Tries hard to be simple, but it’s still quantum
The book does a decent job of trying to break down impossible-sounding ideas like superposition, entanglement, and quantum gates without just throwing a bunch of equations at you. It gives you a full tour, the basics of quantum mechanics, the hardware, the software, and all the future stuff it will be used for, like AI and cryptography. The "Quantum Toolkit" it includes, which points to simulators and other resources, is also a really solid, practical touch.
The book tries so hard to be simple that it ends up feeling vague. By avoiding all the math, the explanations for how things actually work are just a string of big words. It's like it explains what a qubit is, but not why it behaves the way it does. It's definitely not as "simple" as it claims, and I can see why some readers get frustrated. It's also written by an "Academy", and at times it feels a little dry, not like you're being guided by a single, passionate teacher.
For a future edition, I have a weird suggestion: they should add some of the math back in. They shouldn't put it in the main chapters, but maybe create an appendix for "The Math, If You're Curious". It feels like they overcorrected so much that they left out the core logic. Sometimes, a simple equation is actually easier to understand than a 10-page metaphor.
Overall, it's a good overview if you know absolutely nothing. But it's not the "aha!" moment I was hoping for, and it probably won't make you the "go-to quantum whiz" it promises.