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Book Review: The Ones We’re Meant to Find by Joan He

Cover art for The Ones We're Meant to Find by Joan He

 

The Ones We’re Meant to Find  by Joan He

Roaring Book Press, 2021

ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1250258564

Available: Hardcover, audiobook, Kindle edition ( Bookshop.org | Amazon.com )

 

 

 

Every time I thought I had this book figured out, it took me in an unexpected direction.

 

There are two alternating plotlines. First, we are introduced to Cee. Cee is trapped on a deserted island, with few memories but with an urgent feeling that she must get off the island and find her sister Kay..

 

Then we meet Kasey, living in a climate-ravaged world. At sixteen, Kasey is a scientific genius who works for the government office responsible for finding solutions for human survival. The living situation is desperate. The most privileged individuals live in eco cities in the air, where they are required to spend much of their time in stasis, participating in life virtually, as a cleaner option than that available to those with pollution karma. Even this is becoming unsustainable, and Kasey is part of the bureaucracy trying to find a solution quickly, as weather and radiation worsen dramatically, killing millions. Yet even in this desperate state there is debate over whether it’s worth it to survive without freedom and self-determination, or in some cases, at all. As this situation continues, Kasey is also searching for her sister, Celia, a free spirit, who disappeared at sea and is believed dead.

 

There is a really slow start and neither Cee or Kasey start out as deeply emotional, but the puzzle is intriguing and He does a great job bringing both worlds to life. This book is really going to disturb some people but there are some interesting ethical and scientific debates being explored and the choices the primary characters make are often unexpected. It’s not what one expects from typical horror, but it isn’t a title that readers will forget soon.

 

 

Reviewed by Kirsten Kowalewski

Posted on December 5, 2022 by , Reply

Book Review: Interface by Scott Britz-Cunningham

cover art for Interface by Scott Britz-Cunningham

 

Interface by Scott Britz-Cunningham

Keylight Books, Nov 1, 2022

ISBN: 9781684428816

Available: Hardcover, paperback, Kindle edition

(  Bookshop.org  |  Amazon.com )

 

Interface is a good old-fashioned thriller with a sci-fi bent to it.  If your idea of horror is what people have become due to cell phones and information/social media overload,, this is perfect for you.  Author Cunningham has put together a rollicking, fun ride in the possible future, with some pretty profound insights about the dumbing down of society thanks to the Internet, mixed in.  This is good stuff, and it’ll make you think.

 

 

It is the near future, and everyone over the age of 14, by law, is connected to the Interface.  Imagine everything your cell phone can do hard-wired into your brain through a tiny implant.  You can do anything online through the power of thought.  Instant news feeds, file shares, non-verbal communication: all without pressing a button.  Trouble strikes when isolated cases of individuals going mad and killing people start., Detective Yara Avril suspects that the Interface implants may be the cause.  The rest of the book is a madcap run as Yara, and sleazy yet intrepid reporter Jericho Jones, pursue the truth and try to prevent further deaths, while every power of what’s left of the government opposes them.  

 

 

There’s really nothing to find fault with in the book.  The pacing is fast, and the characters do an excellent job representing their factions, while blurring the lines between good and evil.  Egon Graf is the head guy for the government, which needs the Interface to stay in power.  Opposed to him is his brother Taiki, who is bent on taking down the Interface, which he created years before.  The story does a nice job playing on the axiom “the ends justify the means”, when it comes to how much murder can be justified to prevent the future idiocy of humanity.  The author’s vision of the  future is scary: it’s a future ruled through human emotion, not logic. Why have politicians debate and vote when the public can just vote online, regardless of whether they understand anything?  No need for criminal trials, just throw up a quick infomercial online detailing the case, and let the people decide their fate.  It’s a scary thought, and maybe not that different from where we are today..  

 

 

It’s worth noting that for a thriller, there is some pretty deep thought in the dialogue sections.  The insights into social media and being “connected” are well thought out, the kind of material you can ponder on your own long after you finish the book.  I wound up bookmarking five or six different pages along the way to go back to and re-read, it’s that well done.  People will enjoy this book for the ride, but it’ll linger with them long after the ride’s over.  

 

Bottom line: don’t miss this one.  Recommended

 

Reviewed by Murray Samuelson

Posted on November 9, 2022 by , Reply

Book Review: The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan

The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan

 

The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan ( Amazon.com |  Bookshop.org )

Simon & Schuster, 2022

ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1982156121

Available: Hardcover, paperback, Kindle edition, audiobook

 

This book was like living through a nightmare trainwreck.

 

Single working mother Frida is separated from her two year old daughter Harriet after she leaves her home alone for more than two hours with the back door open. She is sentenced to a year at the School of Good Mothers, a new program that monitors neglectful parents as they work through a sadistic and brutal parenting curriculum that requires them to mother human-appearing child robots while depriving them of actual contact with their children. Mothers who don’t finish or pass will have their parental rights terminated and appear on a neglectful parent registry.

 

This has a similar feel to The Handmaid’s Tale, and the teachers, social workers, and administrators are the absolute worst versions you could come up with for those roles. The difference is, it is set in the present day, and it’s not impossible to imagine something similar actually taking place. The individual characters don’t matter as much.as the overall picture.

 

Frida is lucky in that her parents, ex, and his wife are all supportive of her, but even so, the end is inevitable.

 

Obviously no one  should leave a toddler at home unsupervised for two hours, but the state shouldn’t be rigidly and arbitrarily prescriptive and cruelly controlling of the ways we parent our children. The lessons of The School for Good Mothers are more damaging to Frida and her daughter than reparative.

 

The story flowed well, but it is chilling, a difficult read in our real world environment that is colder to women, and children, every day. Highly recommended.

 

Contains: suicide, suicidal ideation, murderous thoughts, racial slurs, solitary confinement, violence, mentions of pedophilia.

 

 

Reviewed by Kirsten Kowalewski

Posted on August 17, 2022 by , Reply
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