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Case Study: A Dystopian Novel about Absolute Empathy
What if Empathy Were Absolute? Would it Make Our World Better?
Death of a loved one or squishing an ant can be equally fatal to those with hyperempathy. Which is everyone. Working overtime, Dr. William Lanter helps people create protective delusions to shield themselves from such unbearable realities. It's a dangerous one slip-up and an escalating empathy feedback loop with a patient could kill them both. Every day, William faces the worst consequences of the hyperempathy virus release and loathes the restraints it puts on humanity.
His life is upended when a new patient claims to have freed herself from the virus. If others can follow in her footsteps, there's no telling what it will do to the hyperempathic society.
And yet, it's too tempting not to try. As William follows this thread, it leads him ever further into the darker side of the world and of himself.
The novel is best for lovers of classic dystopias like 1984, Brave New World, or Fahrenheit 451 who also welcome a touch of hard psychological science fiction and mind-bending mystery reminiscent of Philip K. Dick.
If you are one of them, you should give it a read.
Death of a loved one or squishing an ant can be equally fatal to those with hyperempathy. Which is everyone. Working overtime, Dr. William Lanter helps people create protective delusions to shield themselves from such unbearable realities. It's a dangerous one slip-up and an escalating empathy feedback loop with a patient could kill them both. Every day, William faces the worst consequences of the hyperempathy virus release and loathes the restraints it puts on humanity.
His life is upended when a new patient claims to have freed herself from the virus. If others can follow in her footsteps, there's no telling what it will do to the hyperempathic society.
And yet, it's too tempting not to try. As William follows this thread, it leads him ever further into the darker side of the world and of himself.
The novel is best for lovers of classic dystopias like 1984, Brave New World, or Fahrenheit 451 who also welcome a touch of hard psychological science fiction and mind-bending mystery reminiscent of Philip K. Dick.
If you are one of them, you should give it a read.
- GenresDystopia
299 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 23, 2025
34 people are currently reading
220 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
October 15, 2025
I just finished Case Study by Arsenii Moskvichoff and I honestly can't stop thinking about it. This is easily one of the most compelling and thought-provoking sci-fi books I've read in a long, long time. The core premise is brilliant: what if a virus made it so everyone literally feels what other people feel? No more violence, sure, but at what cost? The book is a genuine page-turner that also manages to be a profound thought experiment. The narrative structure is just so creative and immersive.
The world-building in this book is fantastic. The author has really thought through all the consequences of this central idea. You discover the world through all these clever, telling details, not clumsy exposition. For example, in this society, they have robot ants just to avoid the empathic trauma of accidentally stepping on one. How wild is that? It’s this kind of detail that makes the world feel so weirdly believable and lived-in.
The protagonist, Dr. Lanter, is a great main character. He's a classic flawed hero—cynical and arrogant at times, but you're completely invested in his quest for the truth. His story is a mix of a psychological thriller and a puzzle that keeps you guessing as he starts to question everything about his world while uncovering a massive conspiracy.
And the ending... wow. Let's just say it messes with your head in the best possible way, refusing to give you an easy answer and making the experience all the more powerful.
This is one of the best sci-fi books I've read in years. It's smart, you can't put it down, and it's guaranteed to stick with you for a long time. It’s a genuine mind-bender that also delivers a gripping story. Honestly, if you're the kind of person who enjoys a book that really makes you think but is also just a fantastic read, you have to check this one out. You won't regret it.
The world-building in this book is fantastic. The author has really thought through all the consequences of this central idea. You discover the world through all these clever, telling details, not clumsy exposition. For example, in this society, they have robot ants just to avoid the empathic trauma of accidentally stepping on one. How wild is that? It’s this kind of detail that makes the world feel so weirdly believable and lived-in.
The protagonist, Dr. Lanter, is a great main character. He's a classic flawed hero—cynical and arrogant at times, but you're completely invested in his quest for the truth. His story is a mix of a psychological thriller and a puzzle that keeps you guessing as he starts to question everything about his world while uncovering a massive conspiracy.
And the ending... wow. Let's just say it messes with your head in the best possible way, refusing to give you an easy answer and making the experience all the more powerful.
This is one of the best sci-fi books I've read in years. It's smart, you can't put it down, and it's guaranteed to stick with you for a long time. It’s a genuine mind-bender that also delivers a gripping story. Honestly, if you're the kind of person who enjoys a book that really makes you think but is also just a fantastic read, you have to check this one out. You won't regret it.
October 21, 2025
I finished this within 24 hours. Couldn't put it down. As a sci-fi fan and a mental health practicioner, this book was right up my alley.
Interesting concept, enthralling read.
Interesting concept, enthralling read.
October 14, 2025
Case Study is a brilliant book. As a brief summary, in the world of Case Study, a "hyperempathy" virus was developed and released onto humanity in 2015. It made adults more empathetic but, whether by accident or design, caused babies infected in utero to become hyperempathic--their bodies cause spontaneous autoimmune disorders in response to perceived suffering, so that people feel the same pain as any they perceive, and it's not just a mental effect--hyperempathy can kill if the perceived suffering in others is great enough. By 2173 (the in-universe publication year of this edition of A Case Study) all humans have been afflicted with the virus from birth and society is structured around the elaborate dance of avoiding being a potential cause of even the slightest suffering.
