What do you think?
ADORE: A Novella
Beyond love, isn’t violence the most human thing of all?
Riya, a freelance android mechanic with a rough past, has no other goal than to save enough money to leave the city. To her, there is a marked difference between androids and humans. But when a club owner asks Riya to fix his top-of-the-line android, Adore, she realizes that may no longer be true—somehow, she has bypassed her constraints and achieved consciousness.
The job comes with a one-month deadline and a rule: Adore must stay on. As a loner by choice, Riya only tolerates the flirtatious android’s company. But the more their relationship develops, the more her attraction grows… and the less Riya believes that fixing her is the right thing to do.
ADORE is a sapphic sci-fi romance novella that explores love, hurt, and what it means to be human.
Riya, a freelance android mechanic with a rough past, has no other goal than to save enough money to leave the city. To her, there is a marked difference between androids and humans. But when a club owner asks Riya to fix his top-of-the-line android, Adore, she realizes that may no longer be true—somehow, she has bypassed her constraints and achieved consciousness.
The job comes with a one-month deadline and a rule: Adore must stay on. As a loner by choice, Riya only tolerates the flirtatious android’s company. But the more their relationship develops, the more her attraction grows… and the less Riya believes that fixing her is the right thing to do.
ADORE is a sapphic sci-fi romance novella that explores love, hurt, and what it means to be human.
- GenresLesbian
244 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 24, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
August 18, 2026
5 Stars 🌟
Thank you to the author for the ARC! 💜
ADORE is an absolutely beautiful debut, sapphic, sci-fi, romance novella that I had so much fun diving into! Riya, an android repair mechanic with a complicated past, and Adore/Ingrid's, an android made for a specific purpose. The story was one that I found to be very thought-provoking. What would you do if you found yourself falling for a self-aware android? It's ultimately a complicated situation where the moral lines are blurred. Especially in a time when AI is so heavily debated. This novella was intense, sweet, and took a turn that I wasn't quite expecting. From start to finish, I was extremely invested in their story! ADORE was phenomenally written and executed, and this will 100% be an author who I seek to read more of in the future! Would recommend!
Thank you to the author for the ARC! 💜
ADORE is an absolutely beautiful debut, sapphic, sci-fi, romance novella that I had so much fun diving into! Riya, an android repair mechanic with a complicated past, and Adore/Ingrid's, an android made for a specific purpose. The story was one that I found to be very thought-provoking. What would you do if you found yourself falling for a self-aware android? It's ultimately a complicated situation where the moral lines are blurred. Especially in a time when AI is so heavily debated. This novella was intense, sweet, and took a turn that I wasn't quite expecting. From start to finish, I was extremely invested in their story! ADORE was phenomenally written and executed, and this will 100% be an author who I seek to read more of in the future! Would recommend!
September 6, 2026
I liked it. This is an android x human love story by someone who is clearly an Asimov fan (and so am I). Adore (android) is brought to Riya (human mechanic) for repair though there is physically nothing wrong with her. One of the conditions is she can’t be powered down and Riya has a healthy backlog of broken androids already so she essentially gets a new roommate for a month. The story is told from a single POV (Riya’s) and I really enjoyed her inner thoughts. She spends a lot of time pondering what is a soul, what is consciousness, what is free will as she becomes more interested in her new roommate. This is a novella and honestly that’s my biggest issue - I wish this longer to really explore the themes and conflicts that Riya is grappling with. Overall I recommend this in spite of its shorten timeline and rushed ending.
July 24, 2026
Disclaimer: I received an ARC but I did also preorder this book after finishing it.
Also spoilers for the whole book.
TLDR: Fun sapphic sci-fi android x human romance with great relationship development definitely recommend!
Adore is a lovely sapphic romance with a fun coat of cyberpunk, android x human romance. The thing I enjoyed the most was definitely the development of the relationship between Riya and Adore. It developed organically and I loved their dynamic as their relationship grew.
Honestly, all of my negative thoughts about this book stem from wanting more. While Riya is a very fleshed out character with clear motives, an interesting backstory (that is slowly revealed throughout the book) and clear personality. Adore on the other hand is a bit of a blank slate. I understand she's only recently gained sentience so she's supposed to be kind of a fish out of water type character. But I think more could have been done to explore how her character develops in terms of finding her humanity and personality. For example:
- She spends most of her time early on in the book reading books or watching movies. It can be inferred that this is maybe because she only just recently gained sentience? But it's never explicitly said outright. She also picks a new name, which Riya remarks that probably came from one of the books but she's not sure. To me, this felt like a wasted potential for development. This seemed an opportunity to find a character that Adore really identified with as a point of character development. (Maybe a fun parallel like a injured female knight being cared for and falling in love with her nurse!) But this point is never called back to or referenced again. Maybe she could also have started making references to the movies and books she's read and watched, like a scene where she excitedly talks about her favorite characters or favorite scenes while Riya listens. I feel little things like this could've added a little more flavor/character to Adore, beyond just a charismatic social butterfly popular girl stereotype.
- There is a section about Adore thinking she might have implanted childhood memories and Riya briefly ponders the ramifications of that (a la Bladerunner) and while this is a central topic to explore in most Android cyberpunk type stories, this is never called back to again. I feel like this is another point that could've potentially explored deeper to deepen Adore as a character.
I'm not saying I don't think the author never considered these things. I understand that this book is meant to be a novella and not a sprawling sci-fi epic that ponders the meaning of life and androids. Like I mentioned earlier, most of these negative opinions stem from wanting more! Definitely would recommend this book (at 3 dollars ebook its a steal!) and I'm definitely looking forward to any new releasese from this author.
Also spoilers for the whole book.
TLDR: Fun sapphic sci-fi android x human romance with great relationship development definitely recommend!
Adore is a lovely sapphic romance with a fun coat of cyberpunk, android x human romance. The thing I enjoyed the most was definitely the development of the relationship between Riya and Adore. It developed organically and I loved their dynamic as their relationship grew.
Honestly, all of my negative thoughts about this book stem from wanting more. While Riya is a very fleshed out character with clear motives, an interesting backstory (that is slowly revealed throughout the book) and clear personality. Adore on the other hand is a bit of a blank slate. I understand she's only recently gained sentience so she's supposed to be kind of a fish out of water type character. But I think more could have been done to explore how her character develops in terms of finding her humanity and personality. For example:
- She spends most of her time early on in the book reading books or watching movies. It can be inferred that this is maybe because she only just recently gained sentience? But it's never explicitly said outright. She also picks a new name, which Riya remarks that probably came from one of the books but she's not sure. To me, this felt like a wasted potential for development. This seemed an opportunity to find a character that Adore really identified with as a point of character development. (Maybe a fun parallel like a injured female knight being cared for and falling in love with her nurse!) But this point is never called back to or referenced again. Maybe she could also have started making references to the movies and books she's read and watched, like a scene where she excitedly talks about her favorite characters or favorite scenes while Riya listens. I feel little things like this could've added a little more flavor/character to Adore, beyond just a charismatic social butterfly popular girl stereotype.
- There is a section about Adore thinking she might have implanted childhood memories and Riya briefly ponders the ramifications of that (a la Bladerunner) and while this is a central topic to explore in most Android cyberpunk type stories, this is never called back to again. I feel like this is another point that could've potentially explored deeper to deepen Adore as a character.
I'm not saying I don't think the author never considered these things. I understand that this book is meant to be a novella and not a sprawling sci-fi epic that ponders the meaning of life and androids. Like I mentioned earlier, most of these negative opinions stem from wanting more! Definitely would recommend this book (at 3 dollars ebook its a steal!) and I'm definitely looking forward to any new releasese from this author.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Review of advance copy received from Author
I’m always a big sucker for stories surrounding AIs and the big question of “does this unit have a soul?” and ADORE definitely scratches that itch but only a little bit. It touches this concept on a surface level, and I wish it dived deeper into the uncertainties around this idea. But I think it was intention, and this is much more of a character driven story, about claiming one’s identity.
It’s an excellent first entry that avoids many of the pitfalls that new authors often face, especially in editing or leaving glaring plot-holes out in the open. The epilogue wraps up really nicely with few or no loose ends, and I was really rooting for these characters to find their place together in the world.
Also, very nice to see something south-asian rep! <3
It’s an excellent first entry that avoids many of the pitfalls that new authors often face, especially in editing or leaving glaring plot-holes out in the open. The epilogue wraps up really nicely with few or no loose ends, and I was really rooting for these characters to find their place together in the world.
Also, very nice to see something south-asian rep! <3
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews