By: C.J. Farley
Many thanks to Harper Collins and NetGalley for the ARC of this book!
Octavia is a Jamaican-American coder and she is broke, dealing with the fall out of her mother’s death, and in debt. She leaves her job for a high paying job at Eustachian Inc, a big tech company that specializes in audio entertainment. She collaborates with another black employee, Walcott, on a special project entitled Zion. As they spend time together, sparks fly. But when they uncover things about their company, they have a decision to make.
This book was just not for me, at all. I didn’t like it and I wanted to DNF it so bad. But I pushed through hoping that it would get better. It did slightly, but not enough. Right from the beginning, I struggled with the second person point of view. You this and You that. I didn’t connect with the character and it was strange. I understood from the Epilogue why it was written that way, but it just didn’t work for me.
This book was only 288 pages, but it was SO wordy. What I mean is that there was so much in there that didn’t need to be. This book could have been like 50-100 pages shorter if that stuff was edited out and you’d still have the same story without missing anything. There was too much prose and not enough dialogue and action.
There was so much reference to a singer Noelle Swizzler (a made up artist for the book), but anyone reading it would know that really it was Taylor Swift. I knew that and I’m not really a Swiftie! I didn’t like that at all.
This is self described as a thriller. I don’t agree all. Keep it under the Sci-Fi genre and let it be that. There are a lot of great reviews for this book, so if you like AI – Sci-Fi books, then check this one out.
Publish Date: November 11, 2025
Find the book here.
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