An interesting concept although this was less about A.I than I thought it would be and was more about Delores and her trauma and how the discovery of a sex doll brought this all up.

It was quite an emotional and sad story and I would recommend checking trigger warnings.

It's well written, kept me intrigued but wasn't quite what I thought it would be about.

Hey Zoey
Sara Crossan

I love Sara’s writing and was delighted to receive an arc of this from NetGalley. Sadly, whilst I did enjoy it , it wasn’t my favourite of hers.
I found some parts very moving and others very funny but ultimately it just wasn’t as good as I hoped. Maybe it was down to the subject matter., I don’t know, .it just didn’t work for me. However I hugely admire Sara’s. ambition and willing to go places others would’nt. Will definitely look out for that she does next.

Hey, Zoey by Sarah Crossan is an adult novel that was published earlier this year. Having read and enjoyed some of Sarah's YA books, I was really excited for this.

"We are replaceable. All of us. And not simply by other people. By things too, like alcohol and drugs and fibre optic broadband."

Dolores, 43, has been married to David for 15 years. In that time, they've gradually grown apart. Dolores focuses on her job and her family, and doesn't really concern herself with what David's up to - until she finds an incredibly advanced, expensive sex doll in the garage.

The blurb for this one on Netgalley said this: "But then Dolores and the doll, Zoey, start to talk. What surfaces runs deeper than Dolores could have ever expected, with consequences for all of the relationships in her life."

Unfortunately, I feel like this was really misleading. I expected something akin to a Black Mirror-style story, wherein the scorned wife and AI sex doll communicated to take a man down - and I'd read the hell out of that story - but that's not at all what this was. Zoey didn't provide any great revelation, and the bulk of the book was about Dolores' traumatic childhood and unhappy marriage.

The writing style is very disjointed, which has worked well for some of this author's other books ("One", for example), but didn't quite fit this story for me.

I'm fully aware that I'm probably the problem here, I went in expecting something very specific and instead was greeted with a very sad, miserable tale of trauma and keeping secrets for horrible men.

There were tiny moments that gave me a glimpse of how great it could have been:

"She'd say, 'Oh yes, he's grand. But he's English', mouthing the word like it was the equivalent of calling him a c*nt".

Unfortunately, this just didn't work for me. I did request and receive it as a #gifted eARC via Netgalley, which I appreciate greatly, but I won't tag the publisher here.

If you like stories about stale marriages or difficult family dynamics, then you might enjoy this more than I did.

CW: Discussion of SA.

I read more than half of the book but unfortunately I couldn’t go any further. It was an interesting plot but not written in a way that grabbed my attention.

What a twisted and deliciously darn novel from Sarah Crossan.

Hey, Zoey is the story of how AI is impacting us all. In this novel Crossan portrays a marriage that falls apart when protagonist Delores finds out her husband is keeping an AI doll. Rather than deal with the obvious difficulties that this would cause in a marriage Delores becomes oddly bonded to the doll.

You would think that this would be dark and twisty enough but nope, this novel has many layers of weirdness. Now, any fans of Crossan knows that she doesn’t shy away from difficult subjects but Hey, Zoey does seem like a massive leap from her other work.

Overall, Hey, Zoey is an enjoyable read.

Hey, Zoey by Sarah Crossan is available now.

Thanks to Bloomsbury Publishing Plc for an ARC of this book.

Overall, I gave Hey, Zoey a 3 star rating. Although I enjoyed the book in parts, until about 60% through I really struggled with the structure of the story. I found it difficult to navigate from what perspective and timeframe different sections of the story were relating to until the book further developed.

I liked the idea behind the story, but thought more could have been done to develop the main characters and include the reasoning behind Zoey in there. It felt a little like Zoey was the reason for a lot happening, but she was under developed and included in the book throughout for not really much of a reason. I felt that a lot could have been done to strengthen her role in the book and to strengthen the story.

I enjoyed the book and would definitely read more by Sarah Crossan in the future but I wouldn't say I loved it enough to recommend.

Hey Zoey is a book that feels like it should be pretty relevant to current times, and the rise in sex/pleasure dolls becoming almost normalised (an aspect I looked into during my masters was the boom in men who own such dolls creating personas and social media profiles taking the dolls out and about). However, I'd say that really the book is not about sex dolls not truly...

