at all invested in any of this. Emmett seems too bland a person to have failed upwards and become a tech billionaire and is obviously the villain here, although I assume even at 50% we are waiting for "the twist" about this. Noa and Maggie are both cheating and yet affianced and have zero discussions about any of this like adults but care deeply about each other and it's all very awkward and confusing (one is pregnant with the child of the man I assume she cheated with and the other openly dating a coworker) and yet they are apparently still recently engaged and taking six weeks away from each other? Very confusing and neither seems very interesting or likeable so I'm going to stop wasting my life and nope out of this one.
August 3, 2024
I think I liked the concept of this book but didn’t really love the execution. It was super easy to put down and I didn’t really feel invested in the characters at all. And all the flashbacks became exhausting after a while, it made the timeline a bit confusing.
I also don’t really understand the ending but that’s probably on me lol. I just wanted a bit more from the story & the characters unfortunately.
I also don’t really understand the ending but that’s probably on me lol. I just wanted a bit more from the story & the characters unfortunately.
May 5, 2024
(shoutout to a local bookstore for handing me this ARC at checkout, this was a cool opportunity!)
i don't read a lot of science and/or speculative fiction so perhaps what would've felt cliche rang more as intriguing, but this was a neat exploration of how (creepily plausible) upcoming tech affects the human condition (and how many things stay the same)
i don't read a lot of science and/or speculative fiction so perhaps what would've felt cliche rang more as intriguing, but this was a neat exploration of how (creepily plausible) upcoming tech affects the human condition (and how many things stay the same)
August 29, 2024
You’re Safe Here
⭐️⭐️⭐️
📚 Science Fiction
🎶 All By Myself - Celine Dion
Short synopsis:
It’s 2060 and a tech company has just launched Wellpod - floating pods in the Pacific Ocean that bring the user a solitary and personal relaxation experience. Nia’s fiancé, Maggie, is in a pod, when Noa finds out they aren’t as safe as they thought. (Via stacey40pages on Goodreads)
Book Review:
I have no strong opinions on this book whatsoever so this review is going to be brief.
It was an interesting story. I liked the concept of this futuristic bubble you live in in the ocean. That was cool. But this story was SO much more than that and while the additional plot points were fine and probably interesting to other people, I just wanted to get back to the future bubble ocean houses.
Would you live in a futuristic bubble house in the middle of the ocean? I might visit for a few days if it was a hotel.
✨Thank you @scoutpress and @gallerybooks for my #gifted copy!
⭐️⭐️⭐️
📚 Science Fiction
🎶 All By Myself - Celine Dion
Short synopsis:
It’s 2060 and a tech company has just launched Wellpod - floating pods in the Pacific Ocean that bring the user a solitary and personal relaxation experience. Nia’s fiancé, Maggie, is in a pod, when Noa finds out they aren’t as safe as they thought. (Via stacey40pages on Goodreads)
Book Review:
I have no strong opinions on this book whatsoever so this review is going to be brief.
It was an interesting story. I liked the concept of this futuristic bubble you live in in the ocean. That was cool. But this story was SO much more than that and while the additional plot points were fine and probably interesting to other people, I just wanted to get back to the future bubble ocean houses.
Would you live in a futuristic bubble house in the middle of the ocean? I might visit for a few days if it was a hotel.
✨Thank you @scoutpress and @gallerybooks for my #gifted copy!
August 18, 2024
I really like Leslie Stephen’s newsletter Morning Person & am glad that I tried this book (another speculative sci-fi tech moment). The ideas were creative although it didn’t quite come together for me in the end
July 20, 2024
Thanks to Gallery Books and Scout Press for the gifted copy. All opinions above are my own.
The technology of the moment in 2060, are wellness pods that float isolated in the ocean. People can sign up for these retreats that focus on meditation, therapy and overall wellness. Maggie signs up for one on a whim and we join her as an unprecedented storm is headed for the pods. Her partner, Noa, is left behind and worried because she works for the company that makes the pods and has concerns about just how safe her partner is.
