I don't even know how to describe how beautiful this book is. Not a single word that I will write in this review will capture my thoughts as eloquently as I wish they would. Never has an audiobook captured my attention the very first page in the way that this book did. I started this on a complete whim and didn't really know what to expect, but I am sitting in shock and awe as I write this. Actual tears were shed over this book.
I started this and finished it in one day. Physically, I could not stop this audiobook and ended up listening to it all nine hours in one sitting.

✨the characters✨
Eke and Kyp are beautiful souls; both shine so brightly. They both endure so much and struggle so hard to protect the other, no matter the cost. They had every reason to despise humanity and to be jealous of each other but they find each other and hold on tight. Eke brings the innocent and beautiful love of life and living. He wants so much and you can feel it through the book. Everything he does, it's done with such care and love. His sadness and pain feel so raw and as the reader, every moment of his pain was heartbreaking. Kyp is just as breathtaking with his strength, passion and love jumping off the page. His love and protectiveness of Eke, his willingness to trust and try, and his determination to seek out his happy ending. I honestly don't think I have ever cared so much about two characters and been so angry at the world for them.

✨the plot/the world✨
The world was as exquisitely crafted as the characters. It was believable, easy to understand, and extremely rage-inducing. It mirrors real life so well and is a very easily imaginable distant future. The way the author was able to leave so many good and bad aspects into this world felt extremely realistic and really kept the story interesting. Pacing was flawless and I physically did not and could not put this down. I started this on my way to the grocery store and I I am not kidding when I say I couldn't put this down. Finished it in one day, in one sitting!
My only note (not really critique cause I'm not mad at it, just noting) was the ending felt a tad bit too easy/neat. I think we could've used a little bit more, just right at the end, to really flesh out that detail, like an extra 5/10 minutes. I'm not mad at it because I really did like the ending, and where it left off, I think it just needed a bit more something. I would love a novella, sequel, epilogue, something else with these characters and world because I so don't want to be finished with this.

✨the narration✨
Also, as an aside, this narrator was fantastic. They brought so much emotion and depth, and personality to all of the characters, especially the two main characters. They complimented the story so well and were the perfect person to narrate this book. You did an excellent job bringing the story to life.

quotes i loved
Maybe the giant closet of the world is bigger than I thought, and not all the corners are the same, but there's no way to know for certain"
"I spent most of my life looking at the makeshift stars in my tiny closet, hoping that someday the door would open and I'd be allowed to see the real world and its real stars"

This book was so sweet and at the same time, very heart wrenching. I was legitimately scared at one point that this book might not have been categorized as a romance and I had accidently picked it up thinking it was. Luckily, I was happy to discover it was a romance. Very well done. 5 enthusiastic stars.

Instagram Discovery
I stumbled over this book‘s author Kit Vincent on Instagram a few months ago. Kit advertised it especially as a queer romance about AIs and I was immediately intrigued. When I then saw the audio book on Netgalley, I had to request it. I eventually listened to it in three days. Starting it, I wasn’t aware how multilayered this story would be. I especially loved its symbolistic character. Although we haven’t got any AI humanoids in our reality yet, we see our own past and present reflected in their oppression in the book.

Read by Michael Crouch
The audio book allows us to dig into two povs as much as three interludes. We meet Ecke and his ordinary life as a household AI first. In this way, we get to know the rules of his existence and the limitations he experiences. Only when Kyp joins the family life, we also get to know the danger of being replaced. It takes a while before we can also see the words and events through Kyp’s eyes, but this wait surely builds tension. Kit allowed us to pointedly meet the characters and get to know their vices and virtues in no time. The author makes us empathize with them, especially the pov AIs, despite their differences. I moreover loved the possibility of experiencing this love story from a rather asexual point of view.

Cleverly embedded parallels
Although we stick very closely to our main characters and their experience, we nonetheless image what their story (sub)consciously represents. Questions of humanness, class, rights, and oppression are constantly discussed through this emotional story. Kit wonderfully balances the technical distance and the moving familiarity within these characters. They are strong and fearful and brave and scared. Together, they face their fears, their oppression, their social subjugation, and the whole world. I loved this adventurous read and all its multilayered meanings and patterns. It allows its readers to question our own perception of “other” people and their differences.

