3.5 stars

The Cybernetic Tea Shop was a sweet if brief sci-fi romance. The novella follows Clara a restless AI technician who after a recent move discovers a teashop run by one of the last artificially intelligent robots in the world, Sal. The two eventually hit it off and make a life together. 

Despite its slim page count Meredith Katz does manage to explore some interesting themes in The Cybernetic Tea Shop. Most poignantly we see Sal unpack the buried grief of losing her first master and former lover. And like in any robot story, the novella also deals with what it means to be an artificial human. The way Katz explored Sal's autonomy and agency in a world that wants to see all sentient robots destroyed was solid.

While I don't imagine The Cybernetic Tea Shop stick with me forever it was a fun red.