21-year-old Freya is not very happy with her life as it is: she is still living together with her ex-boyfriend Julian, her job just serves to earn money but is not actually promising a career and she still misses Judy who first was a friend and then moved in with Freya and her mother and became something like a real sister. When Julian is not interested in the latest technological device from his father, Freya accepts to use the high-tech personal assistant. Since she is still longing for Ruby who went missing without any trace, the assistant is modelled according to the young woman’s features: it can copy her voice, react just like Judy reacted and knows everything about Freya and Ruby. Can this virtual version of her sister also lead to the one in flesh and bone?

Since technology becomes more and more present in our everyday life and since we rely increasingly on our smart phones to do the thinking for us, the idea of this futuristic personal assistant was quite intriguing. Especially since we tend to ignore the negative side effects of handing over more and more data to these uncontrollable technical devices.

However, the novel did not hold up to the high expectations. I liked Freya’s first steps with her new assistant; her incredulously questioning where this machine got all the information from and how she slowly loses control over her life were portrayed in a really authentic way that is easy to imagine in the very near future. Then, however, the more the plot progresses and the more the whole story becomes a kind of computer game in a virtual reality environment, it was a bit too much for me. I am all but into computer games and not at all interested in any virtual realities where completely different rules apply and the unthinkable is possible. Thus, the moment we lost the track of reality I was more or less out. This might work better for those readers who are really into VR.

All in all, an interesting concept, yet a bit too unrealistic for my liking.

I was intrigued by the concept of this book which was kind of Black Mirror crossed with The Missing - what happens to missing people in a future where our consciousnesses are uploaded to the internet? Despite an interesting premise the book throws you in the deep end a little bit too much, and I spent so much of the book trying to work out what was going on that I couldn’t really get into the plot. (Thanks to the publisher and netgalley for the arc)

I was intrigued by the narrative and description of this book and was lucky to receive a copy before the publishing date, thank you to NetGalley, Little Brown Books and author Heather Child.. I had never read anything in this genre previously.. The story starts by introducing us to the main character Freya who seems likeable enough. She is going through a bit of a bad patch in her life. Some parts of the book didn't really grab me and I struggled a lot (to be honest I think it was my lack of knowledge of tech). I enjoyed where the story was going but had to give up after a while due to the techy parts in the book. Otherwise would recommend this book! Three stars......

I think this book was trying to be like a cross between Black Mirror and a general literary thriller, capitalizing on this 'Ex Machina' type AI life where we were all controlled by a pseudo-Google glass. But really, after a quarter of the book, it becomes incredibly boring. We don't really learn anything about this system, it's not something new that the character comes across. Really, we're thrown in at the deep end and trying to work out what's going on around us. Thriller's for me can be either hit or miss and unfortunately, this was one of those ones that I couldn't connect to and really didn't enjoy reading.

It was a good enough read. I liked it but I did not love it. At times I struggled with reading it and had to tell myself to just hang in there.

I felt like the author could have done more with the story

I am a bit new to this genre so I am still trying to find my feet with what I like and dislike and, on the whole, I liked this book very much. Set in the near future, technology has moved on enough so that people rely more and more on virtual assistants. Mostly they are generic AIs but more and more they are being customised for users and can be made up from people they know, created from their own online lives. In fact, it has become necessary for you to opt out if you don't want your personality used in this way. By way of her flatmate, Julian, Freya gets her hands on one of the newest forms of virtual assistant. So new in fact that it is still in beta. After automatic set-up she finds that it has taken on the personality of her sister Ruby. Well, her adopted sister anyway. Her sister who disappeared several years ago. An event that Freya thinks she is responsible for. She has always wondered what happened to Ruby, was she still alive even? And then her virtual assistant starts to go a bit weird. When real people are used for VAs their personality and life experiences are supposed to be only limited to what the programmers have found online. But Freya notices that Ruby knows things she couldn't possibly know. Things that happened after she disappeared. Could it be really possible that she is still alive. Freya has to know and sets off on this, her most personal mission.
I really liked Freya right from the off. Her home life isn't that great as she is still sharing with her ex and he is acting, for the most part, a little weird. He work life is also a bit pants as she has been demoted in her job, her previous role having gone to an AI. Her relationship with her mother is OK but strained. But she still gets up in the morning and tries to do her best. She has a good relationship with Chris at work and there are some really funny scenes of the two of them at work.
The technology in the book was easy to follow. Most of the stuff described was familiar from other sources but the way they were used in this book was unique so there was a lot for me to learn. There are so many examples of this that I could wax lyrical about here but I fear spoilers so I am leaving that here. With a book and a world so heavy on technology, there is also the flip side. People who want off the grid and that, without going into detail, was also handled very well here too.
As well as Freya wanting to find Ruby and possibly absolve herself of the guilt she has lived with for years, the book is also about Freya as a person. Her awakening or coming of age if you like. I really enjoyed this aspect - Freya's journey - how she overcame certain fears to try to get to the truth. And it was a rather shocking truth when all was revealed.
All in all, a well plotted story starring some cracking characters that held my attention very well throughout, leaving me satisfying at the end. Oh and it's another debut book to boot. My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.