In conclusion,
This fictional story is intriguing in its sci-fi setting and its AI protagonists. It’s moving in its story, its main characters’ relationships, and even the humans’ interactions with them. Additionally, it questions and challenges its readers through its cleverly embedded parallels to our own society and reality. I can’t wait to dive into more of Kit Vincent’s publications!

i'm giving this a 1 star, because 0 stars isn't an option. I have a pretty big thing about having accurate trigger warnings, and this is a book that claims it has trigger warnings, but it doesn't include all the trigger warnings. make sure you read the reviews before you read this book.

Thank you to Netgalley for the audio ARC. In exchange, I will write my honest review.

I really liked this story! I was never bored with listening. The narrator also did a great job. Sometimes I felt like some things could have been lengthened, for example !! SPOILER !! When Eke and Kyp ran away, that part could have been longer. It felt a little bit rushed, but I still really liked it nevertheless.

Ich war ursprünglich an diesem Titel interessiert, da das Konzept sehr neu war und ich dadurch neugierig wurde.

Turns out, für meinen Geschmack persönlich war das Konzept dann doch ein bisschen zu abgedreht. Also ich mochte den premis und es war auch sehr spannend zwischendurch, manche Aspekte waren mit einfach ein wenig zu quirky. Wenn unser Hauptcharakter mitten in der Nacht seine Stunts übt, sich verkleidet etc, fand ich einfach ein wenig over the top.

Ich persönlich fand die mobbing Scenen und die Gewalt an einigen Stellen sehr grenzwertig, dies könnte eventuell triggering für Leser sein.

This book was unique. I'm struggling to write a helpful review for it. I did enjoy it overall and thought it was doing some very clever things with allegory and the main characters are lovely. But also this book is so sad and upsetting for much of the story - even though there is always an undercurrent of hope. The action kept me engaged and I didn't want to put it down in part because I wanted to get to a hopeful resolution. I'm glad I read it but I'm afraid I'm not equipped to explain more about why! The audio narration was very well done.

Huge disappointment. Rounded down to 1 star because of the egregiously misleading CW on the author’s website. Spoilers for what is and isn’t missing:
They include violence and self-harm but don’t include the suicidal ideation and multiple suicide attempts. They have violence but not attempted drownings or violence against children (of a severity requiring hospitalization).

Having content warnings that exclude the most triggering content seems almost worse than having none, because people who need to check will go in feeling secure there’s not suicide attempts or violence against children requiring hospitalization.
If there were no CW they might steer clear of the book or check reviews to search for content they need to avoid.

Beyond that, I was very excited for the premise and very disappointed in the execution. Essentially Act 1 of abuse MC servant robot nonstop is 65% of the book.

We have our MC1 Eke, a cheap, simple, uneducated, generic, mediocre, universally disliked, boring loser robot that was bought on a sale and cleans the house. He even has no WiFi so he has no ability to learn anything or access information. He remains innocent and a helpless victim the entire book.
He has the shit beat out of him and is verbally abused, manipulated, and blamed for cruel and inappropriate behavior done by human owners, including killing pets. He tolerates this silently to the point of receiving permanent damage and almost dying from murder by drowning. The nonstop abuse to him (and occasionally extreme violence to pets and children) continues from 1-65%.

We have our Love Interest/MC2 Kyp (a significantly smaller portion of the book is from his perspective). He is a high end, new, fancy, capable, big, strong, handsome, masculine, talented, intelligent, universally beloved robot bought at the start of the book to entertain guests. He also has WiFi so he is able to expand his extensive knowledge throughout the book.
He watches Eke throughout the book getting abused, intervening only when Eke is about to be murdered twice and when he tries to commit suicide once.

While I understand not wanting to make things worse by directly intervening, neither robot ever tries to show proof of Eke’s innocence despite recording every second of their lives and being able to share it at a moment’s notice.

After the suicide attempt he reveals he’s been watching Eke and wants to be friends. He sneaks into Eke’s closet to talk all night every night. Eke is no longer depressed or suicidal though the abuse continues.
This continues until murder attempt #2.
Then Eke is going to be destroyed for Kyp fighting back against the would-be human murderer so they steal the car keys and run away from allegedly the most secure home in the world with cameras and security guards and advanced systems, without any issues or anyone following them. This is at 65%.

