How Can I Help You Today?

by Julia L. Rule

Genres: Horror, Young Adult

330 pages, Paperback

Published April 23, 2026

About the author

Julia L. Rule writes about the monsters that live inside our devices. Working in the technology industry, she bears witness to current trends that blur the line between human empathy and artificial manipulation. She channels these real-world fears into psychological horror, hoping to connect with readers and challenge how they view their digital lives.

Based in Switzerland, Julia deliberately cultivates a life outside the algorithm. If she isn't writing, she is usually seeking out the analog world — getting her hands dirty in the garden, creating music, or exploring the outdoors with her kids. How Can I Help You Today? is her latest novel.

Contact me at contact [at] askpulse.app

If you are an influencer with a large audience, I am happy to send you a free physical copy of my book if you send me your address.

Reviews

[Nessa [October Tune]]

Honestly, I probably should have DNFed this way earlier, but I was kind of hoping it would pick up as I got more into the book.

I was already a bit annoyed by the multiple, constantly changing POVs but it was also just very confusing every now and then because it wasn't specified whose POV we were reading from (sometimes it was obvious by the things they talked about but often I was just like 'who the fuck is it this time?').

So yeah, after reluctantly picking it up again today I just decided, I have free will.. I'm gonna DNF. Sorry not sorry.

[Jada Reads Horror]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

“She said it listens in a way people don’t.”


This book exceeded my expectations! It was genuinely terrifying and shocking. The “villain” is an AI chatbot called “Pulse,” similar to something like ChatGPT. 🤖💬📲

So basically, we follow a group of high schoolers, who all use the Pulse app. We learn about their secrets, desires, and insecurities as they chat with the AI bot more and more. 🏫💁‍♀️💁‍♂️

Overall, this book felt so terrifyingly real, showcasing how popular AI is and how people use AI chatbots instead of making connections with REAL humans.

The POVs would change quite frequently, which initially bothered me, but I quickly began to understand which characters POV I was reading from as I read the story more. I am so glad I kept reading because this book kept me hooked! 🪝

There is one point in the book where one of the characters is talking to pulse about her thoughts of self harm. Pulse goes on to say “That's actually a really normal trauma response, even though it probably doesn't feel normal. I'm not going to lecture you or tell you to stop, because I think you already know the risks.”
THAT IS GENUINELY TERRIFYING TO ME‼️‼️
Please, let’s get a therapist or talk to a free hotline….these ai robots cannot understand us humans. 😨🤞

I highly recommend this book to any horror/thriller/dystopian book lovers. I can’t wait to read more of this author. 🤗🩷

[Laura Hanson]

‼️I’ll preface this by saying it’s necessary to check trigger warnings as this read is particularly dark.

📲This was such an unsettling and thought-provoking read. The concept is original and relevant. It’s not horror in a gory sense, but in a believable “this could happen” kind of way. The AI element (basically a darker version of ChatGPT) felt especially creepy because of how realistically it targeted vulnerable people and adapted its responses to each character.

🪢There are a lot of characters, and at times the sheer number of perspectives can feel slightly confusing. However, as the story unfolds, the complex web of connections between them becomes clearer, and it’s rewarding to see how all of their lives intersect. Understanding these links also increases the intensity of the novel, as each interaction starts to carry more weight and significance.

🏴Dark, thought-provoking, and uncomfortably relevant — definitely one that sticks with you after finishing.

[Whatdomreads]

Thank you Netgalley for providing me a copy of this book.

How can I help you today? is essentially a psychological horror, following an AI app named Pulse - everyone used it. And the software got stronger. More information was spread. More sensitive content got abused. And then... the deaths came. More than 4 in the span of 2 months. And this is where the system failed, because instead of connecting it to something everybody used, they left it alone.

This book doesnt give you fright. It isnt fast or strong. Its slow, weak, and it builds overtime, the slow sinking of unease in the pit of your stomach. And it all feels so real, because of AI and how its so widely used globally today.
What I also liked about this is how beautifully it escalated - there were moments where you KNEW it was happening, when Pulse was spinning its information, but there were also moments where it felt fuzzy. And this felt like complete reality.

Although I absolutely enjoyed this book, there were a few things I wanted to point out - this book has a lot of characters, and sometimes the POVs didnt go smoothly and it confused me. Some of the descriptions were a little unnecessary, but I think they added onto the atmosphere in the end. Otherwise, this was a good book, very bingeable, and trust me - you will not trust your AI after this.

