I'm unsure of how to rate this so I won't. 

I had no real expectations going in and I have to admit that I was pleasantly surprised. The tone that the narrator has is typically something I would find annoying, but in this it really worked. It honestly felt a lot like if Jesse Pinkman has written a book and for a lot of it he was all I could picture. This is a very matter of fact (not literally, just the tone) type of book that has no flowery language but still has some lines that really pack punch. The beginning really got me hooked, but during the middle was where I found myself struggling the most to keep momentum. 

The parts in which he recounts his experience in the army I would argue benefit the least from the blunt way of speaking. However, on the flip side, I can appreciate the very straight to the point way he talked about the horrors he witnessed and partook in. Still overall this was the hardest part to read as it just further establishes just how horrific things were done to Iraqis. 

The way the book ended did take me by surprise, it was just so matter of fact. I do think it offered some insight into addiction and how everything is not so black and white as people may want you to think. I do find myself wanting to reread it and try to pick up things I might not have before, but I think I'll hold off and watch the movie. 

Ultimately I feel that this book fails to deliver overall. At times so repetitive I had to pause reading and distract myself. I think the concept for this story is a really interesting one and I always enjoy pondering the implications of AI. However, I must add that there is a concerning amount of people that think AI is anyway near this currently and to those people I say ... please do some research. 

 

Anyway, I wish that this story was shorter or at least got into things much faster. By the end of the book I was actually really interested in what Annie, the bot, would do and think as she gained more and more consciousness, only for the book to end ten pages later. I think the author did a fantastic job in writing one of the worst and most hatable male characters, so props for that. I do, though, wish that so many of the characters that were introduced had made more comebacks and not just introduced and forgotten. 

 

All that I said, I can see why the author made the choices they did for this story because the repetitiveness does add to this overall imprisoning feel just like Annie feels. I just think it really wasn't for me, I was hoping for a much more in terms of revenge. It just was too slow burn with a not really fulfilling end.

Ive been “reading” this book for over 5 years hahahaha 

Something about this book fell flat for me. There were moments where I really found myself enjoying the story, mainly during the mixed media part of the book. However, the majority of the time I felt … bored and I didn’t like a single character. 

I really started out enjoying this book and the whole concept of living life out of chronological order. However, about halfway through it did start to feel somewhat repetitive. Every year leap felt as if it was just hitting the same beats, rinse and repeat. Oona is a reasonably likable character, but omg does she have her moments where I wanted to put the book down. 

I think this book gets the job done. 

I have seen some pretty divisive opinions about this book, but nothing I've researched further. I did really think I wasn't going to like this and yet I was pleasantly surprised. I do think that I benefited from reading this at the right time in my life. That's why I'm not against revisiting a book I reviewed badly or why I sometimes don't give up on finishing a book. 

I enjoyed the characters, the story, and the message. I do feel that it was mad cheesy at times, but, come on, that's not necessarily a bad thing. This just felt like a one of those feel good movies, much like The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (a personal favorite), where you leave just feeling a tiny bit more hopeful about your own life. A classic exploration of "what ifs" and "why nots" that can come across as fake deep, but also easy enough to navigate that the message is never lost. I do think think that it could have benefitted from being slightly shorter, as it does feel somewhat repetitive halfway through. 

Bottom line, I really enjoyed my time with this. I've been in a bit of a reading slump and in all honesty ... a life slump this year. It's hard to not fall down that hole of "maybe if I had ..." because what if I had! I can spend days imagining my life as it could have been and that has hindered me from making my life what it should be now. I really loved the line, 

"'I think your problem was life fright.'" 

And it makes me think of the line from Dune that I love as well, 

"'I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.'"

Life is truly too beautiful to spend it all in fear. 

I’m trying to find something good to say about this. It was short and easy to read. Everything else was …. God awful 😭 the characters, the storyline, the pacing! The little twist at the end was okay but so out of left field. My refusal to DNF is my weakness 😪

Awful 😐 not even just the story but the writing as well