This book is really, really good. It took a bit to get acclimated to the writing style but once I did, boy was it ever hard to put down. I'm going to go into a spoiler free breakdown of some immediate thoughts and then write a couple spoiler stuff that was fantastic.

Ren Warom has a fan now and her familiarity with cyberpunk tropes coupled with what must be some pretty in-depth personal knowledge make this book riveting.

Everything that is a veneer in this book at the beginning becomes recycled and pertinent later on. So much so that the name of the book only really becomes entirely clear in the very last paragraph of the book, wrapping a bow on the entire character arc of the main protagonist, Shock Pao.

While Shock is a Haunt, which is essentially a hacker in what's called "the slip", Amiga is a cleaner. She's an infiltration and assassination expert. If you're thinking this sounds like a pretty typical team up of protagonists, you're totally wrong. In fact most of the assumptions I had were blown away at around page 70ish out of 445.

Both of their character arcs are similar and are somewhat eluded to with the title of the book, but both are really well fleshed out and enticing. These are not likeable people (which, I like a lot!) who are thrust together by the repeated consequences of their own actions. One of the best things about this story is that the characters make this story. It is not a story in which the characters and put into, instead, they're entirely the vehicle for everything. And it works.

There's a system in place that grinds people down by way of a psych test when they come of age. Pass and you have a somewhat golden ticket, only they're looking for complacent people, dull individuals, etc. "Fails" are people that get cast aside from society. And the fails are literally outside of it, usually squatters in abandoned buildings barely getting by, but aren't ground up in the corporate gears.

Everyone has a drive that is basically just a flash drive in their heads but also allows them some measure of VR. Some tech lets them do stuff with that like most cyberpunk books, usually weaponry.

Where it's really interesting though is the digital environment. It's not a matrix or grid like system at all, in fact it's called the slip because it's an underwater realm. You literally dive into water and have avatars there for your needs. Most of the time it goes into just Shock doing hacking stuff but it's by clear design that the most freedom anyone has is in this place, and of course jacking in costs money and is regulated and what not for most individuals.

Shocks avatars are an octopus and a shark. Later on in the book the avatars become a predominate part of the fiction that end up being really interesting parts of Shocks and others personalities and identity. I really enjoyed what was done with this.

At its heart, it's about a job that Shock gets forced into doing that goes wrong and shit unravels from there. But it always has just enough going on outside of that and within the headspace of both Amiga and Shock that, it really feels like a lot more is going on.

It gets personal, it's gritty, its unapologetic in its depiction of bad people doing what they do as a reflection of their reality. It's crass only when it feels warranted and the punk elements really sing through with a lot of British speak mixed with some cyberpunk terminology. Fails ride metro lines apart from society, specifically Amiga, a lot. They are often depicted as the most humane compared to people in power. Not a new thing, but the world itself is a faaaairly big drift from typical cyberpunk stuff and it's also super enticing. Bits and scrapes of stuff get thrown out and the writing is in such a way that she puts a lot of faith in the reader to fill in the blanks after giving the larger chunks of world building. This coupled with how unique the slip was makes me really excited for the second book coming in June.

Read this book!

Also, some spoiler stuff I loved about this book below:
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1) Right away I felt like Shock had a chip on his shoulder and typically this is normal for cyberpunk. They are punks afterall! But slowly learning how Shock completed a transition while walking into the heart of Korea town on page 70 (I think?) was amazing. It mentally clicked everything into place for me. I was elated to read a book with a main character grappling respectfully with the fallout of that decision. But coupled with the absolute assuredly that he'd always been a man. It was just a really great read that wasn't an info dump. You slowly learn about it over time and it becomes a pertinent thing that drives Shock and fuels his every reaction. So. Good.

2) Amiga is the embodiment of the cyberpunk trope "technology is going to make us resemble itself and not humanity", and by having an actual protagonist completely roll with that POV, and making it a character arc as well, was just so satisfying for me. One because it's eventually subverted only because of the interactions between Shock and her. Two because it's pretty deftly done. When she realizes it, so do you. Or I didn't pickup on the trope or took it for granted until it was so blatantly brought to the forefront at a pivotal part in her story. Either way, awesome.

3) Shock's avatars being brought into the story was not something i expected at all. But was teased earlier on by some hints as to what he feels when he's driving the avatar and how he thinks and feels, was super interesting. The shark, a reflection of all the emotions he never ever expresses, most predominately his anger, was really neat. And to have his other avatar, which was assigned at birth, identify as female and have him grapple with those implications until the very last page. Again, extremely satisfying.

4) Having the entire story be a consequence of choice, bringing forward the case study on escapism and addiction, was just genius for me. Shock continually asks himself why he does the things he does and knows bad things will happen but instead gets high and continues to do it as though it's not a choice. Because it's not right? It's his addiction and it's also a major plot device for the entire book that makes it very organic. Never was there a line where I was like " Aw, fuck why'd you do that, Shock!?" It always made sense because that overriding urge that drove him was spelled out from the beginning. It's never in question and always has its hooks in him and because of that the normal system of control takes a back seat to a much more human one. A timeless one that won't ever stop being relevant and that's what makes a lot of this book so good.