The premise of the book is about the revelation Dolores has that the picture perfect marriage is not in fact so with the discovery of her husband David's secret, a doll called Zoey who has apparently been living secretly in her garage for quite some time. The book subsequently tackles why does Zoey exist, the subsequent impact on the relationship between Dolores/Zoey/David and a reflection on trauma faced. An interesting read in regards to the questions the topic itself brings up (sexual abuse).

Thank you Netgalley &Bloomsbury Publishing Plc for the ARC.

Dolly's discovery of her husband's AI sex doll, Zoey, sets off a series of unexpected events. As her husband moves out, Dolly decides to move Zoey into the house, leading to an intriguing bond between them. The narrative is a wild ride, with a writing style that captivated me throughout.

I read Crossan's previous adult title, and although I found the premise really interesting I was a little bored by the story. Not this time! Yes, the premise was intriguing but the story also kept me hooked. A great book club pick! Lots to discuss.

Thanks NetGalley and Bloomsbury publishing for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this one, it is a book about trauma, coping mechanisms and human relationships. It is almost like a stream of conscious and is very character focused rather than plot driven. It was thought provoking an very sad at times, I really felt for Dolores.

I do feel like the AI/technology element that I was expecting to developed was a little lacking, Zoey was more of a trigger for the break down of a relationship rather than the deep dive into the way we interact with AI that I had been anticipating.

This one also has a few triggers so please do check those out before you pick it up.

A very interesting concept executed well by the brilliant Sarah Crossan. However I struggled in some parts with pacing.

A very interesting premise, that I didn't feel was consistently executed well. The pacing felt a bit off for me at times, however the plot itself definitely had potential and was an entertaining read.

I really enjoyed this book, which is written in quite an unusual style in that there are often fragments of thoughts and memories scattered throughout a general narrative of a woman's life.

Dolores is a middle aged woman who discovers that her husband, David, has a sex doll hidden in their garage. When I first read the description of this book, it spoke about Dolores starting to talk to the doll, and I imagined that she would uncover lots of previously unknown detail about her husband's desires and maybe learn more about him. But in fact, what is revealed throughout the course of the book is more about Dolores and her childhood.

Dolores is a very relatable and quite likeable character I think, although from the start we kind of get the sense that she struggles with her sense of self. She seems someone who is maybe moving through life doing what she thinks she should be doing - getting a job and a husband - without any real understanding of what she wants to do with her life. Her relationship with David feels a little superficial and they have certainly drifted apart. But as the book continues, it seems there has been a problem in them connecting and communicating that has deeper roots.

I really enjoyed the 'working class' elements of this book. The descriptions of what life is like (or can be like) in a working class family - the TV on all the time for instance - hit home for me and felt very believable.

Ultimately this is a story of Dolores coming to terms with trauma from her past and developing as a person as a result of that. It's at times very poignant and heartbreaking, but manages to be so in quite an understated, matter-of-fact way. I would definitely recommend it - I read it very quickly as I became engrossed in Dolores' character and the gradual uncovering of her childhood. A really impressive book.

Hey, Zoey by Sarah Crossan is a book that is very relevant to our times, not just with the advent of AI, but the burgeoning trade in real-life looking "pleasure" dolls

Imagine finding your partners pleasure doll secreted in your home, in your garage. What questions would it raise, if any? Dolores thinks her marriage is perfect, ofcourse there is keeping the public profile pristine, keeping up with the Joneses, causing no ripples in the community, but behind closed doors, hidden away, she finds this doll, Zoey, a doll that talks, a doll that exposes a lot of secrets belonging to Dolores' husband David

This is the premise of the book, not just the doll, but why, and what ramificiations will arise from David's desire for an alternative to satisfy his carnal needs.