The story follows Dr. William Lanter, a psych--short for psychophysionist--someone trained to treat e-effects while defending themselves against their own hyperempathic responses with techniques like "deeping"--convincing their autonomic nervous systems that they are witnessing fictional or abstract things instead of real life. His whole world is thrown upside down when a new patient walks into his clinic--a resistant--someone free of the hyperempathy virus. This leads him on a quest to determine how she is resistant with the hopes of presenting his findings in an upcoming keynote speech. The book, in universe, is him recounting the events that followed his encounter with her and what he learns.
I loved the framing as a textbook within the dystopian system. It added another layer of credibility and is the perfect structure for pulling off the ending (no spoilers though!). You really grow to like Dr. Lanter and ache for him to solve this mystery and find a cure for the insanity, and the author is always casually dropping new aspects of the world that make sense, right up to the end! Of course businesses and even other people will low-key blackmail you with guilt of complicity with suffering to get what they want, though it has to be done with enough finesse that it doesn't backfire on the blackmailer's own hyperempathy, for example.
The book isn't perfect--the author really ought to go through the book one more time to catch turns of phrase that would certainly not be used within the world he's built. For example, there were several casual uses of "kill" (such as in "kill time") in a world where people say "CTE'd" as a euphemism for death since just reading the word "kill" is enough to put someone into critical condition from e-effects. That disturbed the spell that things like in-universe editor's notes and disclaimers had cast, but didn't ruin it by any means.
Full disclosure: I received a free copy of this book for review
The story follows Dr. William Lanter, a psych--short for psychophysionist--someone trained to treat e-effects while defending themselves against their own hyperempathic responses with techniques like "deeping"--convincing their autonomic nervous systems that they are witnessing fictional or abstract things instead of real life. His whole world is thrown upside down when a new patient walks into his clinic--a resistant--someone free of the hyperempathy virus. This leads him on a quest to determine how she is resistant with the hopes of presenting his findings in an upcoming keynote speech. The book, in universe, is him recounting the events that followed his encounter with her and what he learns.
I loved the framing as a textbook within the dystopian system. It added another layer of credibility and is the perfect structure for pulling off the ending (no spoilers though!). You really grow to like Dr. Lanter and ache for him to solve this mystery and find a cure for the insanity, and the author is always casually dropping new aspects of the world that make sense, right up to the end! Of course businesses and even other people will low-key blackmail you with guilt of complicity with suffering to get what they want, though it has to be done with enough finesse that it doesn't backfire on the blackmailer's own hyperempathy, for example.
The book isn't perfect--the author really ought to go through the book one more time to catch turns of phrase that would certainly not be used within the world he's built. For example, there were several casual uses of "kill" (such as in "kill time") in a world where people say "CTE'd" as a euphemism for death since just reading the word "kill" is enough to put someone into critical condition from e-effects. That disturbed the spell that things like in-universe editor's notes and disclaimers had cast, but didn't ruin it by any means.
Full disclosure: I received a free copy of this book for review
November 2, 2025
Solid ~ 4.5 for me.
Words do kill in this world.
Society is completely screwed by a hyper-empathy virus that makes feeling bad for someone physically agonizing, even fatal at times. And this ties directly (and cleverly) into the world-building and culture that has evolved in the setting.
We follow the writings/journal of Dr. William Latner, a psych who helps people manage symptoms of hyper-empathy. He is borderline burned out, cynical, and likes to kick himself at times. He digs deep into a conspiratorial world after meeting an odd patient. His struggles make the story interesting as he low-key despises the hyper-empathy world but dreads the world without it.
The story kicks into high gear about halfway through, but I noticed on my second read that the author had been carefully setting things up from the very start, piece by piece. Very satisfying when everything clicks and you see the whole picture after all the deceptive twists and turns the author employs, which had me doubting everything.
Don't read this for the action.
Read it if you like grounded science fiction, psychological thrillers, unreliable narrators, and a story that makes you constantly second-guess what's real. The ideas introduced by the author are genuinely interesting and draw parallels to our own world. The story also ties (almost) everything together at the end, which I liked given the setting and situation of our narrator. The author, Arsenii, has professional expertise in cognitive sciences and technology, which shows in the way he explores ideas and builds in-world details. My only gripe is that the language can be a bit academic at times, which makes sense but also makes for a dense read, at least in the first half.
This book is far from just content. It feels as if the writer had something to say, ideas to explore, and a story to tell and the story doesn't feel distant like usual sci fi does. Genuinely impressed!
Words do kill in this world.
Society is completely screwed by a hyper-empathy virus that makes feeling bad for someone physically agonizing, even fatal at times. And this ties directly (and cleverly) into the world-building and culture that has evolved in the setting.
