The Cybernetic Tea Shop
Ratings40
Average rating4.2
It's beautiful. So darn beautiful :´)
It's about love. Between two... women? Females? It's lovely :-) Some really bad things happen as well, but the whole is wonderful.
For Read Harder Challenge #11, Read a book with an asexual and/or aromantic main character. I liked this short little book–the style reminded me a lot of Becky Chambers.
A nice mostly cozy story about people being people. Loved the teashop, and Sal's characterization, but i wish the book had been longer
CAWPILE Score
C- 6
A-5
W-7
P-8
I-8
L-8
E-6
Total-6.86/10
This was cute and had a sweet, homey feel. It doesn't really delve at length into the Big Questions, but it certainly gives them an emotional, thoughtful consideration. The central relationships are warm and touching, and this was a lovely, restorative little story to read as we head into the Bleak Midwinter of a horribly difficult year.
Really cute short story, about AI robot and human. Really lovely.
Asexual romance is like new level of cuteness.
I'd like to read the Karinne and Sal story, how they met and opened the Tea Shop.
If you can put up with twenty pages of nothing happening, it's worth it when the girls meet. I almost DNF'd it during those first twenty pages because I felt like it was going to put me to sleep, but I told myself to at least get to their first meeting and then, if it was just as boring, I could DNF it. I'm honestly glad I did because once Sal and Clara meet, the story gets cute and fun and sweet. Very little happens even then, but it is super adorable with robot love and ace representation.
I loved everything about this story. A cozy, uplifting story about grief and moving on. Also the teas sound amazing.
I'm so glad I read this. It reminds me of why I enjoy indie & small press books so much; there's maybe somewhat more freedom for authors to explore unusual ideas and characters than in traditionally published works. This story focuses on two interesting people who live about 300 years in the future.
Clara is a mechanic or engineer who makes a living repairing robots, but robots are currently limited to pet-like creatures that don't have true artificial intelligence. However, she does have an AI companion, a hummingbird. I really like speaking animal companions as a plot element in any book, and Clara's companion provided some comic relief, as well as a lot of insight into Clara's personality. Clara has wanderlust and never stays in one place very long.
Sal is an old-fashioned robot, created before the regulations about artificial intelligence, who has outlived her original owner by over 200 years. She still runs the tea shop that they ran together. They meet when Clara comes to live in Seattle, and they eventually fall in love.
The romance is sweet and subtle, and both characters are asexual (or that is how I interpret it, although the word isn't used). There is non-sexual intimacy between them, especially when Clara works on Sal's systems. This is another thing I always like in fiction, perhaps because it often brings to mind Geordi working on Data's systems, which I always thought was a great expression of their closeness and the trust between them. So, while there are a few familiar concepts in this story, it all comes together very well into something original.
That theme of trust is explored in this story, and it's very emotional, because Sal has not really trusted anyone since her original owner passed away. She has one acquaintance but no one she feels especially attached to, only her shop. She has to deal with her grief and learn to move on by finding a new purpose in life. It's somewhat more difficult for her than it might be for a human, because the world doesn't really see robots as people. I feel the author handles these serious topics very well.
This is a great story and I recommend it highly to everyone. It's short, but the story definitely feels complete. I look forward to reading more of Meredith Katz' work.