The concept was well thought out and the characters relatable. I was not expecting the storyline to trave the way it did, but that made for a very enjoyable read. This book is not just about finding a doll, but the thought processes and impact on the relationship, even the main characters self-image. Thought provoking and intriguing. Would highly recommend

Thank you to Netgalley, Bloomsbury Publishing Plc (UK & ANZ) | Bloomsbury Circus, and Sarah Crossan for this fascinating ARC. My review is left voluntarily and all opinions are my own

I adore the way Sarah Crossan writes and was eager to get started with Hey, Zoey. It’s such a unique topic for a book and I was captivated from the start. I felt that the characters were well fleshed out and I relished the sometimes dark and humorous exchanges between the main character and Zoey. The book went in a slightly different direction to how expected towards the end and I really enjoyed reading such a unique and brilliant book.

Hey, Zoey turned out to be quite different from what I was expecting. While I anticipated a story centered around an AI sex doll, the book delved deeply into marriage problems and childhood trauma instead. This shift in focus brought an unexpected layer of depth to the narrative. The exploration of these heavy themes was sad and depressing at times, but incredibly well-written. The characters were richly developed, and the emotional weight of their struggles felt very real. Overall, a poignant and thought-provoking read, even if it wasn't what I initially anticipated.

I started this one and it just wasn't for me at all. DNF'd at 25%. I really love Sarah Crossans free verse but this was not what I was expecting at all

I love Sarah Crossan's writing so was intrigued to read Hey Zoey. Unfortunately this book just didn't really work for me. I found it surprisingly flat, it felt like the themes of the novel - a woman finding her husband's AI sex doll - should be fascinating but it just wasn't. Once Dolores decided to get to know more about Zoey, the doll, I thought there would be some interesting insights but there just wasn't. It didn't even make sense that Zoey was AI as she didn't seem to have much ability to learn and converse with Dolores. I wasn't sure that all the scenes with Dolores at work as a teacher were all that relevant to the story. I just couldn't connect with this one. I am still a fan of the way Sarah Crossan writes and will read more by her in the future but this one just didn't connect with me.

Unfortunately, what sounded like an intriguing premise fell pretty flat for me with Hey Zoey, the new novel from Sarah Crossan.

Dolores, a school administrator, is married to doctor David, somewhat unhappily it would seem, when Dolores happens upon a bag in their garage containing a sex doll (Zoey) stuffed in with a Christmas tree.

Dolores confronts David, and has to find a way to navigate through their problems, while at the same time confronting her past and the root cause of her unhappiness.

The story moves from past to present and back again in short vignettes. There’s
no humour or levity whatsoever to the story, I found it relentlessly grim.

The book also lacked a hook. It drifted in parts with some extraneous school scenes that could have been omitted without the story really losing anything of value. I found the scenes between Dolores and Zoey disappointing, with no particular insights over and above what Alexa might tell you. Zoey serves a specific purpose in the story and it’s a bit heavy-handed, making the reveal predictable in the end.

A disappointing read. Not bad, but not a book I would be rushing to read. 2.5/5 stars

*Many thanks to the author and publisher @bloomsburypublishing for the arc via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely adore Sarah Crossan's YA books and I am eagerly awaiting the day I can say the same about her adult books, unfortunately today isn't it!

To be honest I thought Hey Zoey was about a wife finding her husband's AI sex doll (Zoey) and dealing with the fallout of that. So it was about that and also it wasn't, but it was so drawn out and all over the place that I really found it hard to know what this story was about until the final quarter.

The pace is slow, it jumps from situation to situation to a different time from one paragraph to the next which, along with the dreadful netgalley formatting of random 0s and 1s scattered all over the pages, made it hard to understand what was going on half the time.

By the last quarter, where the pace picks up and it becomes slightly more interesting, the rest of the book does fall into place (what I could remember from the beginning anyway as it took me around 2 weeks to read this book!) but by then I had lost interest.

I would have loved more of an exploration of Dolores and David's marriage, David is barely featured in the book, when he does it's just to say a line then disappear again. I understand that Dolores's hidden trauma had obviously impacted their marriage but I think this would have been the more interesting story to read about. I think the sister Jacinta was the most interesting character in this book so it's a shame she wasn't featured a bit more.

The AI sex doll seemed to barely need to be in the book. It worked well for Dolores to compare herself to and I can see why she would react the way she did. But the stilted conversations between her and Zoey were painful to read, particularly when Oliver was involved.

I get what Crossan was trying to do but I don't think it worked with such sparse detail and random time jumping paragraphs. I definitely prefer Crossan's YA books to this one.