Rating:

I actually picked this up for my March Book of the Month, but I was so impatient to start that I jumped into this ALC from NetGalley and Harper Collins the second it hit my inbox. Thank you so much for the ALC, it was so much fun to listen!

Being a Lead Product Designer for a tech company, I’m constantly surrounded by the “AI everything” push, so this premise felt incredibly relevant. We’re living in this weird moment where everyone is side-eyeing artists to see if they’re using AI, and companies are shoving algorithms into every user experience possible. Seeing that play out through Eve (the singer artist) and Danny (the tech co-founder) was fascinating.

What I loved most was that the author kept things grounded. Instead of going for a wild, over-the-top “killer robot” dystopia like you see in the movies, it felt like a mirror to our actual lives. It’s honestly a bit jarring to see how easily the characters start relying on “Bug” for the most intimate parts of their lives. I use AI at work all the time, but the idea of letting an algorithm decide the fate of my marriage or breaking up just because a data point told me to is wild.

Beyond the tech stuff, the book is just plain fun. There were some great comedic moments, and I have to give a shout-out to the occasional dad jokes plugged in there. They were the perfect kind of cringey that makes you roll your eyes and laugh at the same time. “Why did the shoe join a dating app? To find it’s sole-mate.” Badum tsssssss…

If you want a look at the “near future” of tech and romance that feels terrifyingly possible (and funny), this is a must-read. It’s smart, witty, and definitely makes you want to put your phone in a drawer for a few hours.