This was definitely a unique read. It starts quite slow and is quite character driven with a lot of technological world building. As the tension starts to build there are several interesting twists that are revealed. I’m not sure the ending worked for me but I enjoyed the unusual development of the story.
Read this one if you liked Nine Perfect Strangers or The Future.
The technology of the moment in 2060, are wellness pods that float isolated in the ocean. People can sign up for these retreats that focus on meditation, therapy and overall wellness. Maggie signs up for one on a whim and we join her as an unprecedented storm is headed for the pods. Her partner, Noa, is left behind and worried because she works for the company that makes the pods and has concerns about just how safe her partner is.
This was definitely a unique read. It starts quite slow and is quite character driven with a lot of technological world building. As the tension starts to build there are several interesting twists that are revealed. I’m not sure the ending worked for me but I enjoyed the unusual development of the story.
Read this one if you liked Nine Perfect Strangers or The Future.
Read
January 7, 2025plot: captivating
Big Tech and environmental collapse: terrifying
writing: not so good
Big Tech and environmental collapse: terrifying
writing: not so good
September 11, 2025
I wanted to like this more than I did. Stephens introduces a lot of really neat concepts that feel like a natural progression of today's tech (and today's problems too). The storyline also, is pretty good overall.
Now you're probably starting to wonder "WTH? You said you didn't like it." To which, I reply, (No, I said I wanted to like it more than I did."
The problem for me is the characters. I didn't like any of them. All of them are deceitful and manipulative. I think we are supposed to care about Maggie but she never does anything for herself. . . She's from the Variable Man universe, having completely surrendered her every decision to AI. Emmett is cold. Noa and Maggie both cheat on each other. Thomas and Oisin are completely disconnected. Gamma is a luddite. Oh, and Arthur is a hologram.
I guess Inga's okay.
It's hard to get into a story where you can't find connection with the characters.
I hope Stephens keeps writing though because I think she did put a lot of thought into her world building and story.
Now you're probably starting to wonder "WTH? You said you didn't like it." To which, I reply, (No, I said I wanted to like it more than I did."
The problem for me is the characters. I didn't like any of them. All of them are deceitful and manipulative. I think we are supposed to care about Maggie but she never does anything for herself. . . She's from the Variable Man universe, having completely surrendered her every decision to AI. Emmett is cold. Noa and Maggie both cheat on each other. Thomas and Oisin are completely disconnected. Gamma is a luddite. Oh, and Arthur is a hologram.
I guess Inga's okay.
It's hard to get into a story where you can't find connection with the characters.
I hope Stephens keeps writing though because I think she did put a lot of thought into her world building and story.
October 29, 2025
I liked this book but didn’t love it! It was a really interesting topic, the world building was good (and scary) but the plot twists just didn’t flow for me. This is the authors debut novel, so I would read something else by her!
October 27, 2024
I came close to DNF-ing fairly early on. The huge pile-on of words, so, so many words, adjectives, metaphors, etc., in an effort to set the sci-fi stage seemed incredibly forced. I plowed on, though, and am ultimately unfulfilled.
What was interesting: Multiple viewpoints of the same events. The detailed delve into the technology of 2060. The slightly dystopian nature of it, combined with some references from the "past" (i.e., our present) that might serve as a lesson (maybe). Some of the "coincidental" connections (some were predictable, , and some a little surprising).
What didn't work for me: SO much AI. The Emmies. The willingness of people to have their bodies invaded by technology (e.g., their eyes would glow if they were recording something). The Goodreads blurb that, as usual, gave away too much (fortunately, I'd long forgotten this when I began reading). The villains . And the worst, the lack of resolution. The very last sentence was touching, but that wasn't enough to salvage.
What was interesting: Multiple viewpoints of the same events. The detailed delve into the technology of 2060. The slightly dystopian nature of it, combined with some references from the "past" (i.e., our present) that might serve as a lesson (maybe). Some of the "coincidental" connections (some were predictable, , and some a little surprising).
