Laura

In this Cinderella inspired story, Cinder is a ghost bound to the house she died in but later decides she still wants to experience the life that was taken from her.

I mostly enjoyed this novella and the way the author really made it her own but two things really frustrated me. First, the marketing was massively misleading and did not deliver the specific romance they promised. It was marketed as "sapphic" and "queer" but it really isn't. Sure, there are a few details that fall under both categories but it's not central to the story at all. The main romance is M/F and "poly leaning" might be a good way to describe it. Second, the sexual content was a little uncomfortable, as some of it bordered on manipulation or assault. Perhaps that was on purpose (it is a gothic romance, after all) but it definitely could have been written better and with more nuance.

That said, I still enjoyed it overall. I just suggest readers adjust their expectations before jumping in.

This was such a great novella! The worldbuilding and technology were fascinating, especially the masks. Masks are based on various animals and give the wearer similar abilities. Wylla wears an outdated RABBIT, giving her prey animal abilities, but finds a unreleased, military-grade HAWK. She's surprised to learn it has retained it's previous wearer's memory. The woman inhabiting HAWK sees Wylla in a way no one ever has and they set off together to get answers while on the run from others who want HAWK. During their journey, they have run-ins with hunters, androids, corporate police, and more, helping to build a picture of the universe Wylla is living in.

Aside from the fascinating world and tech, this book touches on important topics such as transphobia, bodily autonomy, and misogyny. Readers will also likely find themselves questioning whether the replication of memory still makes you a person, as well as the lack of a physical body.

Though it's a novella, Haddon expertly blended the fun of an action-packed sci-fi with the heaviness of a deeper, philosophical discussion. It's well worth the read and I look forward to reading Null Entity (Book 2)!

3.5 🌟

I love scifi books featuring AI so this book's synopsis hooked me. Upon reading, I was fascinated by the various genres it fit into. Scifi, locked room mystery, police procedural, maybe a bit gothic? It felt a little claustrophobic at times, uncomfortable, haunting, and tense but it was also very thought provoking and asked a lot of great questions, many related to AI and freedom.

While I enjoyed the premise and the many questions, the story itself felt unresolved. I've read some other reviews that seemed to like this but it left me feeling disappointed, this the 3.5 instead of 4. I enjoyed it but wish we had been given a little more at the end.

I absolutely adore this book! Novellas are a hit or miss for me because it's so easy to include not enough or too much information but Olivia Waite was brilliant with balancing out the details! She sprinkled in just enough information about their society and tech for us to understand and all the characters were highly fascinating. This is truly a cozy queer scifi mystery that I thoroughly enjoyed and I'm so excited to read Book 2!

Thank you to Tordotcom for an ARC and getting us in contact with Olivia Waite for a Shit We've Read podcast interview!

This was such a cozy sci-fi and I loved every minute of it! When a ragtag group of food service bots awaken to find their ghost kitchen had been abandoned for some time, they work together to rebrand and become the neighborhood lunch spot for the tastiest hand-pulled noodles. When they're unexpectedly review bombed, they have to find the person before their ratings drop and destroy their reputation.

As a former coffee shop and food truck owner, I had a unique experience reading this and was able to understand and connect with a lot of things they were doing, decisions they were making, or situations they were dealing with and I really felt the passion they had for their little restaurant.

That said, I do want to clarify this novella is more about the characters than setting up their business. While they are bots, they each have their own story, personality, motivations, skills, and relationships and are allegories for various things like gender, identity, PTSD, immigration, and freedom—all timely topics. It sounds like a lot but everything was balanced out well and I found myself able to connect with each character based on different things they were struggling with.

If you're into cozy and quirky stories, found family and community, this is the novella for you!