Perfect

by Stephany Brandt

What is Man? What is Machine?Beth Miller never thought she'd own an android. That was what lonely city people did when they wanted a slave...not her. But after a painful breakup she finds herself in the robot store, searching for her first-ever android.Thanks to a chance of fate, one model is left that catches her a singular android named Michael, who wasn't sent back when he was recalled. Beth chooses Michael despite all the odds, and takes him home not knowing the unit she just purchased comes with a world-changing has the ability to adapt unlike any other machine ever created, and the special programming given to him by the founder of CyberHaus makes him a threat to everything the world-dominating corporation stands for. As Beth learns to live with her android, she realizes how special he is, and the trials and battles they face help bring them together - even as they're tearing the world order around them apart.

372 pages, Paperback

First published May 31, 2020

Reviews

[5t4n5 Dot Com · Rating 4 out of 5]

I do enjoy stories about AI's and such, and having previously enjoyed Stephany's earlier book, New Caviar , i was looking forward to a good read with Perfect.

Did i find a good read?   Well, if you're looking for something deep and philosophical concerning humanity's future with AI's and AI's being given legal rights as people, then i think you need to look elsewhere, this isn't deep.   Essentially, it's just a love story with the evil corporation thing thrown in to liven things up.

Not that a love story with the evil corporation thing thrown in is a bad thing, it's actually quite a good story in that regard, but it just has a shallowness to it that i wasn't looking for, for example:

"I feel sad for him."   Michael watched JOHN go through the kitchen door and disappear behind the wall.   "He'll never even know what it's like to feel something real."

"Yeah."   Breanne continued to sound sad.   "He can fuck me like a stallion, but there's no hugging in his programming."

Then there's aliens that appear near the end, but i have no idea what the purpose of introducing aliens into the story was when they don't even get a mention for most of it.

And the ending is all rather rushed and piecemeal.

Overall, it's well written and it is an ok read, and it does speak to what i can imagine will be a great many people's interest in owning and using AI's in the future: doing the housework and other shit jobs non of us want to do and then transforming into a fully animated sex toy whenever we feel the need to be fucked by a stallion.   I just despair at this shallow side of humanity.

[Robbo · Rating 5 out of 5]

An AI that’s a sentient being, in love with his human.

FFS, this was supposed to be a robot, and the more I read, the more I had a lump in my throat. What’s wrong with me? Apart from the terror caused by corporate death threat, and a worrying court drama, it’s really a love story, just one of them isn’t biologically alive, but Michael is a living man in every other way, with the capacity to feel just like we do. Not a robot.

[Sue Philips · Rating 5 out of 5]

I came across this book quite by accident and as this is a new author to me, I was excited to see where she would go with the story. I was amazed, delighted, enthralled, hooked, mesmerized - words can't even begin to describe how I felt reading this book. The story was so delightful - the idea of an android who could improve himself and become so human he was able to win a court case against the major cyber company who initially created him and wanted to "kill" him - the story was gorgeous. I want more from this author.
Highly recommended read.