What didn't work for me: SO much AI. The Emmies. The willingness of people to have their bodies invaded by technology (e.g., their eyes would glow if they were recording something). The Goodreads blurb that, as usual, gave away too much (fortunately, I'd long forgotten this when I began reading). The villains . And the worst, the lack of resolution. The very last sentence was touching, but that wasn't enough to salvage.
January 1, 2025
Couldn't put this down - it reveals a not so distant future that felt chillingly real. It mirrors our current addiction to tech and reminds us of what may come with data mining, climate disasters, and an unraveling of our social fabric. Normally themes like this are too much to bear for myself...but Stephens wrote this story beautifully and in such an approachable manner. I loved following the lives of Maggie, Noa, and the other strong women within the novel, especially Gamma who I felt a particular comfort and connection to. Highly recommend and can't wait for Stephens' next book!!
December 22, 2023
Couldn't get into it
September 24, 2024
I’m a bit confused…
October 2, 2024
Wayyyyy to many loose ends
December 15, 2024
A funky (and timely) bay area tech dystopian jaunt
September 20, 2024
3.5 stars. WellPods have just debuted and the first people are setting out on voyages in them. These pods float in the ocean and are designed to contain everything a person needs for a 6-week refresh, after which they can return to their technology-heavy lives. Maggie is one such person. She applied to be in a pod after finding out she was pregnant; her partner, Noa, works for the company that created the pods and doesn’t know Maggie is pregnant with someone else’s baby. Noa is also keeping secrets of her own. When Noa starts to believe the company is shadier than the public knows and that Maggie is in danger, she starts doing whatever she can to keep Maggie safe.
This was a strange book. The author had some really interesting ideas about technology and did a good job building a world that was believable, its technology all-encompassing and different from what’s available now, yet the lure very similar. I thoroughly enjoyed the technology world building in here. The narration jumped between a few individuals (Maggie, Noa, and Emmett, who founded the company) and also jumped back and forth in time. I had no problem keeping the characters straight and found their individual stories equally interesting. Although I felt like the characters had interesting stories and journeys, I felt like the character development could have been deepened and improved a bit more, since the backstory was complicated but didn’t feel complex. I wanted to know more about the characters than what I was shown. I also feel like the world building outside of the company that created the WellPods (and the area where all its employees live) could have been better developed as well, as the reader is shown glimpses of it but its history and current status was harder to comprehend.
The WellPods were an interesting concept. I couldn’t fully see the attraction to them the way that I could see why other technology had become so popular in this world. At times, it felt like more of a plot device than an actual thing that would be well-received in the world. I don’t know if I fully understood what the WellPod looked and felt like, although I feel like the author described it well. Perhaps the problem was that I didn’t get the appeal of it.
As the story went on, the intrigue about the company and the secrets each character was keeping got more and more interesting to me. I wanted to find out how things would resolve, and whether certain people would outsmart the others who were clearly using them as pawns. I also was invested in finding out what would happen with Maggie on the WellPod. However, the ending fell flat for me. It resolved things, but not in a way that felt fully satisfying. I think I wanted the characters to have more agency of their own and to make more decisions. So, while the book was good overall and I imagine I’ll think about a lot of the concepts in here for months to come, I finished this feeling ambivalent about the book as a whole.
This was a strange book. The author had some really interesting ideas about technology and did a good job building a world that was believable, its technology all-encompassing and different from what’s available now, yet the lure very similar. I thoroughly enjoyed the technology world building in here. The narration jumped between a few individuals (Maggie, Noa, and Emmett, who founded the company) and also jumped back and forth in time. I had no problem keeping the characters straight and found their individual stories equally interesting. Although I felt like the characters had interesting stories and journeys, I felt like the character development could have been deepened and improved a bit more, since the backstory was complicated but didn’t feel complex. I wanted to know more about the characters than what I was shown. I also feel like the world building outside of the company that created the WellPods (and the area where all its employees live) could have been better developed as well, as the reader is shown glimpses of it but its history and current status was harder to comprehend.
