Jack

Reading the bio of this book, I had little expectations for what I was about to read. With today’s dependencies on corporate chat platforms, it can almost feel like one lives inside of them - and Kasulke’s way of showing this in a literal form was strange but innovative. The way the conversations between characters unfolded reminds me much of the rise of AI actors online emulating real people, blurring the lines between real and generated.

It also made me oddly aware of how much people can and DO share online. Like this book review. While not our full consciousnesses (yet) are online, our thoughts, words, actions and experiences can be collected into a single digital folder for anyone to ingest. And this folder will last far longer than any, physically.

Great, quick read.

“but these scraps of ourselves we fling into the ether will outlive most of us, like the sun”

A great book - with a very subpar ending. The book switched perspectives constantly, which I was first annoyed by and grew to love over time. It’s been a while since a book has captivated me to the point where I threw away any idea of a bedtime to push through to the next chapter. All of this is why the ending being as lackluster as it is disappoints me. Nonetheless, Harkin perfectly captured the dystopian “what if” of playing God with the human brain, and left me wondering what I’d do if I was any of the four.