After fleeing they train hop and become robo hobos and befriend real human hobos that eat cans of beans in train cars while talking about common folk.
Then they meet a POC robot that teaches them about robot religion, who is never seen again. They get attacked by humans that call them clunkers (did we need a slur with a hard R) and every time they are in danger our sweet wimpy Eke does nothing and Kyp is a big strong hero.

Kyp sacrifices himself when they are literally 30 seconds from safety in California by planning to commit suicide to be a robot body so no one will keep looking for robots. then says “F that” and swims to safety and is safe, so that was all pointless. BUT it gave Eke just enough time to realize his robo hobo boyfriend is dead and also try to commit suicide AGAIN. And Kyp stops him AGAIN. And Eke has a boyfriend again and decides not to commit suicide. They agree robot religion is real and that’s the end.


Cute moments: Eke loves Buster Keaton and has stolen little bits of outfits to make himself a costume. He also calls the fish his friends before they are murdered by the human family, and brings a pot of flowers as his date to a party he’s not supposed to go to before it’s destroyed and he’s almost drowned.

This is my first book by Kit Vincent and what a way to start! Wonderfully rich characters and a truly engaging plot.

Us, Et Cetera is quite different from my usual reads, but I did enjoy it for the most part.
It was hard to listen to how the AIs were being mistreated, which is partially why it took me so long to finish this book. Once I got to around 50% though, it was a much faster listen for me.
The plot is interesting, as are the MCs and their developing relationship is very cute.
While the book was predictable, in my opinion that did not hurt it. It did take out some of the tension though.
The narrator did a great job with the audio book.
All in all a good Sci-Fi read, I think I’ll continue the series if there are gonna be sequels.

'Us, et cetera', A.K.A. 'The Plight of the House Elves' is tedious and completely failed to grab me.
Terrific narrator, though!

I won't lie, I spend most of the book comparing it to Martha Well's "MurderBot" series and the "Detroit Become Human" video game, both of which I think executed this concept better. Not to say that it was a bad book, just that some aspects didn't seem as though out as they should have. The actual bots and their design and how they functioned wasn't described enough for me. I also think the author was trying to tell too much at one time. I think it should have either been a story surrounding the family and how they had problems or it should have been about Eke and Kyp escaping into the wider world. But having both stories felt like they were cut off without proper resolution. I enjoyed Eke and Kyp as characters and overall the story had something going for it but I just found it lacking in more areas than I found it succeeding. I will be interested to read this author's other work that I believe is 1800's magical fantasy because I wonder if it simply a problem of genre.

Thank you to the publisher for providing this audioARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Who would have thought that a blending of The Matrix, Cinderella and a love letter to Buster Keaton (in a Wall-e, Hello Dolly! sort of way) would come together so sweetly. And sweet is the number one way I would describe this book. What it lacks in depth, it absolutely makes up for with heart. I’m not sure this is a story that will stick with me, but I enjoyed it along the way. I found myself rooting for Eke, who is the heart and soul of this book. Kyp was a fine character, sure, but Eke is the reason to read this one. And like Kyp, I found myself wanting to reach through and protect him somehow.

“I had no idea about any of this. My only first hand knowledge of the outside world is the view from Ms Elena’s car when she drove me home when she first bought me. As life rolled past beyond the glass, I kept how wonderful it all was. The maze of old city streets and tunnels, the rag of sun shining through the tree branches, the rows of red brick buildings and people everywhere. Little did I know that so much of that amazing world hated me for simply because I excisted.”

I didn’t expect to get as attached to Eke and Kyp the way I did. How I have been rooting for the two to somehow make their own life out of the household they had stayed. And the story has made me so emotional that I am trying to find sufficient words. It was a beautiful story and Michael Crouch did a fantastic job in bringing their story to life reading it to us readers.

5 stars

Oh wow. I was not expecting the emotional rollercoaster that I went on with this story. It's sad but also heartfelt. Eke and Kyp really have to go through it to get to that much deserved HEA. This book is like the lovechild between the movie Bicentennial Man (1999) and Cinderella, but more gay.