The WellPods were an interesting concept. I couldn’t fully see the attraction to them the way that I could see why other technology had become so popular in this world. At times, it felt like more of a plot device than an actual thing that would be well-received in the world. I don’t know if I fully understood what the WellPod looked and felt like, although I feel like the author described it well. Perhaps the problem was that I didn’t get the appeal of it.
As the story went on, the intrigue about the company and the secrets each character was keeping got more and more interesting to me. I wanted to find out how things would resolve, and whether certain people would outsmart the others who were clearly using them as pawns. I also was invested in finding out what would happen with Maggie on the WellPod. However, the ending fell flat for me. It resolved things, but not in a way that felt fully satisfying. I think I wanted the characters to have more agency of their own and to make more decisions. So, while the book was good overall and I imagine I’ll think about a lot of the concepts in here for months to come, I finished this feeling ambivalent about the book as a whole.
June 25, 2024
TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter (don’t call it X), Facebook. Being online and accessible 24/7 seems to be a requirement, even as the actual apps go in and out of favor. Congress wants to ban TikTok; no one under 40 is on Facebook anymore. What will these devices and apps look like in the future? Will we all have chips implanted in our brains, or will the vast divide between haves and have-nots reserve the best communication for the upper upper classes? Will we have robots, or be replaced by them?
In Leslie Stephens’s debut novel, You’re Safe Here, a California decades in the future has married the latest technology with the wellness craze to create a world where devices rule everything, from food to exercise to sleep, and record a person’s every moment. Emmett, CEO of WellCorp, is anxious over her new WellPods, ocean-faring vessels that isolate guests on the Pacific Ocean while providing their every need. Maggie, six weeks pregnant, is excited to be one of its first users. Noa, Maggie’s girlfriend and a programmer on the WellPods project, feels guilty about an affair and ignoring Maggie. But when she discovers the WellPods could be dangerous and a huge storm is coming, Noa will do anything to keep Maggie safe.
You’re Safe Here takes place in 2060, and Stephens does a thorough job detailing every storm, earthquake, and social media app that happens between now and then. There’s a huge gap between the technological advancements that enable inventions like WellPods and the environmental disasters that have left parts of the country in ruins. Air travel is practically non-existent because of the huge costs and environmental damage, but WellCorp has a modern campus that provides a high-tech apartment, shuttle to work, and all amenities a person could need. Later in the novel, Maggie remembers leaving the campus with the father of her baby and driving around Los Angeles, and the description of the ruined city is haunting.
Emmett, Maggie, and Noa are all third-person point-of-view characters, and for the latter two, Stephens goes into great detail about their back stories—so much so that at times, I was a little bored. And with Maggie and Noa both cheating on each other, I didn’t root for their relationship like I wanted to.
Thrillers and domestic suspense are built upon twists, and Stephens absolutely delivers on that end. But readers also invest in books because they’re drawn in by “the promise of the premise.” While Stephens sets up an amazing technological world that’s battered by climate change, she does not follow through with the element that made me pick up the book, twisting away from it instead. Although Stephens is a wonderful writer, with an amazing imagination, smooth prose, and dimensional characters, she does not deliver a “HAL” like WellPod, malfunctioning while it’s assaulted by hurricane waves. The ending is more soapy than sci-fi, and I was disappointed.
In Leslie Stephens’s debut novel, You’re Safe Here, a California decades in the future has married the latest technology with the wellness craze to create a world where devices rule everything, from food to exercise to sleep, and record a person’s every moment. Emmett, CEO of WellCorp, is anxious over her new WellPods, ocean-faring vessels that isolate guests on the Pacific Ocean while providing their every need. Maggie, six weeks pregnant, is excited to be one of its first users. Noa, Maggie’s girlfriend and a programmer on the WellPods project, feels guilty about an affair and ignoring Maggie. But when she discovers the WellPods could be dangerous and a huge storm is coming, Noa will do anything to keep Maggie safe.
You’re Safe Here takes place in 2060, and Stephens does a thorough job detailing every storm, earthquake, and social media app that happens between now and then. There’s a huge gap between the technological advancements that enable inventions like WellPods and the environmental disasters that have left parts of the country in ruins. Air travel is practically non-existent because of the huge costs and environmental damage, but WellCorp has a modern campus that provides a high-tech apartment, shuttle to work, and all amenities a person could need. Later in the novel, Maggie remembers leaving the campus with the father of her baby and driving around Los Angeles, and the description of the ruined city is haunting.
Emmett, Maggie, and Noa are all third-person point-of-view characters, and for the latter two, Stephens goes into great detail about their back stories—so much so that at times, I was a little bored. And with Maggie and Noa both cheating on each other, I didn’t root for their relationship like I wanted to.
Thrillers and domestic suspense are built upon twists, and Stephens absolutely delivers on that end. But readers also invest in books because they’re drawn in by “the promise of the premise.” While Stephens sets up an amazing technological world that’s battered by climate change, she does not follow through with the element that made me pick up the book, twisting away from it instead. Although Stephens is a wonderful writer, with an amazing imagination, smooth prose, and dimensional characters, she does not deliver a “HAL” like WellPod, malfunctioning while it’s assaulted by hurricane waves. The ending is more soapy than sci-fi, and I was disappointed.
June 29, 2024
3.5*
You're Safe Here was quite ambitious, and took a lot of turns I definitely did not expect. I loved the twistiness of it, but wished that certain parts had been focused on a bit more. The story starts off a bit slow. We're following Maggie, who is pregnant and in a pod in the Pacific Ocean, and Noa, Maggie's partner who has parted with her on not-so-great terms, but is not in a pod in the middle of the ocean so I feel like she's winning? Anyway. We're getting to know their current situations, and then how they got to this particular point where one of them decided isolated pod life was the better option to their current status. We also follow (to a somewhat lesser, at arm's length extent) Emmett, who is a tech wizard and the brain behind the pods.
Things pick up, and they pick up a lot, mostly during the second half of the book. I didn't mind the quieter first half, but I'll also say I was definitely more invested when the action (and the stakes) were well and truly upped halfway through. The twists that began to happen were amazing, and they definitely propelled me to keep turning the pages. My qualm, really, is that in introducing a lot of cool twists, the end felt too rushed- and too unanswered. I think it needed a few more chapters to really round out all the threads it started.
Bottom Line: Loved the twisty bits, loved the concept, just wish it had answered all the questions it had me asking!
You can find the full review and all the fancy and/or randomness that accompanies it at It Starts at Midnight
You're Safe Here was quite ambitious, and took a lot of turns I definitely did not expect. I loved the twistiness of it, but wished that certain parts had been focused on a bit more. The story starts off a bit slow. We're following Maggie, who is pregnant and in a pod in the Pacific Ocean, and Noa, Maggie's partner who has parted with her on not-so-great terms, but is not in a pod in the middle of the ocean so I feel like she's winning? Anyway. We're getting to know their current situations, and then how they got to this particular point where one of them decided isolated pod life was the better option to their current status. We also follow (to a somewhat lesser, at arm's length extent) Emmett, who is a tech wizard and the brain behind the pods.
Things pick up, and they pick up a lot, mostly during the second half of the book. I didn't mind the quieter first half, but I'll also say I was definitely more invested when the action (and the stakes) were well and truly upped halfway through. The twists that began to happen were amazing, and they definitely propelled me to keep turning the pages. My qualm, really, is that in introducing a lot of cool twists, the end felt too rushed- and too unanswered. I think it needed a few more chapters to really round out all the threads it started.
