I really enjoyed the premise (and the execution!) of Loneliness & Company. In it, we meet Lee, who is used to being at the top of everything. She workI really enjoyed the premise (and the execution!) of Loneliness & Company. In it, we meet Lee, who is used to being at the top of everything. She works hard, because she's been told her whole life that it's the key to everything. So when she finds herself getting a job not at one of the prestigious companies she'd hoped (and assumed) for, but some unknown entity, to say she's chagrined would be an understatement. But since she is always committed to hard work and getting the job done, she grudgingly accepts her position and jumps in. What is the job, you ask? Gathering data to develop an AI to help lonely folks. Only... no one has heard of "loneliness". It simply is not a concept people in this society know. Sure, it requires a bit of suspension of disbelief, but it is quite worth doing.
But... it is something they experience, even if they don't have a word for the feeling. And it is very interesting to watch Lee, who has never really considered her need for people and community, to discover that maybe life is better with friends. There is a bit of a mystery undertone too, and I think I might have expected a bit more from it? In fairness, I thought that Loneliness & Company had all kinds of dark, seedy secrets that it just.... didn't. I was too suspicious of the book, if that is a thing that is possible. I don't have any idea if the book wanted me to think this or if I made it all up, so go ahead and place the blame on me here.
What I did absolutely adore was Lee figuring out who she was, what she wanted from life, and that there is a whole big world out there that doesn't just involve working oneself to death. And the adventures she goes on during her journey were wonderfully entertaining! I thought the book's messages were strong, I really enjoyed the characters and story, and ended up being quite satisfied, even though it did not quite go in the direction I expected.
Bottom Line: Doesn't matter what we call a feeling, it can eat away at us regardless. This society is about to figure that out the hard way.
This is a really strong finale to a great series overall. In this conclusion, the stakes are higher than ever, especially for our main characters,4.5*
This is a really strong finale to a great series overall. In this conclusion, the stakes are higher than ever, especially for our main characters, but also, for the entirety of humanity. They keep finding out things that prove their situation to be more and more dire- and preventing it will inevitably cost someone, or multiple someones, their lives. I thought that especially in this book, the pacing was great. I was never bored, and always on the edge of my seat.
The characters were, as always, very well developed. I think even more than ever, their relationships with each other played a huge role in the story. Who to trust was akin to literal life or death, so their relationships were so important to the plot. The romance was not the focus, which I appreciated, but it was still present. I was honestly quite impressed that the author was able to have an active relationship between main characters that didn't at all weigh down the book. For me personally, that is a rare feat. Also because of the well developed characters and relationships, the emotional stakes for the reader was equally high, and the author delivered on that front, too!
My only qualm, and my only real qualm with the series really, is that I didn't ever fully get a grasp of the worlds- like, I could never quite picture the "cradles" and such. I think because of that, I had a wee bit of trouble understanding what was going on with Naira a few times, but this is really not a huge complaint. There were a lot of great twists to the story, and a lot of stuff I never saw coming. All in all, this was an excellent conclusion, and I finished the series very satisfied.
Bottom Line: We just love when a series finale nails the landing.
Look, In Universes did maybe confuse me a little? But I also enjoyed it quite a bit. In it, we meet Raffi, in multiple universes. Hence the title, rigLook, In Universes did maybe confuse me a little? But I also enjoyed it quite a bit. In it, we meet Raffi, in multiple universes. Hence the title, right? Anyway. The whole book is slices of Raffi's life in parallel worlds, and some of them are more like our world, and some are not, and I feel like that is really it. It's a quieter book obviously, and very character driven, but it is also really entertaining to see the differences in Raffi (and others- plenty of folks in Raffi's "first" world appear throughout) and the worlds in general. A few of them flummoxed me a bit, but it was still fun, plus I got to use the word "flummoxed" in my review, so everyone wins. And, it makes you think about who you might be in other worlds, which I always find to be a good time.
Bottom Line: Quirky but enjoyable, I loved getting to see different versions of Raffi, and of the world.
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