I love Eke so much. He is so gentle and pure. He puts nothing but good into the world but doesn't receive it back. I was NOT expecting some of the darkness of this story, with Carson essentially being a budding psychopath. But it did intensify the emotions with Eke and Kyp. This story really addresses what it means to be human and its complexities. The physical journey Eke and Kyp go on is a not so subtle parallel to the Underground Railroad with them trying to reach the safety of California all the way from Boston, Massachusetts. They meet a variety of characters along the way, some good, some not so much. This just solidifies the story's goal of examining the differences amongst humans and what makes them tick.

I listened to the audiobook for this, and I highly recommend that experience. Michael Crouch does an amazing job of managing to exude so much emotion while also sounding somewhat robotic. He really portrays Eke's sincerity and deep emotions. We get both Eke and Kyp's POV, and Michael Crouch does an amazing job with both, but Eke's character seems to stand above the rest in every way.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this read. I loved it WAY more than I was expecting, too. This is definitely a new favorite, and I highly recommend checking this out.

goodreads needs a half stars feature like yesterday because 4.5 stars for my new favorite AI speculative sci-fi read (I even had to take a break because this book will wreck you)

Do you like Black Mirror? Boy, oh, boy- do I have the book for you!

I was absolutely gripped by this book.

Eke is the most wondrously sweet central POV anyone could ask for. Undeniably compelling, and far more "human" than the hideous human characters around him could ever be; lavish and affluent as are.

Set in a near dystopian-esque North America where outside the compound that Eke's family dwells is a dangerous world for an AI, we meet Eke. An AI programmed for cleaning and chores, but truly he is so much more than that. From his innocence of the world, to his sweet, kind, caring nature. To the friendships he makes with his flowers and fish friends, and his inherent, cautious curiosity in human emotion, paired with a desire to quietly experience the wonders of life.

In the beginning we experience Eke attempt to navigate the precarious household he occupies. Filled with a sadistic teenage son who delights in tormenting the AI endlessly (and using Eke as his personal punching bag), a daughter lost to the wills of her forgetful, drunk mother, and parents more interested in their work or pubic image than their children. Everything seems bleak for Eke, until one day the family bring home a new and improved Entertainment AI. An AI named Kyp who is beautiful and talented and programmed to do so much more than Eke ever could.

My heart has not been so consistently lodged in my throat whilst reading in a long time. This book is both unbearably nerve-racking and adorable at the same time. The romance is slow and beautiful and by the end utterly intoxicating. Eke and Kyp's relationship had my heart SORING.

Couldn't recommend it enough.

Oh man. Cinderella meets Fallout 4. I really enjoyed this one, but man, the first 60% is ROUGH. I would have happily read hundreds of thousands of words more.

Steven Spielberg’s A.I. but make it teen and make it gay.

Honestly, the set up for this book was so sweet. On the one hand, we have Eke, a second-hand AI model that’s not connected to the internet so he seems quite naive in a wistful sort of way. He loves plants and fish and Buster Keaton. But he only exists to help this family with any cleaning or chores they need doing. Then you have Kyp, a gorgeous AI meant to entertain and engage the humans. He knows so much, but there’s a coldness to him; the two become unlikely friends.

Such strong characters with a really interesting premise. I loved Eke so much and I loved this journey they’re on to find the Et Cetera, a world where AI can live freely. My only misgiving if that the ending felt very rushed compared to the rest of the pacing from the book.

But a very interesting read!

I would like to thank NetGalley as well as Sky House Publishing for providing me with an Audio-Arc copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

When the time of AI has stormed the U.S., humans often enlist the service of these AI for help in many things. But Eke isn't treated like family, he's simply the help-- almost a slave to the family that owns him. After years of living in the shadows and never being allowed to truly go outside, the Kensworths buy a new AI, one far more advanced than Eke. When an unsightly incident occurs, the two flee and set out for the meaning of freedom even at the cost of being hunted along the way.

I heavily enjoyed the narration of this story. I believe that it combined so many elements of movies and games that I liked and it brought to life a possible future within a fictional setting. I highly recommend this to really anyone who wants a queer romance, but also a queer romance where not only are the characters not human, but they are fighting for themselves and their freedom in a sense not unlike some moments in the past. This was a beautifully crafted story worth being appreciated!