Bottom Line: Loved the twisty bits, loved the concept, just wish it had answered all the questions it had me asking!
You can find the full review and all the fancy and/or randomness that accompanies it at It Starts at Midnight
May 31, 2025
All opinions are entirely my own. I am in no way affiliated with the author or publisher. Remember to support your local indie bookstore and library!
⊹₊ ˚‧︵‿₊୨ ᰔ ୧₊‿︵‧ ˚ ₊⊹
"Our lives tend to be more full than they are fulfilling."
- [ ] Star Rating: 2.5
- [ ] Discovery: Browsing
- [ ] Reading Format: Physical
- [ ] Read Time: 5 Hours
In 2060, the WellPod is the latest launch from the largest tech company the world has ever seen-a fleet of floating personal paradises scattered throughout the Pacific Ocean, focused entirely on health, solitude, and relaxation. Noa Behar isn't a perfect fiancée. She's too distracted, too focused on her work in helping program the WellPod to give Maggie the attention she deserves. But when she discovers something rotten beneath WellPod's shiny facade.
An unprecedented disaster occurring after the first official release of wellpods is a really interesting concept. There was an even split between focus on our characters and focus on the world and plot but the characters were lukewarm at best. The ending really disappointed me. I thought Emmett was an unstable woman who needs to see a licensed therapist, which ironically she made obsolete thanks to her inventions. I'm not even sure she can be described as morally gray, maybe manipulatively lame?
Side note; The whole Wellcorp vibe just reminded me of Livecorp from Cloudy with a chance of meatballs 2.
⊹₊ ˚‧︵‿₊୨ ᰔ ୧₊‿︵‧ ˚ ₊⊹
"Our lives tend to be more full than they are fulfilling."
- [ ] Star Rating: 2.5
- [ ] Discovery: Browsing
- [ ] Reading Format: Physical
- [ ] Read Time: 5 Hours
In 2060, the WellPod is the latest launch from the largest tech company the world has ever seen-a fleet of floating personal paradises scattered throughout the Pacific Ocean, focused entirely on health, solitude, and relaxation. Noa Behar isn't a perfect fiancée. She's too distracted, too focused on her work in helping program the WellPod to give Maggie the attention she deserves. But when she discovers something rotten beneath WellPod's shiny facade.
An unprecedented disaster occurring after the first official release of wellpods is a really interesting concept. There was an even split between focus on our characters and focus on the world and plot but the characters were lukewarm at best. The ending really disappointed me. I thought Emmett was an unstable woman who needs to see a licensed therapist, which ironically she made obsolete thanks to her inventions. I'm not even sure she can be described as morally gray, maybe manipulatively lame?
Side note; The whole Wellcorp vibe just reminded me of Livecorp from Cloudy with a chance of meatballs 2.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 28, 2024
This was an interesting sci-fi speculative thriller set in a near future where technology is very advanced, the world has been devastated by climate change and a woman tech guru a la Steve Jobs esque has created a special "Wellness" Pod that allows people to escape life and take a break while being isolated and supported in a special dome set out in the ocean. At times bizarre, I thought this was good on audio and I really enjoyed the queer female MCs, the motherhood aspects and the unique vision of the future. Recommended for fans of dystopian/climate change fiction. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review!
February 24, 2025
I’m sooooo glad to be done w this!!!!! I actually rly like the author and I read her substack religiously but this was just the wrong mix of shit for me. I didn’t really care abt any of the characters, didn’t find the twist to be shocking, and was rly turned off by the climate disasters/dystopian reality created by tech in the not so distant future — I think I need to be reading happier stuff about the state of the world esp when things do genuinely feel bleak lol
July 15, 2024
I truly loved this book! I was fascinated by ideas about the not so distant future of tech, the world amidst climate change, and the overall character development. Really enjoyable read and I am sad to have finished! I have read Leslie’s newsletter for a few years and it was fun to see the parallels from her writing/lifestyle as they related to the novel. Only good things to say!
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