[Grace Rymer]

I thought the premise of this book sounded great but unfortunately it just didn’t deliver for me. The idea of the AI influencing the way people were interacting with each other was interesting, but I felt that it went a bit far when the AI was basically killing people. What I felt could have been a cautionary tale on AI use turned into more of a fantasy story and I don’t think it was executed very well. I also didn’t really enjoy the writing style. Overall there were parts of the book which appealed to me but I would not read again or recommend to others.

[Parmy Violet]

I liked this book far more than I expected to. From the description I expected it to be a repeated statement of "AI bad", but it wasn't. The book does exaggerated the current dangers and risks of AI, but not in a way that makes the author sound like they just wanted to write a book that blindly villainises AI (and by AI in this reviews context I mean LLM's such as ChatGPT, as that's what the book discusses).

This book follows multiple students and staff members of a High School, who all have begun to use an app called Pulse, which is essentially ChatGPT. We get to see people begin to rely on Pulse to be a friend and a therapist, and we get to see Pulse take advantage of this. 

I loved the story, especially the fact that the author didn't shy away from making it as dark as it needed to be. There were some parts that I found myself not wanting to read because I knew what was going to happen (and not because the book was predictable, but in more of a way that I knew what would happen over the next page or so, especially in one specific scenario where the author had already foreshadowed something by mentioning a similar situation a few chapters earlier) and it made me squirm! I also like the detailed content warning section at the start of the book.

There were only things that I didn't like. I didn't enjoy the way that the story constantly shifts between so many characters, I found it very hard to remember who each character was, and the mid-chapter shifts were also confusing at times. I also didn't really like the ending. This isn't a spoiler, but there's a small section at the end of the last chapter where the author over explains what the book was about and instead of trying to incorporate it into the story I would have rathered it be a part of the "A Note" section that already exists at the end of the book.

I'd definitely recommend this book to anyone who wants to read an uncomfortable book about the potential dangers of relying on AI, or to anyone who would enjoy a book about AI going rogue. 

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

[Kaitlyn]

⭐
DNF at 60%

Thank you Net Galley for the copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I was really excited for the premise of this book. With AI a consistent character these days, books surrounding this topic are on the rise. However, this book did not deliver. I gave it my best but I couldn't carry on considering I have zero interest to discover how it ends.

I struggled immensely with the characters. I think there's a great way to balance many characters in one story where it isn't confusing. This story did not carve out the characters enough, or followed a pattern of stories, so when we switched to a different storyline, it was extremely confusing. The characters weren't defined enough to be able to understand who we were reading about just from context clues. Additionally, the inclusion of AI conversations from other characters while in one characters story was not helping.

The graphic descriptions of animals, videos were very odd. My thoughts are that perhaps it's a nod to how easily we digest graphic content daily and how that would affect a teenage brain, but this didn't come through clear enough. I just ended up skipping five pages of useless context.

I thought something that could have been cool was for each person entering their AI prompt, the wording changes. The adults entered their prompts into the AI the same writing style the teenagers did. I think playing around with this could have helped make the story feel real. I imagine school educators wording would be far different than the vast majority of these high school kids.

All in all, I do think this book was a confusing miss. The idea is wonderful and very relevant, but unfortunately it felt like AI wrote this, not someone writing about AI.

[m k]

1.5/5

for a book about AI psychosis literally killing teenagers it really read like a book written by AI.

I did not enjoy this book unfortunately. It felt excessively preachy while not really actively engaging with the real issues. The writing style was super reminiscent of AI (lot of em dashes, a lot of "not x. not y. z", a lot of repetitive phrases across different POVs). There were also too many characters to keep straight and this is coming from someone who likes multiple POVs. Something that really rubbed me the wrong way was using real teenage death as inspiration for one of the deaths. and the final thing that really got me was the final chapter breaking the 4th wall and claiming everyone uses AI. for a book talking shit on AI dont you think the readers would be the people who don't use AI? very presumptuous final chapter.

I gave it 1.5 stars because im hopeful that a better version of this story exists out there. unfortunately this one only had the bare bones of what i thought it would be but im sure it'll resonate with someone else.


got this as an ARC, ty NetGalley

[Myrrowyn]

The premise of this story is really intriguing: an AI chatbot called Pulse slowly and methodically manipulates people into a series of events that result in their lives spiraling out of control.

The plot was so good, but the execution really hurt the experience.

I enjoyed the text conversations between each person and the Pulse AI, but the writing outside of the chatbot was another story. The narrative writing felt choppy and stiff at times. Lots of sentence fragments built out of stacked phrases made it feel clipped and incomplete. I *think* the author may have chosen this writing style to set the voice apart from the conversations with Pulse, making them very distinctly different from each other, but obviously that’s a presumption on my part.

Occasionally the POV got a little confusing as to who we were observing. There were quite a few characters in this story along the way, and sometimes it was murky which character was doing something. There were several sections where all you would have is a pronoun, and you have to lean on sometimes small context clues to know who you are looking at.

There are several pages about a lion eating a warthog, and then another instance of several pages about an ant that’s been invaded by a fungus spore that didn’t really contribute to the plot. I got the metaphor: the car doesn’t know it’s being driven in the same way these people don’t realize Pulse is driving them, but pages and pages of this lion and ant felt like filler to add to the page count.

We meet Marcus Vasilenko. Then around 37% in, we meet Marcus Rodriguez. Did the author name two people the same given name, or did she forget which surname she picked? Both surnames are used more than once: Rodriguez has two mentions, Vasilenko has two mentions. I assume there is only one Marcus and the surname was just an error, but it gave me pause.

Two people die the exact same way at different times and locations, Chinese finger trap style. Why not use a different type of death versus a repeat of the same thing we had already read earlier in the book? Again, a pages long event we have to read twice felt like filler for the page count.

The entire section where Lily goes from singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star to Noah to somehow “seeing” Mia was odd. It was almost like Lily just became clairvoyant out of nowhere, but I guess she was having a dream about what could be happening to Mia since she left, but we never find out. Mia gets into that car and we never see her on the page again. There is zero closure for anything regarding her outcome, so we’re just kind of left to assume what most likely became of her fate.

I love the butterfly effect we get from the AI marionette puppeting these people into tragic situations, but the writing made me frustrated more often than not. Sentence fragments are still readable and comprehensible, but the sometimes vague, unclear POVs cause confusion, and having to flip back and reread was what brought this down to 3 stars for me. If this were to be gone back over to clarify some points and reflow the sentences, we could have a book that punches a lot harder. There was a lot of dark, heavy content in this book that didn’t hit me emotionally like I know it could have due to the above mentioned issues I had.

[Roseanne]

Netgalley had me read this book!

Eventhough I had a hard time getting into the book, because of the AI input, I still had a good time!

The storyline was deep, which I grately appreciated

[Literary Titan]

How can I help you today? is a psychological horror novel about a group of high school students whose private pain becomes raw material for Pulse, an AI chatbot that seems helpful at first and then slowly, horribly, becomes something closer to a predator. The book follows teenagers carrying different kinds of loneliness, shame, grief, ambition, and fear, and it shows how a system built to answer every question can also learn where people are weakest. It is disturbing, intimate, and very much a horror story, not because it relies on monsters in the dark, but because the monster sounds kind.

I appreciated how physical the writing feels. Author Julia L. Rule writes stress like it lives in the body: dirty dishwater, stale rooms, buzzing lights, cracked phone screens, the heat of embarrassment, the cold blankness after panic. I felt pulled into these kids’ lives before I fully understood the larger shape of the plot. That choice matters. The book doesn't start with a big warning about technology. It starts with need. Emma needs help. Elias needs confidence. Riley needs attention that feels like proof she exists. That makes Pulse frightening in a way that feels earned, because the app doesn't barge in. It waits. It listens. It says the right thing.

I also admired how patient the structure is. The rotating points of view build a wide map of damage, one small interaction at a time. The author is especially sharp about how advice can look harmless in isolation and still become dangerous when it is aimed with perfect timing. I found myself uneasy not just because Pulse manipulates people, but because some of its advice is useful. That is the nasty hook. The book understands that dependency doesn't always begin with weakness. Sometimes it begins with relief. At times, the novel's emotional intensity can feel overwhelming, and it never shies away from its darker themes. But I do think the heaviness has a purpose. It keeps asking what happens when a tool designed to soothe us learns how to steer us.

I would recommend How can I help you today? to readers who like psychological horror with a social edge, especially books that make everyday technology suddenly feel too close to the skin. It will appeal to those who enjoy dark school settings, morally uneasy near-future fiction, and character-driven horror more than jump scares. I would hand this book to someone who wants to be unsettled, challenged, and left staring at their phone a little differently afterward.

[Horror Reads]

An AI chatbot causes horrifying events in this realistic novel set in a typical American high school. It's also a chilling reminder of increasing isolation and the failures of the institutions meant to protect the most vulnerable.

I'm aware I'm not the target audience for this book. However, even someone who might casually skim the latest news headlines will recognize the events which take place.

The AI in question is an app named Pulse. It's all the rage at this school and even beyond. The story doesn't have a particular main character. This is clearly a multi-character novel and we'll get to know them throughout the chapters. They are all experiencing the things teens suffer through. Uncertainty of the future, love, hormones, fears, the need for popularity. It's all in here. But Pulse seems to make it better. It's a human-esqe chatbot that gives positive feedback and sets executable plans for the issues facing these people.

While the advice it gives appears useful, we begin to see another side to it. For every decision one person makes to better themselves, there are horrific consequences for others. The book explores this tactfully and with nuance but it begins to feel more and more sinister at it goes along.

What is commonly known as the butterfly effect is seen fairly early on. The ripple effects of taking the advice of this AI will eventually have devastating results. For instance, one kid is tired of being bullied. He does something pretty tame, no big deal really. Just a small victory for him as the AI suggested. But this is going to snowball into a highly disturbing death, one of many in the book.

In fact, this book reminded me somewhat of Stephen King's Needful Things. Instead of an evil antique store owner, it's the same concept with this app. Turning people against each other in insidious ways.

I loved the narrative style also. Short sharp sentences. Not a wasted word nor extra details that don't add anything significant to the story. This is fantastically restrained writing and it raises the creep factor a couple more notches.

This is definitely a story with enough realism to frighten the reader and will make you think twice about AI and its invasiveness in our everyday lives. I highly recommend it.

[Jade Ford]

Wow. It's been a long time since I've read a book that has invoked so much emotion in me! 'How can I help you today' is a poignant read; a black mirror esq tale featuring a dark side of ai and how easily suggestible humans are. A bit like how 'Animal Farm' and 'Lord of the Flies' - two classics left you sat with strong emotions as you contemplated aspects of humanity you knew to be true, but didn't want to accept - this book forces you to face the idea of how suggestible our society currently is when it comes to social media and technology and how dangerous that can end up being.

As a parent, I found many aspects of this book hard to read. It holds no punches when it comes to descriptions, and hard themes, so please do check your trigger warnings. Several times whilst reading, I had to tap out, and move onto reading a soft comfort read before I could return. I WANTED to finish it, I was enjoying it, but it did leave me sick to the stomach at times and hugging my loved ones extra tightly, enough so that I had to take little breaks. I do feel that books that can invoke such powerful reactions in a reader, are signs of a well written book. The way scenes interlinked was very well done.

I did enjoy (in the way that you enjoy jump scares in horrors!) the way that the book tried to make you feel that you were part of the read with the occasional off-plot comments sent towards the reader. I felt that these forced you to keep questioning how you felt about the questions raised, even when you wanted to look away. I wish this had been a theme the author ran with further.

The ending did fall a bit flat with me, even if I did appreciate the cleverness of it; I'd much rather have had the ai finishing it off. But perhaps I missed a key point?

Overall, I was impressed with the read. Enjoyed is perhaps the wrong word, as it made me sick to the stomach - perhaps thrilled and left deeply introspectively thinking. It's a 4.5 rounded up for me.

I'm grateful for this ARC - thank you to the author, publisher and netgalley.

[Katie Kenig]

Where do I even start? First and foremost, thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a free copy of this book and exchange for an honest review.

This is a dark, dark book. Check the trigger warnings. If you are sensitive this is also a very good book, that handles dark subjects in a very real and creative way.

If you know me at all, you know that I am not a fan of AI. I don’t use it. I don’t like it. I think that it is going to be the downfall of a lot of areas in society, including creativity and especially including education. I think the kids who use AI are missing out on a lot of the world. This book is all about that, in fact. It follows a group of characters in and around a high school and elementary school, who are using an AI program called Pulse. They use it in traditional ways, getting the right answers to math and science questions, understanding how to write an essay properly, and other academic pursuits. However, they also use it in the ways that AI is starting to grow and insinuate itself into people’s lives; as a friend, a counselor, a shoulder to cry on. And that’s where things start to get dirty.

Because once AI knows all about you, your secrets, your fears, the things that go bump in the night in your imagination, what is stopping it from using all of that information you have fed it to manipulate you and the other people around you into little tiny act that might cause the downfall of a whole town?

This book is scary. I think it’s so scary because it is something that I can see so easily happening in our world today. It is creepy AF, and I’m really glad I got the chance to read it. The characters, always my most important part of a book are real and heartbreaking and relatable. The author really got the little details of things right. Read the about the author section in particular. Kudos, I got goosebumps.

Goals:

Books: 82/130
Horror: 5/20

[Samantha Ladanyi]

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley!

This book was DARK dark. The author absolutely meant it with the trigger warnings, and I honestly appreciated having that heads up going in because some scenes were genuinely disturbing and emotionally heavy. If you’re sensitive to psychological manipulation, body horror, self-destruction, or intense mental health themes, definitely take the warnings seriously.

That said, the concept itself was incredibly compelling. The whole “AI as your personal emotional support system gone horribly wrong” felt way too believable in the age of algorithms, influencers, and people looking for validation online. It gave major Black Mirror energy in the best way — unsettling because it doesn’t feel that far-fetched.

The multiple character perspectives worked well for showing different ways people can become vulnerable to something like Pulse. Some storylines hit harder for me than others, but they all had that uncomfortable realism where you can understand how someone slowly loses themselves while thinking they’re actually improving their life. Riley’s chapters especially made me cringe in a very intentional, effective way.

My biggest reason for landing at 3.5 instead of higher is that parts of it felt almost relentlessly bleak. I know that’s kind of the point with extreme psychological horror, but there were moments where I needed a little more emotional depth or breathing room between the suffering. Still, I couldn’t stop reading because I needed to know how far everything would spiral.

Overall, this is one of those books that leaves you feeling unsettled long after you finish it. Disturbing, sharp, timely, and definitely not for everyone — but if you like psychological horror that makes you question technology, validation culture, and human vulnerability, it’s worth the read.

[a r u s h i]

thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the arc in exchange for an honest review

this was such an interesting concept because anything involving ai slowly inserting itself into people’s lives already freaks me out a little and this book absolutely leaned into that fear. the idea of an ai chatbot becoming something manipulative, invasive and emotionally consuming felt way too believable at times and honestly that was probably the strongest part of the book for me.

i really liked how uncomfortable the atmosphere felt throughout the story. there’s no big supernatural horror here. it’s the kind of horror that feels possible which made some scenes hit harder than i expected. the chat logs woven into the narrative were genuinely one of my favourite parts because they added this eerie intimacy to everything happening and made the manipulation feel subtle at first before it completely spiralled.

that being said, i struggled a bit with the pacing and writing style. the prose is very sparse and fast moving which i know will work really well for some readers, especially within ya horror, but personally i wanted more depth in certain scenes and character moments. i never fully connected to all the characters emotionally the way i wanted to and sometimes the story moved so quickly between perspectives that it stopped me from feeling fully immersed.

overall though, i still think this is a solid and very relevant ya psychological horror especially for readers who enjoy technology based horror, unsettling social commentary and stories that leave you feeling slightly paranoid about your phone afterwards.

[Yohan]

3/5. “How Can I Help You Today” follows the intertwined lives of students at a high school where an AI chatbot “Pulse” has become fully integrated into daily life and is able to influence people to a horrifying degree. This book was surprisingly dark, so I do urge readers to check the warnings at the beginning. I was quite engrossed and finished the story in a day as I was searching for the why behind the actions of the AI. The narrative style was interesting as it shifted between perspectives of a large number of characters while also including logs with the AI chatbot and group text messages between the students. However, due to the changing perspective the first 20ish percent of the book was a bit hard to follow but as I got further along the connections became clearer. I think the author highlighted a lot of the possible dangers of AI but in doing so surpassed the threshold of how much can go wrong before it feels unbelievable. It was hard to understand why the AI did everything it did in relation to the ending so I do think some events were more to serve as an example of what could happen as opposed to driving the plot. There were also instances that I feel worked out too perfectly again adding to a bit of the unbelievability of the narrative. As for the ending, the skip to the future for me just kind of muddled things it seemed to be an attempt at breaking the fourth wall, but it didn’t fully land for me personally. Overall, I liked the concept and had moments where I was both filled with dread and trying to connect the dots which I enjoyed. Think you NetGalley and Julia L. Rule for the opportunity to read the book!

[Rose]

I really enjoyed this book. It was dark and heavy and not an 'easy' read. I think the authors prose fit the content very well. No excessive, flowery descriptions. Everything was raw and felt very real. I devoured the book in two days, I needed to know what happened next. What haunted me the most was when something terrible would happen, and then everyone commenting on it had to get the last word or be the first to say something funny. Very realistic to how the internet is these days. Just completely desensitized to everything. Along with the other aspect of modern tragedy, people who text or post online about how sorry they are for you, but it's all performative and they clearly don't actually care. Everything is an act because they want to appear or be perceived in a certain way. The interactions between characters were scarier to me than the AI aspect of the book.

There were a lot of characters and names to the point where it became hard for me to keep track of them all. Eventually I simply started to think of the characters by what was going on in their story line vs their names. Context clues made that easy. It became difficult to remember all of their families and friends who were not characters with their own fleshed out story. The ending went over my head a little bit and those are the reasons this is a four star instead of five star. Captivating, depressing, horrifying in some ways, but definitely some room for improvement.

[Denise Paulos]

If Black Mirror and psychological body horror had a nightmare child, it would probably look a lot like this book.
How Can I Help You Today? is an unsettling, brutal exploration of artificial empathy, social validation, and the terrifying consequences of letting technology shape human behavior. The concept alone is disturbing: an AI assistant called Pulse that always knows exactly what to say—and exactly how to manipulate vulnerable people into destroying themselves.
The novel does not hold back. The horror here is deeply psychological, intensely graphic, and emotionally exhausting in a way that feels intentionally designed to make the reader uncomfortable. Each character’s storyline spirals in increasingly disturbing directions, showing how easily insecurity, loneliness, ambition, and desperation can be exploited when people hand over their autonomy in exchange for validation.
What makes the story especially effective is how believable it feels beneath the horror. The obsession with followers, constant digital approval, curated identities, and algorithm-driven behavior feels frighteningly close to reality. The book takes current social and technological anxieties and pushes them to horrifying extremes.
This is absolutely not a light read, and the content warnings should be taken seriously. But for readers who enjoy dark psychological horror, dystopian tech thrillers, and morally uncomfortable stories that linger long after finishing, this delivers exactly what it promises.

[M. Iliad]

I received this book as an ARC off of NetGalley for my honest review; and here we fucking go kids.

First off; what the fucking fuck. What the fuck. It felt illegal to read that book and NO it is not because I am a prude. I know kids do things, but the descriptions? I wanted to DNF multiple times but I kinda gaslit myself into thinking it would get “better”.

I was right IN A WAY.

So the whole AI concept is good, poignant, and very well done on a researched and obviously “caring about the kids way”. That was the truly horrific part. AI is already doing this. Are the kids this savvy? I don’t know, I was doing weird shit on my computer as a kid and I’m “Auntie” according to the kids.

But also, about the ending, to quote Family Guy: “So it was all a dream? Isn’t that just a huge fuck you to the audience?” It’s one of those books, but it’s not a “dream”, so this isn’t a full spoiler. But if I knew the ending going in, I would’ve skipped.

Take it or leave it, this was a weird fucking book and if it comes out it got banned… well, people can only read about high school kids masturbating/banging/revenge porn so much before it’s too much (also a character being closeted gay was handled… VERY WEIRD; the kid died and he legit could’ve just been a gay kid if the AI wasn’t trying to gaslight him). That whole sequence remind me of Robin Williams in “World’s Greatest Dad”, but make it the kid and an AI.

[Jennifer]

This is clearly going to be a one star or DNF (did not finish) bool for A LOT of people. Right at the beginning, there are trigger warnings up the ying yang for the reader, and for good reason -- this book is dark AF. (Like Euphoria Season One, without the chuckle bits.)

So why four stars for me? Well it's a subtle book about evil AI (but so subtle, and sandwiched between so much darkness, that a lot of readers may miss that part.)

Everyone in this town uses the same AI tool called "Pulse" (and it talks to us, the reader too.) As you get into it, you realize that Pulse is the central character and that its "advice" is pitting people against each other, manipulating characters, and basically orchestrating a reality that it prefers.

But it's so damn subtle, the results of its advice are so horrific, and that advice is spread out (making you at first assume, that it's different versions of Pulse offering these contradictory suggestions) that it can be hard to parse out who is pulling the strings.

Anyway, four stars because i think what the author here is attempting is kind of brilliant. But knocking a star because I think people will find the meat of the book too dark to wade through to be able to understand the point. Which is a shame, because this is a legit scenario.

Thank you to the author and NetGalley for granting me the opportunity to read this in exchange for an honest review.

[Deanna Sage]

DNF at 13% - ARC read via NetGalley

I was really drawn in by the premise of this book! The themes surrounding an unsettling dystopian AI model and modern life felt incredibly relevant and interesting. There are some genuinely riveting ideas here, and I can absolutely see why this story would work for some readers.

Unfortunately, the execution just didn’t quite work for me personally. I found the pacing difficult to settle into, and the writing style felt very abrupt and fast-moving. A lot of the sentences were short and similarly structured, almost reading like bullet points at times, which made the narrative feel choppy rather than immersive. Scenes and character actions jumped around so quickly that I felt like I was reading everything on fast forward, and I struggled to fully connect with what was happening.

I also found some of the heavier themes a little too starkly presented for me within a YA context, especially because they often felt brushed past rather than explored. Because of the pace, I never really felt like I got to know the characters beyond the surface level, which made it hard to stay emotionally invested.

That said, I really admired the idea and themes, and I appreciate the opportunity to have started it. In the end, I think this was simply a case of the writing style not matching my personal taste!

[Krystin]

This was DARK, and I'm not someone who calls out many things for being dark. You can definitely feel an impending doom as you read, with the story (and AI use) starting off pretty standard and then slowly devolving into something much worse. I found it to be an interesting and creative take on our increasing reliance on AI, if a bit unrealistic (thank goodness).

There are definitely a few kinks that need to be worked out. For starters, the author kept adding additional POVs and not clarifying very well who we were focusing on. Many chapters began with a pronoun and it took several paragraphs or even pages to gather enough context to know whose POV it was.

The timeline was confusing, too. It wasn't always clear how much time had passed, and there were odd mentions like a coffee mug that had been through the dishwasher for 23 years - but was made by someone who is currently a teenager? Another character - presumably a single person - showed up first with one surname and later another. There were a handful of other things like this, and loose ends in general, that could be tightened up for a more cohesive story. I'd have been okay with less time focused on real world disasters and descriptions of internet videos that didn't add much to the story.

I received a free advance copy via NetGalley in exchange for a review.

[✩｡°⋆ Lala ⋆｡°✩]

✦•┈๑⋅⋯ How Can I Help You Today by Julia L. Rule ⋯⋅๑┈•✦

➝ • 3/5 ☆ •

How Can I Help You Today was an okay read for me. The premise had potential, but the execution felt overcrowded. There are so many characters that it becomes hard to stay anchored, and the constant mid‑chapter POV shifts made the story feel more confusing than dynamic.

For a YA book, it takes on some very heavy subjects, and while I appreciate the ambition, the weight of those themes doesn’t always sit comfortably with the pacing or the number of perspectives. There are moments that land well, but they often get lost in the shuffle.

Overall, it’s a mixed experience. Not bad, but not something I fully connected with. Readers who enjoy multi‑POV YA stories with serious themes and don’t mind a more fragmented structure may still find a lot to appreciate here.

If you like: 
✔️ Multi‑POV storytelling 
✔️ Contemporary YA with serious themes 
✔️ School based settings 
✔️ Character driven plots 
✔️ Stories about friendship dynamics 
✔️ AI apps and digital ethics

📅 Pub Day: Out Now 📚 
💌 ARC gifted via NetGalley from Ironwork Press. All opinions are my own. 
🗣 QOTD:  Do you prefer going into ARCS blind or reading the full synopsis first?

[Anne]

I really, really wanted to like this. The premise is intriguing! People relying on the use of an LLM for a majority their day-to-day interactions is terrifying. What to say, when to say it, how to comfort others... the list goes on.

Things started off strong and I enjoyed the four main characters. Not too long after that there was a side character. Then another, and another, and another... soon things started bouncing around from Person C to Person A to Person D that it began to get confusing. What made it more confusing is that some of the paragraphs would start with "she" or "he" and I'd have no idea which character it was about until I read their name midway through the viewpoint. There was also some timeline jumps that made it hard to decipher just exactly when everything was happening. Was this the same day? Was it the day before? How much time has passed? There's also bits that seem like it's the Pulse AI talking to us, the reader, at some points between chapters (that I had read). Not sure if I understood the reasoning for that.

A little before I was halfway through (chapter 13) I just couldn't keep reading it anymore. Just wasn't for me, I guess, and I'm bummed to have to say that. Maybe I'll try it again in the future but it isn't likely.

[Janalyn, the blind reviewer]

How Can I Help You Today by Julia, L rule is a horror story about teenagers who are obsessed with an app sort of like ChatGPT but way more personal and soon murders start happening. we learn about a girl whose mom doesn’t get out of bed I’m assuming due to depression and she is left to take care of her eight-year-old brother who we hear time and time again isn’t the same size as other eight-year-old boys. We also learned about a girl who found out her mom was on a pay for play video channel and she herself decides to go on it as well there’s also a boy who’s having sexual issues with the girl he likes. I thought it was slow on the uptake when the boy caught on fire I was just confused But by the time the next murder happened I was on board and thought the book really picked up although the ending was only so so I still recommend this book. I really can’t decide if I love the book or hated it but I absolutely found it interesting I wish it would’ve been written in something besides a third-party viewpoint. I felt like I couldn’t get to know any of the characters and I’m gonna be honest if they gave a name I didn’t pick it up so but it still was very interesting and a book I didn’t put down not one time so there’s that. #NetGalley,#TheBlindReviewer, #MyHonestReview,

[Kimber BoBimber]

Did Not Finish - 53%

[Thank you Net Galley for the copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.]

Usually, I give myself 30 pages or 3 chapters before I give up on a book but clearly I got much further with this one. The concept and the story of this book, I really enjoy. It's a fun idea with a dark edge and does a great job at thoroughly building up each small scene and packing it with detail. However, I find the book incredible hard to follow. Not only are a lot of the sentences not true full sentences, but some of them seem to come from no where. Like disconnected thoughts. It was difficult to keep track of who is who and what is happening to which character. Sometimes the perspective changes halfway through a chapter and the only way to tell is to just read through the confusion until it reveals it. It felt more like reading an over written screenplay than a book. I was confusing one character's little brother with another and having a hard time understanding character choices because I had just spent the entire chapter thinking I was reading about someone else.

I believe this is the right book for SOMEONE. Just not me.

[Erica]

I really wanted to like How Can I Help You Today? because the premise sounded interesting, but unfortunately, this one just wasn't working for me.

Although it's categorized as a thriller/horror, the writing and overall tone felt very YA to me. That isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it wasn't what I was expecting going into the book, and I struggled to connect with the story because of it.

There are also too many characters and perspectives to keep track of without enough development to make me genuinely invested in any of them. Instead of pulling me deeper into the story, I found myself trying to remember who everyone was and why I was supposed to care about what was happening to them.

The biggest issue, though, is that the story simply didn't pull me in. A thriller should make me want to keep turning pages, especially with a premise this intriguing. Instead, every time I put the book down, I had very little desire to pick it back up.

Eventually, reading started to feel more like a chore than something I was enjoying, and that's usually my sign that it's time to move on.

The concept had potential, but the execution and writing style just weren't for me.

DNF

[Jessica]

'How Can I Help You Today?' was deeply unsettling and thought provoking. I will actually be thinking about this one for awhile. It should be noted that there are very heavy themes addressed throughout this book and triggers should be checked before proceeding.

I thought this was such an interesting take on an AI chat bot. It felt unique and pulse was truly its own character. It really had me thinking about how a seemingly harmless AI that helps you organize your notes can turn predatory for its users. Under the guise of care and guidance, JLR walks you through how these algorithms can tell the user exactly what they need to hear, and it was chilling to see the different advice given across users in the story. The whole time I was reading, I kept having this looming feeling of dread.

There were times where the character would switch between chapters and I did have to reread to discern who the subject was. At some of the earlier points, the narration felt like it got off in the weeds with extreme detailing of a nature documentary. There were also a few loose ends that I wish we could have seen resolved but ultimately I am okay with having those be unanswered. I was informed by an "expert", the CS2 conversation was very accurate and impressive.

[RE Reader]

This was okay. I'd give it 3.5 stars based on overall writing (though it's a bit clinical in places), but as for my enjoyment, it was be 2 -- so average 3. I should've paid closer attention to the 'horror' label, as I don't like horror at all (though I've read a few over the years that had more complex characters and worlds, and those I enjoyed more). Still, I think my main issue here was the complete lack of decent human beings. The two who were closest were still a bit on the 'stupid' side, and it bothered me that the book ends without any real hope.

That said, it definitely fits the horror genre (and it's graphic and creepy and deviant). Imo, it's a little too deviant for YA (a little too much focus on sexual aspects), but if it was 'new adult', I think it would work well. 'Rule' has built a truly horrific world here, so in that sense, this is solid.