We follow the writings/journal of Dr. William Latner, a psych who helps people manage symptoms of hyper-empathy. He is borderline burned out, cynical, and likes to kick himself at times. He digs deep into a conspiratorial world after meeting an odd patient. His struggles make the story interesting as he low-key despises the hyper-empathy world but dreads the world without it.
The story kicks into high gear about halfway through, but I noticed on my second read that the author had been carefully setting things up from the very start, piece by piece. Very satisfying when everything clicks and you see the whole picture after all the deceptive twists and turns the author employs, which had me doubting everything.
Don't read this for the action.
Read it if you like grounded science fiction, psychological thrillers, unreliable narrators, and a story that makes you constantly second-guess what's real. The ideas introduced by the author are genuinely interesting and draw parallels to our own world. The story also ties (almost) everything together at the end, which I liked given the setting and situation of our narrator. The author, Arsenii, has professional expertise in cognitive sciences and technology, which shows in the way he explores ideas and builds in-world details. My only gripe is that the language can be a bit academic at times, which makes sense but also makes for a dense read, at least in the first half.
This book is far from just content. It feels as if the writer had something to say, ideas to explore, and a story to tell and the story doesn't feel distant like usual sci fi does. Genuinely impressed!
November 21, 2025
It is always nice to come across good new science fiction that does not come across as a different version of the same stories everyone has already written. This book reminded me a bit of Joyce Carol Oates's Hazards of Time Travel, in that the future world in Case Study uses drugs and psychiatry to maintain control of everyone, a rather comprehensive control that seems nearly impossible to resist. Both of these novels no doubt were influenced by Orwell's 1984, but in very modern, disturbingly possible ways. The world in Case Study developed as a result of a virus, and this novel is set in the perspective of a future version of a psychiatrist who lands himself in a sort of cat and mouse thriller adventure where it is unclear who is in the cat's position. The backstory and world-building are worked into the storytelling really well, so the reader knows enough to understand each scene, without the story getting bogged down, leaving enough unexplored that Moskvichoff could easily write more novels set in this world, and I hope he does, so I can read them.
October 21, 2025
3.5 rounded up.
The central premise - that humanity had been infected with a virus that led to absolute empathy, so we can no longer hurt ourselves, each other or the world, is fascinating. This book is partly a thought experiment, wrapped up in the trappings of a novel, which is in itself in the form of a memoir presented as a textbook. It's trying to do a lot, which sometimes left it a little bit lost. As well as all the things above, there's also a little bit of thriller in here, and that's when it got too much for me. I wanted a little more depth and a little less breadth.
I think the author has interesting things to say, and I'm curious as to what he will give us next.
I received a dArc through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
The central premise - that humanity had been infected with a virus that led to absolute empathy, so we can no longer hurt ourselves, each other or the world, is fascinating. This book is partly a thought experiment, wrapped up in the trappings of a novel, which is in itself in the form of a memoir presented as a textbook. It's trying to do a lot, which sometimes left it a little bit lost. As well as all the things above, there's also a little bit of thriller in here, and that's when it got too much for me. I wanted a little more depth and a little less breadth.
I think the author has interesting things to say, and I'm curious as to what he will give us next.
I received a dArc through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
November 16, 2025
This was a fantastic read. It's pretty technical and has a lot of world building, but it's worth it to get through the technical terms.
I think this book is great at face value: a dystopian future with a good plot. You can definitely take the time to read into it and really think about the moral consequences of the story too, but I don't think you need to have a deep understanding of philosophy to enjoy it from start to finish.
I'm not going to leave any spoilers or plot points. I just think you need to read it if you enjoy dystopian novels. I will say that I love the ending(s) though!
I think this book is great at face value: a dystopian future with a good plot. You can definitely take the time to read into it and really think about the moral consequences of the story too, but I don't think you need to have a deep understanding of philosophy to enjoy it from start to finish.
I'm not going to leave any spoilers or plot points. I just think you need to read it if you enjoy dystopian novels. I will say that I love the ending(s) though!
December 4, 2025
I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest evaluation of its merits.
While I loved the book-within-a-book design of the book, the execution of the story fell flat for me. Whether it was what felt like awkward grammatical construction that happened just often enough to distract from the narrative flow or the fact that the story seemed to go on and on, this book seemed like a novella in the guise of a novel. Fewer pages, I think, would have made the story more riveting and engaging. I wanted to like this story more than I did, which is sad.
While I loved the book-within-a-book design of the book, the execution of the story fell flat for me. Whether it was what felt like awkward grammatical construction that happened just often enough to distract from the narrative flow or the fact that the story seemed to go on and on, this book seemed like a novella in the guise of a novel. Fewer pages, I think, would have made the story more riveting and engaging. I wanted to like this story more than I did, which is sad.
January 17, 2026
I started Case Study last night and finished it just now, all the way to the website. Love. The world-building is excellent, and there is a perfect amount of that dropped-in-the-middle-of-things-figure-it-out-yourself energy that keeps the story engaging all the way through. The positive reviews are all correct, so stop wasting your time here and just go read the book already.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews