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.EXE Chronicles #1
Hello World
When a technology company can buy your personal freedom Scott is a hacker ready to prove that a single voice can be a powerful weapon.
Scott’s skills as a surveillance expert are useful when he’s breaking down firewalls. But hacktivism isn’t enough; he’s going after the holy grail—UltSyn’s Human Information Drives, human assets implanted with cerebral microchips. After digging deeper into restricted databases, he discovers that those who enlist with UltSyn get far more than they bargained for. Plunged into a world of human trafficking and corporate espionage, Scott is determined to find his sister, no matter the cost. But when the information reveals the people closest to him have been working for UltSyn all along, he has to find her—before UltSyn finds him.
Scott’s skills as a surveillance expert are useful when he’s breaking down firewalls. But hacktivism isn’t enough; he’s going after the holy grail—UltSyn’s Human Information Drives, human assets implanted with cerebral microchips. After digging deeper into restricted databases, he discovers that those who enlist with UltSyn get far more than they bargained for. Plunged into a world of human trafficking and corporate espionage, Scott is determined to find his sister, no matter the cost. But when the information reveals the people closest to him have been working for UltSyn all along, he has to find her—before UltSyn finds him.
202 pages, Paperback
First published February 19, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
March 31, 2017
Hello World is a sci-fi novel set in unspecified time in the future, mostly in London. A story about Scott looking for his sister and wreaking havoc on EvilCorp (uhm I mean UltSyn).
I wanted to like this book so much because 1) hackers, 2) sci-fi, 3) asexual main character. I mean the ace rep is good, as far as I, who isn't a part of ace spectrum, can tell. Our protagonist Scott happens to be ace, the story isn't revolved around his sexuality, because EvilCorp to dismantle?? secret bases to hack?? and sister to safe??
So why I didn't like the book.
The writing is very dry and very boring. The story is told in two povs which were really hard to separate one from the other. The narration doesn't have a spark, doesn't have something that would make it special. The events were quite predictable and the dry way of telling the story distanced myself from the events and the characters. I couldn't connect with either of the main characters (Scott the hacker and a tech-modified Sonia who was a part EvilCorp).
The pacing was off. The scenes were changing so fast. One sentence we are in Paris headquarters, the next we already in the car on the way home. This definitely hindered my reading experience.
I mentioned the lack of spark of sorts. The novel wasn't captivating, I wasn't exactly bored while reading it. I couldn't get rid of the feeling that something important was missing here, something that would make the interconnected events into the novel.
The characters were an assortments of cliches and popular trends. Their relationship should've been interesting to read. The authors told us repeatedly that they are meaningful, but it didn't felt like that, mostly because of the very detail-less narration.
The other thing that annoyed me, is the neglect of "show,don't tell" concept. I don't want to be told that he's so and so and so. Give me examples and don't try to explain the examples that were already here. The reader isn't as slow to understand as it might seem.
To end this review on a positive note, I really liked the concept and world building in the novel. The high-tech part was nicely done. The HID concept was pretty cool. The novel might be interesting to those of you who like Ghost in the Shell (anime) and Psycho-Pass (anime), both of them I've just watched recently (a very unrelated comment, sorry).
So the concept is A, the execution is mediocre at best.
Note: when I finished the book this morning I gave it 3 stars on goodreads, but after writing my review I'm going to settle for 2 stars.
The actual rating is about 2.5 stars though.
I wanted to like this book so much because 1) hackers, 2) sci-fi, 3) asexual main character. I mean the ace rep is good, as far as I, who isn't a part of ace spectrum, can tell. Our protagonist Scott happens to be ace, the story isn't revolved around his sexuality, because EvilCorp to dismantle?? secret bases to hack?? and sister to safe??
So why I didn't like the book.
The writing is very dry and very boring. The story is told in two povs which were really hard to separate one from the other. The narration doesn't have a spark, doesn't have something that would make it special. The events were quite predictable and the dry way of telling the story distanced myself from the events and the characters. I couldn't connect with either of the main characters (Scott the hacker and a tech-modified Sonia who was a part EvilCorp).
The pacing was off. The scenes were changing so fast. One sentence we are in Paris headquarters, the next we already in the car on the way home. This definitely hindered my reading experience.
I mentioned the lack of spark of sorts. The novel wasn't captivating, I wasn't exactly bored while reading it. I couldn't get rid of the feeling that something important was missing here, something that would make the interconnected events into the novel.
The characters were an assortments of cliches and popular trends. Their relationship should've been interesting to read. The authors told us repeatedly that they are meaningful, but it didn't felt like that, mostly because of the very detail-less narration.
The other thing that annoyed me, is the neglect of "show,don't tell" concept. I don't want to be told that he's so and so and so. Give me examples and don't try to explain the examples that were already here. The reader isn't as slow to understand as it might seem.
To end this review on a positive note, I really liked the concept and world building in the novel. The high-tech part was nicely done. The HID concept was pretty cool. The novel might be interesting to those of you who like Ghost in the Shell (anime) and Psycho-Pass (anime), both of them I've just watched recently (a very unrelated comment, sorry).
So the concept is A, the execution is mediocre at best.
Note: when I finished the book this morning I gave it 3 stars on goodreads, but after writing my review I'm going to settle for 2 stars.
The actual rating is about 2.5 stars though.
April 13, 2017
Just last year, Microsoft announced success at experiments with using DNA for storage, and just this past month, a group of researchers stored an operating system in DNA at a density of 215 PB/g. (It’s hard to put that into context, but you could store the entire book collection of the American Library of Congress thousands of times over in that single gram, not to mention a copy of your own genome.) I’ve kept my eye on this interesting avenue of information storage ever since I read
The Dervish House
, wherein this scheme forms a central plot element.
In Hello World, Tiffany Rose and Alexandra Tauber have taken this idea and expanded upon it. The corporation UltSyn employs humans as “Human Information Drives” or HIDs by rendering them mute, erasing their memories, and then writing sensitive corporate data to their brains in place of those memories. Got some incriminating files you can’t destroy but don’t want falling in the wrong hands? No problem: UltSyn will, for a hefty price, write them to a human brain for you and then keep that human safe and secure until you need the data back. So we have something that’s part–Dervish House and part–Johnny Mnemonic.
Scott is a hackitivist looking for his sister, whom he believes has become an HID. To this end, he is using his hacker powers to create as much chaos for UltSyn as possible. The book opens with Scott ambushing an UltSyn car to kidnap an HID. In the process, he shoots and kills several people. As the story goes on, Scott and Sonia, the HID, develop a bond. Communicating through sign language, Scott and Sonia agree to go after UltSyn together, to find Scott’s sister and find information on Sonia’s life from before she agreed to be a hard drive. The trouble, of course, is that when you go digging, you have to be prepared that you might not like what you find….
That opening scene surprised me and stuck with me for the entire book. While no action hero, Scott is somewhat more physical than your stereotypical hacker. I can’t say I liked him all that much (and it isn’t just the gun violence). But that might be more of the situations we see Scott in than Scott himself. Like many thrillers that take place over a short period of time, Hello World jolts from one high-adrenaline sequence to another, with little enough time in between for breathers. When Scott and Sonia aren’t criss-crossing Europe to infiltrate UltSyn compounds, Scott’s back at his batcave, doing something clever with hardware and software and the help of his AI, Hallie. I do love Rose and Tauber’s careful descriptions of Scott’s actions rather than hand-waving “he hacked the thing” type of actions. There’s a certain level of practicality to the narration that grounds what could otherwise easily become a Jason Bourne–style near-future SF thriller that drifts ever further away from our reality.
Sonia, who gets a few POV chapters, is just as sympathetic and probably more likeable. Initially I didn’t like her passive role, even if it made sense as part of the story, so I was happy to see her grow and get more to do, even saving Scott a few times. Her character shows more visible change over the course of the book, which is perhaps why she satisfies me more than Scott. While ending kind of reminded me of Chuck (and is just about as weird or creepy) I think it’s an appropriate kind of price to extract from the two of them in exchange for their overall success. The thing about a relationship, be it sexual or platonic or romantic or some mix of the three, is that it is seldom a cut-and-dried “yes” or “no” kind of thing. Relationships are complicated and messy business involving two or more people, which means so many variables and potentially mixed messages. As a result of this complexity, Hello World subverts, just barely, the typical “Hero rescues Very Special Girl Who is Totally a MacGuffin” trope of this thriller subgenre.
Alas, Hello World doesn’t quite invite me to become immersed into its strange dystopian world in the same way that Gibson pulls one into the Sprawl. This book has more the dimensionality of a play, in that the scenes feel like sets on a stage: the immediate action is visible, but you know that just behind the plywood wall there’s an entire backstage devoted to making the production look good. Scott’s immediate motivation to take down UltSyn and rescue his sister is all well and good, as are the various minor characters he encounters along the way. But I don’t get much sense of the wider world in this story. UltSyn is the generic evil corporation with evil, capitalist motives that hires generic black ops mercenaries to secure its generic facilities of doom. Scott’s friends with a bunch of hacktivists who want to take down these corporations, etc. These are all very familiar ideas here, and while their themes certainly appeal, there is little in the way of memorable description or worldbuilding.
Rose and Tauber kick around a few interesting ideas that I wish had more page time. The HIDs themselves are so fascinating, and I wish there had been more exploration of the intersections between losing memories and losing humanity. Similarly, Scott discovers or deduces some secrets about UltSyn’s ultimate management structure that, while not really original, are fascinating to think about—but they come up fairly late in the book and are sort of put aside in favour of resolving the action.
I guess Hello World ended up being heavier on the “thriller” than the “science fiction” part of “science fiction thriller” and that balance is always a shaky proposition at best for me. I picked this up because of its touted asexual protagonist, as I had been following/chatting with Rose on Twitter. Indeed, if like me you’re looking to read more books with representations of marginalized identities, then this isn’t a poor choice. Scott’s sexual and romantic identity is a complex and layered thing, with great emphasis placed on distinguishing between one’s identity/attraction and one’s choices/actions. I appreciate the care with which Rose and Tauber craft both the actions and the conversations in this respect, particularly around consent. This is the kind of thing that should be in every book, and it’s great to see on the page here.
Hello World has a cool factor to it, with smooth writing and well-rounded protagonists. When I’m reading about hackers and dramatic computer stuff, I want the kind of writing that I got here, with great descriptions and a kind of slick awareness of the speed and style with which hackers pull off their exploits. On the other hand, the story and world are less my cup of tea.
In Hello World, Tiffany Rose and Alexandra Tauber have taken this idea and expanded upon it. The corporation UltSyn employs humans as “Human Information Drives” or HIDs by rendering them mute, erasing their memories, and then writing sensitive corporate data to their brains in place of those memories. Got some incriminating files you can’t destroy but don’t want falling in the wrong hands? No problem: UltSyn will, for a hefty price, write them to a human brain for you and then keep that human safe and secure until you need the data back. So we have something that’s part–Dervish House and part–Johnny Mnemonic.
Scott is a hackitivist looking for his sister, whom he believes has become an HID. To this end, he is using his hacker powers to create as much chaos for UltSyn as possible. The book opens with Scott ambushing an UltSyn car to kidnap an HID. In the process, he shoots and kills several people. As the story goes on, Scott and Sonia, the HID, develop a bond. Communicating through sign language, Scott and Sonia agree to go after UltSyn together, to find Scott’s sister and find information on Sonia’s life from before she agreed to be a hard drive. The trouble, of course, is that when you go digging, you have to be prepared that you might not like what you find….
That opening scene surprised me and stuck with me for the entire book. While no action hero, Scott is somewhat more physical than your stereotypical hacker. I can’t say I liked him all that much (and it isn’t just the gun violence). But that might be more of the situations we see Scott in than Scott himself. Like many thrillers that take place over a short period of time, Hello World jolts from one high-adrenaline sequence to another, with little enough time in between for breathers. When Scott and Sonia aren’t criss-crossing Europe to infiltrate UltSyn compounds, Scott’s back at his batcave, doing something clever with hardware and software and the help of his AI, Hallie. I do love Rose and Tauber’s careful descriptions of Scott’s actions rather than hand-waving “he hacked the thing” type of actions. There’s a certain level of practicality to the narration that grounds what could otherwise easily become a Jason Bourne–style near-future SF thriller that drifts ever further away from our reality.
Sonia, who gets a few POV chapters, is just as sympathetic and probably more likeable. Initially I didn’t like her passive role, even if it made sense as part of the story, so I was happy to see her grow and get more to do, even saving Scott a few times. Her character shows more visible change over the course of the book, which is perhaps why she satisfies me more than Scott. While ending kind of reminded me of Chuck (and is just about as weird or creepy) I think it’s an appropriate kind of price to extract from the two of them in exchange for their overall success. The thing about a relationship, be it sexual or platonic or romantic or some mix of the three, is that it is seldom a cut-and-dried “yes” or “no” kind of thing. Relationships are complicated and messy business involving two or more people, which means so many variables and potentially mixed messages. As a result of this complexity, Hello World subverts, just barely, the typical “Hero rescues Very Special Girl Who is Totally a MacGuffin” trope of this thriller subgenre.
Alas, Hello World doesn’t quite invite me to become immersed into its strange dystopian world in the same way that Gibson pulls one into the Sprawl. This book has more the dimensionality of a play, in that the scenes feel like sets on a stage: the immediate action is visible, but you know that just behind the plywood wall there’s an entire backstage devoted to making the production look good. Scott’s immediate motivation to take down UltSyn and rescue his sister is all well and good, as are the various minor characters he encounters along the way. But I don’t get much sense of the wider world in this story. UltSyn is the generic evil corporation with evil, capitalist motives that hires generic black ops mercenaries to secure its generic facilities of doom. Scott’s friends with a bunch of hacktivists who want to take down these corporations, etc. These are all very familiar ideas here, and while their themes certainly appeal, there is little in the way of memorable description or worldbuilding.
Rose and Tauber kick around a few interesting ideas that I wish had more page time. The HIDs themselves are so fascinating, and I wish there had been more exploration of the intersections between losing memories and losing humanity. Similarly, Scott discovers or deduces some secrets about UltSyn’s ultimate management structure that, while not really original, are fascinating to think about—but they come up fairly late in the book and are sort of put aside in favour of resolving the action.
I guess Hello World ended up being heavier on the “thriller” than the “science fiction” part of “science fiction thriller” and that balance is always a shaky proposition at best for me. I picked this up because of its touted asexual protagonist, as I had been following/chatting with Rose on Twitter. Indeed, if like me you’re looking to read more books with representations of marginalized identities, then this isn’t a poor choice. Scott’s sexual and romantic identity is a complex and layered thing, with great emphasis placed on distinguishing between one’s identity/attraction and one’s choices/actions. I appreciate the care with which Rose and Tauber craft both the actions and the conversations in this respect, particularly around consent. This is the kind of thing that should be in every book, and it’s great to see on the page here.
Hello World has a cool factor to it, with smooth writing and well-rounded protagonists. When I’m reading about hackers and dramatic computer stuff, I want the kind of writing that I got here, with great descriptions and a kind of slick awareness of the speed and style with which hackers pull off their exploits. On the other hand, the story and world are less my cup of tea.
March 5, 2017
I read this on Kindle Unlimited, and you can not imagine how excited I was that it was available there! I've followed one of the writers for some time on Social Media, and had been very interested in consuming their work. With that said, I'm going to use my Reader/Writer rating system. Overall, I give "Hello World" 4.75 Stars.
~As a Reader, this was a solid 5 stars! Pure action/adventure and scifi bliss from the very first line. I Found myself running along with the story, as if I was experiencing it right along with Scott and Sonia. The ACE aspect of Scott's character plays perfectly, creating a more unique (and much less tropic) relationship dynamic, which, in turn, made the story more fun to get into. I had alot of fun getting lost in this novel and cannot wait to disappear into the next installment!
~As a Writer, this pulled 4.5 stars for me. The pacing was masterful, kept me running from start to finish. The world building was on point. The character development was solid. Very solid. But, and it's a small but, there was some editing/grammar issues that pulled me out in a few spots. Misuse of tense or a word here and there that appeared to be a remnant from a previous version of an edited line. A couple times, the wrong word (like "of" instead of "if") would drift across. The errors were small, but they were noticeable and slightly detracting.
Overall conclusion of HELLO WORLD? I would recommend the hell out of this to anyone looking for a fast paced science fiction adventure that is unique, quirky and thoroughly consuming. It has great voice, kick ass characters and evil corporations. Those are, like, my 3 favorite things!
K.
~As a Reader, this was a solid 5 stars! Pure action/adventure and scifi bliss from the very first line. I Found myself running along with the story, as if I was experiencing it right along with Scott and Sonia. The ACE aspect of Scott's character plays perfectly, creating a more unique (and much less tropic) relationship dynamic, which, in turn, made the story more fun to get into. I had alot of fun getting lost in this novel and cannot wait to disappear into the next installment!
~As a Writer, this pulled 4.5 stars for me. The pacing was masterful, kept me running from start to finish. The world building was on point. The character development was solid. Very solid. But, and it's a small but, there was some editing/grammar issues that pulled me out in a few spots. Misuse of tense or a word here and there that appeared to be a remnant from a previous version of an edited line. A couple times, the wrong word (like "of" instead of "if") would drift across. The errors were small, but they were noticeable and slightly detracting.
Overall conclusion of HELLO WORLD? I would recommend the hell out of this to anyone looking for a fast paced science fiction adventure that is unique, quirky and thoroughly consuming. It has great voice, kick ass characters and evil corporations. Those are, like, my 3 favorite things!
K.
April 6, 2017
Well, this book has a long synopsis! It reveals quite a lot actually, and I don’t think I’ve seen a longer one before haha. But hear me out, this book is super great.
Why did I pick this book up? I was first interested by this novel after having followed one of the author on twitter. I discovered this was an #ownvoices novel, regarding the asexuality of the main character Scott, that was a +1 for me already. THEN the ebook became free for a few days on kindle and I jumped on the occasion to get it and read it asap.
If you’ve read the synopsis, you see this is not a story about being asexual, but the representation of the character as such (gray-asexual to be correct) was really good. It involved some hints here and there, and a coming out by the end. The fact that Scott calls himself queer and is open aware his orientation, the way he is open about it, was also an important thing. So if you’re looking for a fun thriller with a dash of science fiction and an asexual protagonist, go for it!
I also loved Sonia quite a lot, I actually wished there would have been more chapters from her point of view. She’s a victim or some kind of weird human trafficking secret thing, where people are used as some kind of walking USB key or computers.
She’s kidnapped by Scott right at the beginning, because he believes she has informations stored inside her brain that could help him locate his sisters who was taken years ago by the same corporation that created HID (Human Information Drives).
I was ill-at-ease at first that their relationship starts of as her being his captive, I don’t like reading about those kind of “unbalanced” relationships. However having both their point of view on what’s happening, and the way the situation evolves, quickly cleared my worries about this issue. As the synopsis states, they end up teaming up to bring a big corporation down thanks to Scott’s skills with a gun as a hacker. Yeah, while being a prodigy at hacking things, Scott also is very skilled at shooting people and running around. He ends up covered in blood more often than not, but has to take time off in a realistic manner.
“Well buckle up ladies, gentlemen, and my new non-binary friends.” I smirked. “This isn’t going to be easy.”
The “traveling across Europe” bit could have been explored a little bit more. They might have gone to three or four countries and I feel it could have been literally anywhere else, appart from the different gun regulations (that I find was a clever addition). I know they don’t have time for sightseeing, but I didn’t felt it made a lot of difference in the end. I’m a little bit disappointed by this because it’s not often that I encounter a SF thriller happening in Europe and not in the US.
“Life became harder when you weren’t the only lawbreaker around. For a weapon that was theoretically illegal in the UK, there seemed to be a lot of them in my life. Annoying, was what that was.”
The worldbuilding and plot was interesting but the most important part of the story was the characters: I felt like everything happening was there so that their relationship could move forward. I didn’t mind that, but I see how some people might be bored by this. I actually tweeted this today after seeing the linked one from the author and it’s a perfect description of the book :
“Brief murder, fluff” because there are murders, fight scenes, infiltration, but also a whole lot super nice moments between the characters ❤
I actually understand the “meh” reviews, but despite the things that aren’t to everyone’s taste (I can’t get myself to call them “flaws” because they aren’t, really) in Hello World I had a good time and never felt like I wanted to put it down or go and read something else.
There comes a time when everyone needs help, I said, and you taught me that being independant doesn’t mean you can’t lean on someone when you have to.”
Overall I’d recommend this fast-paced and character centric novel, especially if you’re looking to read more #ownvoices stories. I grew attached to Sonia and Scott way more than I anticipated and I’m looking forward to read Book 2 of this series.
(The cover states clearly that this is Book 1 of the .EXE Chronicles so I’m guessing talking about a Book 2 isn’t too farfetched even if there hasn’t been any official announcement or titles revealed.)
Review first published on my blog
Why did I pick this book up? I was first interested by this novel after having followed one of the author on twitter. I discovered this was an #ownvoices novel, regarding the asexuality of the main character Scott, that was a +1 for me already. THEN the ebook became free for a few days on kindle and I jumped on the occasion to get it and read it asap.
If you’ve read the synopsis, you see this is not a story about being asexual, but the representation of the character as such (gray-asexual to be correct) was really good. It involved some hints here and there, and a coming out by the end. The fact that Scott calls himself queer and is open aware his orientation, the way he is open about it, was also an important thing. So if you’re looking for a fun thriller with a dash of science fiction and an asexual protagonist, go for it!
I also loved Sonia quite a lot, I actually wished there would have been more chapters from her point of view. She’s a victim or some kind of weird human trafficking secret thing, where people are used as some kind of walking USB key or computers.
She’s kidnapped by Scott right at the beginning, because he believes she has informations stored inside her brain that could help him locate his sisters who was taken years ago by the same corporation that created HID (Human Information Drives).
I was ill-at-ease at first that their relationship starts of as her being his captive, I don’t like reading about those kind of “unbalanced” relationships. However having both their point of view on what’s happening, and the way the situation evolves, quickly cleared my worries about this issue. As the synopsis states, they end up teaming up to bring a big corporation down thanks to Scott’s skills with a gun as a hacker. Yeah, while being a prodigy at hacking things, Scott also is very skilled at shooting people and running around. He ends up covered in blood more often than not, but has to take time off in a realistic manner.
“Well buckle up ladies, gentlemen, and my new non-binary friends.” I smirked. “This isn’t going to be easy.”
The “traveling across Europe” bit could have been explored a little bit more. They might have gone to three or four countries and I feel it could have been literally anywhere else, appart from the different gun regulations (that I find was a clever addition). I know they don’t have time for sightseeing, but I didn’t felt it made a lot of difference in the end. I’m a little bit disappointed by this because it’s not often that I encounter a SF thriller happening in Europe and not in the US.
“Life became harder when you weren’t the only lawbreaker around. For a weapon that was theoretically illegal in the UK, there seemed to be a lot of them in my life. Annoying, was what that was.”
The worldbuilding and plot was interesting but the most important part of the story was the characters: I felt like everything happening was there so that their relationship could move forward. I didn’t mind that, but I see how some people might be bored by this. I actually tweeted this today after seeing the linked one from the author and it’s a perfect description of the book :
“Brief murder, fluff” because there are murders, fight scenes, infiltration, but also a whole lot super nice moments between the characters ❤
I actually understand the “meh” reviews, but despite the things that aren’t to everyone’s taste (I can’t get myself to call them “flaws” because they aren’t, really) in Hello World I had a good time and never felt like I wanted to put it down or go and read something else.
There comes a time when everyone needs help, I said, and you taught me that being independant doesn’t mean you can’t lean on someone when you have to.”
Overall I’d recommend this fast-paced and character centric novel, especially if you’re looking to read more #ownvoices stories. I grew attached to Sonia and Scott way more than I anticipated and I’m looking forward to read Book 2 of this series.
(The cover states clearly that this is Book 1 of the .EXE Chronicles so I’m guessing talking about a Book 2 isn’t too farfetched even if there hasn’t been any official announcement or titles revealed.)
Review first published on my blog
April 28, 2021
Note: I received an Advanced Reader Copy of this book for the purpose of a review. The ARC was sent out prior to final edits, therefore the little things that will be cleaned up will not factor into this review.
Queer representation. Hacktivism. Lots and lots of sarcasm and wit. I love this book. Literally, I finished it in 3 days, and not just because I had a review due today ;)
The books wastes no time, immediately throwing the reader into the action and Scott wastes no time making them fall in love with him. Part of me could use the whole review to talk about how much I adore this character, but this is a book review, not a cutie ace hacker review. In my mind, it played more as a movie than as a book, if that makes sense. Does anyone else have those books that you can just see/hear on the big screen? This is one of them; I could almost hear the soundtrack and follow the camera movements. Hollywood, pay attention.
I also want to take a moment to talk about the deliberateness of this novel. It makes a point to talk about a non-binary activist (who I hope we see more of in the next books? They might be my favorite minor character). There is a casual mention of a character and her wife. At one point, Scott is talking about respecting someone because she is someone’s sister, daughter, etc., and then goes on to say she should be respected because she is a person. Many characters’ sexualities are explicitly talked about, there is no author post script, and the characters around them do not look down on anyone for their sexuality. It’s a sci-fi action adventure featuring queer characters rather than a book about queer characters featuring nothing but queer pain. Characters are canonly disabled. There is also a lot of mention of fighting and not being complacent; just because something is legal doesn’t mean it’s good and just because something is illegal doesn’t mean it’s bad. It felt like it was holding up a mirror to the world, using fiction to force us to take a good hard look at where we are and where we want to be with human rights. What makes something ethical? Where does technology stop being for the advancement of all people and start being for profit? Can corporations balance human rights and their profit margin? (Spoiler alert: Probably not.) I was highlighting a lot of quotes in the last few chapters that are extremely relevant right now.
If I had any complaint, it would be that the pacing felt off in a couple of places, but they were so minor that I can’t even tell you when that happened because it immediately picks back up. And those might be taken care of before the final version is published.
Hello World is the perfect novel for 2017. You will laugh. You will cry. You will be sitting on the edge of your seat rooting for Scott. And you’ll fall in love with fictional characters. Buy this book, darn it.
Queer representation. Hacktivism. Lots and lots of sarcasm and wit. I love this book. Literally, I finished it in 3 days, and not just because I had a review due today ;)
The books wastes no time, immediately throwing the reader into the action and Scott wastes no time making them fall in love with him. Part of me could use the whole review to talk about how much I adore this character, but this is a book review, not a cutie ace hacker review. In my mind, it played more as a movie than as a book, if that makes sense. Does anyone else have those books that you can just see/hear on the big screen? This is one of them; I could almost hear the soundtrack and follow the camera movements. Hollywood, pay attention.
I also want to take a moment to talk about the deliberateness of this novel. It makes a point to talk about a non-binary activist (who I hope we see more of in the next books? They might be my favorite minor character). There is a casual mention of a character and her wife. At one point, Scott is talking about respecting someone because she is someone’s sister, daughter, etc., and then goes on to say she should be respected because she is a person. Many characters’ sexualities are explicitly talked about, there is no author post script, and the characters around them do not look down on anyone for their sexuality. It’s a sci-fi action adventure featuring queer characters rather than a book about queer characters featuring nothing but queer pain. Characters are canonly disabled. There is also a lot of mention of fighting and not being complacent; just because something is legal doesn’t mean it’s good and just because something is illegal doesn’t mean it’s bad. It felt like it was holding up a mirror to the world, using fiction to force us to take a good hard look at where we are and where we want to be with human rights. What makes something ethical? Where does technology stop being for the advancement of all people and start being for profit? Can corporations balance human rights and their profit margin? (Spoiler alert: Probably not.) I was highlighting a lot of quotes in the last few chapters that are extremely relevant right now.
If I had any complaint, it would be that the pacing felt off in a couple of places, but they were so minor that I can’t even tell you when that happened because it immediately picks back up. And those might be taken care of before the final version is published.
Hello World is the perfect novel for 2017. You will laugh. You will cry. You will be sitting on the edge of your seat rooting for Scott. And you’ll fall in love with fictional characters. Buy this book, darn it.
March 12, 2017
This needs to be a movie! :)
November 16, 2017
"Well buckle up ladies, gentlemen, and my new non-binary friends." I smirked. "This isn't going to be easy."
Actually, it's is going to be, because in this books it's apparently laughably easy to repeatedly break into a hugely successful tech-company's buildings and get out again without any trouble.
This was one of those books that I really wanted to like, but that ultimately didn't deliver. I love the idea of using humans to store data, a Big Evil Corporation behind the technology and a not-really-activist hacker going against it more or less alone, plus a diverse cast. The book does have all of these things, but they fall flat in combination with a writing so fast paced that I had trouble keeping up with what was going on, which constantly made me feel like I was missing something.
Additionally, there's a lack of detail that made it hard for me to really connect with the characters and to understand why they acted like they did, or what the goals of certain actions were. The characters go on a ton of "missions" (the above mentioned easy breaking in and extraction) but if you asked me why they were doing it or what exactly they wanted to do with the data they stole I mostly wouldn't be able to give an answer.
Another example would be the technology surrounding the HIDs, the human information drives - I have no idea how that works, why they were treated the way they were, or how exactly they were used. Same goes for all the other technologies, places and surrounding settings in the book. Everything was extremely vague, it completely lacked the spark to get my imagination running or to paint a picture in my mind.
Overall a great concept, but with a sloppy execution. There was a lot of potential in the characters and the world-building, especially with the LGBTQ+ representation. The plot, while very straightforward, was solid and kept me entertained, but Hello World sums up to 2.5 stars for me.
Actually, it's is going to be, because in this books it's apparently laughably easy to repeatedly break into a hugely successful tech-company's buildings and get out again without any trouble.
This was one of those books that I really wanted to like, but that ultimately didn't deliver. I love the idea of using humans to store data, a Big Evil Corporation behind the technology and a not-really-activist hacker going against it more or less alone, plus a diverse cast. The book does have all of these things, but they fall flat in combination with a writing so fast paced that I had trouble keeping up with what was going on, which constantly made me feel like I was missing something.
Additionally, there's a lack of detail that made it hard for me to really connect with the characters and to understand why they acted like they did, or what the goals of certain actions were. The characters go on a ton of "missions" (the above mentioned easy breaking in and extraction) but if you asked me why they were doing it or what exactly they wanted to do with the data they stole I mostly wouldn't be able to give an answer.
Another example would be the technology surrounding the HIDs, the human information drives - I have no idea how that works, why they were treated the way they were, or how exactly they were used. Same goes for all the other technologies, places and surrounding settings in the book. Everything was extremely vague, it completely lacked the spark to get my imagination running or to paint a picture in my mind.
Overall a great concept, but with a sloppy execution. There was a lot of potential in the characters and the world-building, especially with the LGBTQ+ representation. The plot, while very straightforward, was solid and kept me entertained, but Hello World sums up to 2.5 stars for me.
April 19, 2017
can y'all believe my mom and aunt wrote this masterpiece??
I don't like sci-fi. I really am just not a fan. But knowing there was an ace MC made me want to pick up this book really badly, so I did. And was it one of the best decisions I could've made? Yes. The writing in this book - PHENOMENAL. Like even if everything else sucked (which it didn't), the writing would've kept me going. The dialogue, the descriptions, the action scenes, you name it, it was written SO WELL. Then there were the amazing characters. The characters and the character relationships were done so so well AND the plot was done well. As I said, I don't like sci-fi, but I actually WANTED to read this even though it was sci-fi. I was interested. AND THERE WAS INCLUSIVE LANGUAGE. There is literally no reason not to read this so like ??? read it!!!
I don't like sci-fi. I really am just not a fan. But knowing there was an ace MC made me want to pick up this book really badly, so I did. And was it one of the best decisions I could've made? Yes. The writing in this book - PHENOMENAL. Like even if everything else sucked (which it didn't), the writing would've kept me going. The dialogue, the descriptions, the action scenes, you name it, it was written SO WELL. Then there were the amazing characters. The characters and the character relationships were done so so well AND the plot was done well. As I said, I don't like sci-fi, but I actually WANTED to read this even though it was sci-fi. I was interested. AND THERE WAS INCLUSIVE LANGUAGE. There is literally no reason not to read this so like ??? read it!!!
October 23, 2017
***May contain spoilers***
I'm really glad I waited what felt like ages for this book. Not only because I respect the author but because I ended up daydreaming endlessly on the story and the characters. It's very character focused with a side of action, and it was refreshing. You got to see what they both thought, how they handled things, worked it out, etc. I still understood what was going on around them, but also was able to watch them grow.
I went from 'hell yea go Scott' when he first came into the scene to 'I literally will fight you, dude' at the beginning of the story. I must have rolled my eyes at him a dozen times but he grew on me, and he grew as a character. Yea, I ended up loving him. He's not perfect, and that's ok, he does what he can. Once Sonia out snarks him and they start to work together, honestly watching them both become fleshed out was great. Scott and Sonia together either make you roll your eyes or chuckle, they two mismatched puzzle pieces that some how fit together anyways.
There are a few trope situations and characters, but honestly I didn't mind. No one complains as much about that stuff until marginalized authors want to write their characters with tropes. I say let us write the tropes too with our own words. Cis and hetero people have been able to do it for years upon years. Either way, Sonia was no damsel in distress, and it was amazing.
Also this book says Asexual. Scott is asexual and he's not afraid to joke about it or bluntly point it out. We need more books saying the words instead of some textbook definition to skirt around using the actual word. Also it shows a good separation on attraction vs. action... Scott is still asexual no matter what he does in or out of a relationship. The only thing that matters is hes asexual because he lacks sexual attraction, and what he does doesn't change that.
I really enjoyed this book, and I thank the authors for bring me this world I can now indulge in. I do believe there will be another book? I hope so. I'm patiently awaiting it.
I can't remain bias though and will talk about the slight issues I had.
I loved the two POVs, it's one of my favourite ways of writing because I love getting inside characters' heads. What I didn't like very much was the first person POV. A lot of the time many of the sentences started with "I-" I did this, I did that. One after another too, and it kinda lost the fluidity of the story telling and dried it out in a few areas.
The pacing was good, and I could tell where Scott or Sonia were tired or depressed and its nice to show that there is down time. Actually I almost wish there was more detailed showing of their lower moods/moments. I like that it showed not every character can go 100mph through the whole story.
Lastly, I wanted more between Scott and Victoria at the end. I wanted them to connect again. To talk. Even if it was them sitting in a car or room I just felt they were rushed into the next point. They needed some time to sort out their feelings together. About Sonia, about what happened. Maybe it will be in the next book, but it would have been nice to end on that note along with meeting the family.
There's so much more I can say, so many small details to love on. Is it a perfect book? No, no book is. But I highly recommend that if you want to try it out, definitely do! I got happily caught up in the touching moments, funny ones, 'i wanna kick your ass, scott' moments, and needing to know what was going to happen next.
I'm really glad I waited what felt like ages for this book. Not only because I respect the author but because I ended up daydreaming endlessly on the story and the characters. It's very character focused with a side of action, and it was refreshing. You got to see what they both thought, how they handled things, worked it out, etc. I still understood what was going on around them, but also was able to watch them grow.
I went from 'hell yea go Scott' when he first came into the scene to 'I literally will fight you, dude' at the beginning of the story. I must have rolled my eyes at him a dozen times but he grew on me, and he grew as a character. Yea, I ended up loving him. He's not perfect, and that's ok, he does what he can. Once Sonia out snarks him and they start to work together, honestly watching them both become fleshed out was great. Scott and Sonia together either make you roll your eyes or chuckle, they two mismatched puzzle pieces that some how fit together anyways.
There are a few trope situations and characters, but honestly I didn't mind. No one complains as much about that stuff until marginalized authors want to write their characters with tropes. I say let us write the tropes too with our own words. Cis and hetero people have been able to do it for years upon years. Either way, Sonia was no damsel in distress, and it was amazing.
Also this book says Asexual. Scott is asexual and he's not afraid to joke about it or bluntly point it out. We need more books saying the words instead of some textbook definition to skirt around using the actual word. Also it shows a good separation on attraction vs. action... Scott is still asexual no matter what he does in or out of a relationship. The only thing that matters is hes asexual because he lacks sexual attraction, and what he does doesn't change that.
I really enjoyed this book, and I thank the authors for bring me this world I can now indulge in. I do believe there will be another book? I hope so. I'm patiently awaiting it.
I can't remain bias though and will talk about the slight issues I had.
I loved the two POVs, it's one of my favourite ways of writing because I love getting inside characters' heads. What I didn't like very much was the first person POV. A lot of the time many of the sentences started with "I-" I did this, I did that. One after another too, and it kinda lost the fluidity of the story telling and dried it out in a few areas.
The pacing was good, and I could tell where Scott or Sonia were tired or depressed and its nice to show that there is down time. Actually I almost wish there was more detailed showing of their lower moods/moments. I like that it showed not every character can go 100mph through the whole story.
Lastly, I wanted more between Scott and Victoria at the end. I wanted them to connect again. To talk. Even if it was them sitting in a car or room I just felt they were rushed into the next point. They needed some time to sort out their feelings together. About Sonia, about what happened. Maybe it will be in the next book, but it would have been nice to end on that note along with meeting the family.
There's so much more I can say, so many small details to love on. Is it a perfect book? No, no book is. But I highly recommend that if you want to try it out, definitely do! I got happily caught up in the touching moments, funny ones, 'i wanna kick your ass, scott' moments, and needing to know what was going to happen next.
April 11, 2017
Unfortunately, I wanted to like this book much more than I did. While I was intrigued by the concept of the HIDs, I didn't develop a connection to any of the characters, and the quick pace--as well as the narrative's many gaps (it really should have been edited at least once more)--didn't help. I only became truly interested in the plot when the identity of UltSyn was revealed; I just wish it hadn't taken more than 3/4 of the book to reach that point.
April 13, 2017
"Binaries can be smashed,” Script said, “And systems can be subverted.”
* * *
Yes they can. And a lot of that goes on in this book. HELLO WORLD is kind of one giant system-subversion, 'system' in this case referring to both a literal computer program, and an ever-growing corporation that holds power over human bodies, brains, and the technology this cyberpunk near-future runs on. Whoever controls the machines controls the game.
But at the heart of this tech-flavored story, like most good stories, is a core of human emotions, memory, and the simple desire to regain what matters most, whether that's loved ones/others, or one's own sense of identity, agency, and self.
I won't get too much into the plot details aside from the basics, because that way be spoilers - but the character objectives are clear and driving. Scott wants to find his missing sister, and hopefully bring down the sprawling, omnipotent and probably-evil influence of the UltSyn corporation. Sonia wants her memories, family, and old life back, whatever that was. And yes, eventually, bring down UltSyn. Pretty much everyone we meet wants that. (So much so that, until the 3rd-act climax, HELLO WORLD doesn't seem to have a defined singular antagonist; instead it's the spread and power of the relatively anonymous UltSyn system; this makes the book almost feel like a human-versus-nature survival tale, against the 'antagonist' of a wildfire or a storm.)
So the plot is a powerful one, but fairly straightforward. The characters, however, are complex and multidimensional. The alternating dual POV gives readers a good look at Scott and Sonia through each others' eyes, first the superficial/observable self, before switching to illustrate their internal depths. Interactions are natural and realistic, and often entertaining. Scott rarely stops talking and/or making snarky yet astute obvservations, and while Sonia is physically mute - communicating largely in ASL - her internal monologue is far from silent.
My favorite part, however, would be the inclusivity of the cast, particularly LGBTQIA. We have mute/sign-language-using characters, Scott himself is biromantic asexual (confirmed on-page), and the cadre of nerdly friends and allies includes the nonbinary header-quoted Script (Brain persists in seeing them as Switch from The Matrix!) and at least one more queer member. One of the ladies mentions her wife (casually, naturally), and Sonia and another girl muse on the hotness of AI-assistant Hallie's voice with zero queerbaity winks or self-consciousness. It's just refreshing as hell.
Since this is the start of a series, I really hope to keep seeing more diverse/inclusive characters and cyberpunk-flavored, emotionally hard-hitting story. Like any evil empire, UltSyn probably isn't gone for good, and hopefully, neither are Scott, Sonia, and the geeky, engaging, revolution-now-loading story of HELLO WORLD.
* * *
Yes they can. And a lot of that goes on in this book. HELLO WORLD is kind of one giant system-subversion, 'system' in this case referring to both a literal computer program, and an ever-growing corporation that holds power over human bodies, brains, and the technology this cyberpunk near-future runs on. Whoever controls the machines controls the game.
But at the heart of this tech-flavored story, like most good stories, is a core of human emotions, memory, and the simple desire to regain what matters most, whether that's loved ones/others, or one's own sense of identity, agency, and self.
I won't get too much into the plot details aside from the basics, because that way be spoilers - but the character objectives are clear and driving. Scott wants to find his missing sister, and hopefully bring down the sprawling, omnipotent and probably-evil influence of the UltSyn corporation. Sonia wants her memories, family, and old life back, whatever that was. And yes, eventually, bring down UltSyn. Pretty much everyone we meet wants that. (So much so that, until the 3rd-act climax, HELLO WORLD doesn't seem to have a defined singular antagonist; instead it's the spread and power of the relatively anonymous UltSyn system; this makes the book almost feel like a human-versus-nature survival tale, against the 'antagonist' of a wildfire or a storm.)
So the plot is a powerful one, but fairly straightforward. The characters, however, are complex and multidimensional. The alternating dual POV gives readers a good look at Scott and Sonia through each others' eyes, first the superficial/observable self, before switching to illustrate their internal depths. Interactions are natural and realistic, and often entertaining. Scott rarely stops talking and/or making snarky yet astute obvservations, and while Sonia is physically mute - communicating largely in ASL - her internal monologue is far from silent.
My favorite part, however, would be the inclusivity of the cast, particularly LGBTQIA. We have mute/sign-language-using characters, Scott himself is biromantic asexual (confirmed on-page), and the cadre of nerdly friends and allies includes the nonbinary header-quoted Script (Brain persists in seeing them as Switch from The Matrix!) and at least one more queer member. One of the ladies mentions her wife (casually, naturally), and Sonia and another girl muse on the hotness of AI-assistant Hallie's voice with zero queerbaity winks or self-consciousness. It's just refreshing as hell.
Since this is the start of a series, I really hope to keep seeing more diverse/inclusive characters and cyberpunk-flavored, emotionally hard-hitting story. Like any evil empire, UltSyn probably isn't gone for good, and hopefully, neither are Scott, Sonia, and the geeky, engaging, revolution-now-loading story of HELLO WORLD.
June 9, 2017
This was a little hard to get into but by the end I definitely fell in love with it
January 17, 2018
Exciting, fast-paced sci-fi mystery. It's a different take on the future, a world dominated by powerful corporations that control the people who work for them.
March 24, 2017
Good read.
Light on tech, probably wise ... too ephemeral.
Interesting storyline.
Worth reading.
Recommended.
Light on tech, probably wise ... too ephemeral.
Interesting storyline.
Worth reading.
Recommended.
June 15, 2018
(Biromantic asexual protagonist (Scott), in m/f romantic relationship, family-centric)
Thriller-y sci-fi with lovely emphasis on sibling relationships, romantic relationships are not depicted as more important. Queer characters (including some (all?) of the main characters) and related topics introduced, mentioned casually, naturally. Sexually (not especially) explicit scene in chapter 15.
RoAnna's review
Ben's review
Thriller-y sci-fi with lovely emphasis on sibling relationships, romantic relationships are not depicted as more important. Queer characters (including some (all?) of the main characters) and related topics introduced, mentioned casually, naturally. Sexually (not especially) explicit scene in chapter 15.
RoAnna's review
Ben's review
January 30, 2021
This is a book, that I wanted to love so bad, but couldn't because of everything that was happening in it. And it makes me sad and angry, that I have to write this review now. But that's just how it is.
Maybe I should start with the stuff I liked? OK, first of all: Ace Mc ♥ And not just hinted at aceness. Scott confirms it on page which, yes! Thank you. There is a lot of casual rep, which is kinda my prefered form of rep. Because one's queerness isn't ones only and most important 'character trait'. We are more than queer. We are we. So casual rep will always make me smile. We don't have to focus on it. Just throw it in there. There is also other rep, besides the queer one. Mute characters my people. Mute characters everywhere :3 I also thought the concept of the worldbuilding was great. And Sonia. I liked Sonia. And maybe Terabyte?
..... OK, that's kinda it already.
So what didn't I like, besides kinda everything.
Scott is pretty unlikable. There are many scenes that don't serve any purpose unless they are there to showcase, that Scott is kinda a jerk. There are some where he is less of a jerk, but it would be a REALLY big stretch to claim he had character development. Sonia had some ...kinda... but Scott? Don't think so.
Hacking: Apparently it's THAT EASY. I wonder why I haven't picked up this hobby yet. Because apperently you just walk into a building whose computer you wanna hack, chill in their lobby for a few seconds and *boom* it's done. Or if you wanna be extra special, you walk in there - obviously - unlocked study room, spend a few minutes in there and DONE. This build up also lead me to not enjoy the climax because COME ON . Don't wanna say who our end boss is, but man, was this .__.
OK, my review is all over the place and I appologice, but that's how we're gonna do this. Sorry.
Let's talk about the start of the book.
We start with a fight scene and I hate when books do that, because they force me to acept that MC is the one I have to /should be rooting for. But I don't know anything about the stakes are the guy, so please stop doing stuff like that. Than we meet Sonia and I couldn't help but be reminded of the game "Detroit: Become Human" where our Androids have to learn what it means to be or to become human. So when we got to Sonias's POV I was kinda excited until... I had to accept that the book was not ready to decide what it wanted to do. ARE we supposed to see Sonia as a 'thing', a machine or are we supposed to treat her like a human. And don't tell me it's vague on purpose. Look at Detroit become human. You can have both, but you need to show me first HOW a Androide is supposed to be, what being a turned into a machine looks like. Sonia isn't a machine. Yes we call her 'it' a few times, but we never explore what it truly means to loose a part of yourself. Because Sonia doesn't have to find out what it means to be human. She never was anything else. We are told what she should be but we aren't shown. And when we meet 1(one!) other Human Information Device it just doesn't feel the same, because it's way to deep in the story and we never bothered to establish their character to begin with. There was a lot of potential in there, but we just let it slide through our fingers like sand. Same goes for the rest of the worldbuilding. The theory is great, the execution not so much.
The Plot is kinda a mess too, because we spend a lot of times on missions that don't do anything for the actualy plot. It also kinda feels like we forget what the plot and the actual motive of Scott is for a time. Those missions are just there to be ... cool? I guess? If those were supposed to make me exicited: They failed.
There are also some things in there, that made me facepalm for other reasons like:
Have you even been to the England- France tunnel ever before? I have and let me tell you the amount of police and security that was there was enourmous. Sonia & Scott would NOT have made it out of there
Scott: You know anyone that's gonna be on this party
Sonia: Yes, kinda half of the invited people
Scott: Cool, I'm sure no one is gonna recognice you. So I'm gonna leave you alone to do my thing now :)
Scott, you are apperently oh so smart. So stopp being an idiot for one hot second, ok?
Sign language is NOT international. Just saying :)
But my biggest issue is: Actions don't have consequences. I'm not going to say who and how, but in the climax, someone is almost going to die. That someone is going to lose their memorys. Do you think the book would actually commit to this? Lol of course not, we're gonna undo this in the Epiloge :) No! If you don' want something bad to happen to character X, don't write it in your book. But Jesus, if you do, commit to it! This is called emotional staces! This is called decisions. The life of person X, or the safety of the world. You can NOT cheat your way around this.
The writing style was also extremly loveless. Machinelike almost. That could have been cool in Sonias POV. Have her have that writing stlye at the beginning and as she slowly leans to be human again, let it change, make it more colourful, make it more human. Sadly, that didn't happen and we were stuck with that style throughout all of the book.
Maybe I should start with the stuff I liked? OK, first of all: Ace Mc ♥ And not just hinted at aceness. Scott confirms it on page which, yes! Thank you. There is a lot of casual rep, which is kinda my prefered form of rep. Because one's queerness isn't ones only and most important 'character trait'. We are more than queer. We are we. So casual rep will always make me smile. We don't have to focus on it. Just throw it in there. There is also other rep, besides the queer one. Mute characters my people. Mute characters everywhere :3 I also thought the concept of the worldbuilding was great. And Sonia. I liked Sonia. And maybe Terabyte?
..... OK, that's kinda it already.
So what didn't I like, besides kinda everything.
Scott is pretty unlikable. There are many scenes that don't serve any purpose unless they are there to showcase, that Scott is kinda a jerk. There are some where he is less of a jerk, but it would be a REALLY big stretch to claim he had character development. Sonia had some ...kinda... but Scott? Don't think so.
Hacking: Apparently it's THAT EASY. I wonder why I haven't picked up this hobby yet. Because apperently you just walk into a building whose computer you wanna hack, chill in their lobby for a few seconds and *boom* it's done. Or if you wanna be extra special, you walk in there - obviously - unlocked study room, spend a few minutes in there and DONE. This build up also lead me to not enjoy the climax because COME ON . Don't wanna say who our end boss is, but man, was this .__.
OK, my review is all over the place and I appologice, but that's how we're gonna do this. Sorry.
Let's talk about the start of the book.
We start with a fight scene and I hate when books do that, because they force me to acept that MC is the one I have to /should be rooting for. But I don't know anything about the stakes are the guy, so please stop doing stuff like that. Than we meet Sonia and I couldn't help but be reminded of the game "Detroit: Become Human" where our Androids have to learn what it means to be or to become human. So when we got to Sonias's POV I was kinda excited until... I had to accept that the book was not ready to decide what it wanted to do. ARE we supposed to see Sonia as a 'thing', a machine or are we supposed to treat her like a human. And don't tell me it's vague on purpose. Look at Detroit become human. You can have both, but you need to show me first HOW a Androide is supposed to be, what being a turned into a machine looks like. Sonia isn't a machine. Yes we call her 'it' a few times, but we never explore what it truly means to loose a part of yourself. Because Sonia doesn't have to find out what it means to be human. She never was anything else. We are told what she should be but we aren't shown. And when we meet 1(one!) other Human Information Device it just doesn't feel the same, because it's way to deep in the story and we never bothered to establish their character to begin with. There was a lot of potential in there, but we just let it slide through our fingers like sand. Same goes for the rest of the worldbuilding. The theory is great, the execution not so much.
The Plot is kinda a mess too, because we spend a lot of times on missions that don't do anything for the actualy plot. It also kinda feels like we forget what the plot and the actual motive of Scott is for a time. Those missions are just there to be ... cool? I guess? If those were supposed to make me exicited: They failed.
There are also some things in there, that made me facepalm for other reasons like:
Have you even been to the England- France tunnel ever before? I have and let me tell you the amount of police and security that was there was enourmous. Sonia & Scott would NOT have made it out of there
Scott: You know anyone that's gonna be on this party
Sonia: Yes, kinda half of the invited people
Scott: Cool, I'm sure no one is gonna recognice you. So I'm gonna leave you alone to do my thing now :)
Scott, you are apperently oh so smart. So stopp being an idiot for one hot second, ok?
Sign language is NOT international. Just saying :)
But my biggest issue is: Actions don't have consequences. I'm not going to say who and how, but in the climax, someone is almost going to die. That someone is going to lose their memorys. Do you think the book would actually commit to this? Lol of course not, we're gonna undo this in the Epiloge :) No! If you don' want something bad to happen to character X, don't write it in your book. But Jesus, if you do, commit to it! This is called emotional staces! This is called decisions. The life of person X, or the safety of the world. You can NOT cheat your way around this.
The writing style was also extremly loveless. Machinelike almost. That could have been cool in Sonias POV. Have her have that writing stlye at the beginning and as she slowly leans to be human again, let it change, make it more colourful, make it more human. Sadly, that didn't happen and we were stuck with that style throughout all of the book.
August 10, 2018
This book was exciting, fast-paced, and simply... *sigh* simply wonderful. I absolutely loved it.
dnf
May 16, 2017dnf-ed at 20%
August 9, 2017
I really enjoyed this book and would give it a higher rating if it weren't for one thing that really bugged me:
The authors reduce all manual languages in English speaking countries to "sign language" which is an ableist term for a non-existent language. The characters in this book from the US and the UK all speak this non-existent manual language instead of the languages they would actually speak - ASL in the US and BSL in the UK (statistically speaking, though there are other manual languages spoken in both countries). While ASL and BSL speakers could understand each other somewhat (I'm told by a friend who is very involved in international deaf advocacy), it would be difficult and slow. This story ignores the very real differences between manual languages in the US and UK for the sake of narrative convenience. Which, for a story with such great representation of LGBTQIA+ and POC characters, was very unfortunate.
The authors reduce all manual languages in English speaking countries to "sign language" which is an ableist term for a non-existent language. The characters in this book from the US and the UK all speak this non-existent manual language instead of the languages they would actually speak - ASL in the US and BSL in the UK (statistically speaking, though there are other manual languages spoken in both countries). While ASL and BSL speakers could understand each other somewhat (I'm told by a friend who is very involved in international deaf advocacy), it would be difficult and slow. This story ignores the very real differences between manual languages in the US and UK for the sake of narrative convenience. Which, for a story with such great representation of LGBTQIA+ and POC characters, was very unfortunate.
December 30, 2021
This was such a good book. It took the old "technology taken too far" trope and combined it with the current-day issue of human trafficking in a way that is truly compelling.
Scott's drive to find and rescue his sister who was trafficked years before combines with the struggle of one woman's bid for freedom after becoming a Human Information Drive - a status that removes a person's memories and puts data in their place as if they were a flash drive.
This story is both a cautionary tale of the future and a testament to the strength of what it means to be human.
Scott's drive to find and rescue his sister who was trafficked years before combines with the struggle of one woman's bid for freedom after becoming a Human Information Drive - a status that removes a person's memories and puts data in their place as if they were a flash drive.
This story is both a cautionary tale of the future and a testament to the strength of what it means to be human.
March 24, 2022
I don't want to say too many negative things because I always appreciate some representation, but this really did not do it for me. I didn't connect with any of the characters, and I never felt like anyone was in any danger, just that things were happening because it was the time for them to happen. I did manage to finish this, but I won't be reading the sequel.
December 11, 2021
Overall this book was ok, but this is the first story I've read with an explicitly asexual character so that was cool.
April 15, 2022
Great story
I have enjoyed this fun adventure that makes us think about how the corporate world could go to far as trying to control the world.
I have enjoyed this fun adventure that makes us think about how the corporate world could go to far as trying to control the world.
Read
December 27, 2022DNF
February 21, 2022
Book two of the .Exe series is now out!
October 23, 2025
this will always have a special place in my heart as the first book that I read with an ace main character but I didn't love it as much as I did the first time I read it.
April 7, 2017
Writing - mediocre. Representation - amazing.
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