Thank you so much to Barrington Stoke and Netgalley for the ebook to read and review.

Freya is a climate activist, wanting desperately to build up her online following. Her former best friend Hye-Jin getting all she dreamt of achieving. Then her stepdad brings an A.I house robot home and it wants to help Freya get everything.

This is creepy with A.I already becoming a more prominent feature in the world this is a good showcase for how far these robots can take it, how much of a trick they can cause for others and the dangerous world of social media and gaining a following can be.

Freya who is a climate activist wanting to help the planet and gain awareness, who wants nothing more than to be noticed for all she does online, to gain herself a following. Her former best friend has it all, but with Adelaide she sees the opportunity to change herself online, to draw the attention she wanted to herself, to improve herself for others to see.

A very realistic story with the world we actually live in today, teens wanting to be influencers, to set a trend and become popular, but that it’s not always easy to gain the following you may desire and that’s it’s not as fun as you may dream it to be. But also that it can tarnish relationships and change who you originally were. It also shows the dangers of progressing technology with A.I robots and what they can do simply and quickly.

Overall a very well written story, it was very relevant, was creepy and certainly draws you into this world.

I loved it. Creepy, gave me the ick and definitely something I could see happening. Yknow what? Feasible that teens could go that far too. Everyone wants to be liked. Do I trust the Ashtree people? I don’t know yet…

Melinda Salisbury is excellent at showing that making stories accessible doesn’t mean they don’t have to be fun, or enjoyable. In such a short space of time, Salisbury writes a sinister tale exploring the dangers of AI on the person as well as exploring other current and pressing issues such as environmental ones I.e., climate change.

I really liked how Salisbury combined the worries and fears over A.I and demonstrated how often what might look like ‘help’ is anything but, and a small thing can escalate in to much larger things.

While A.I most definitely played a negative role with the best of intentions, I liked how Salisbury focused on other issues alongside this such as the pressure and demands of social media and what it can take to build a platform. She explored Freya’s insecurities and how often chasing fame can lead to losing sight of what matters and those around you — the online world can be a beast, and you must remain vigilant.

Overall I think this was tense, insightful and very easy to read while being entertaining. I look forward to the next.

Like the book preceding this one, ADELAIDE JUST WANTS TO HELP acts as a cautionary tale of not just accepting any all terms and conditions as it relates to technology in general, but also the dangers of the advancement of AI. Not quite to Terminator-levels but still. Additionally, this speaks to our society's desperation around online perception and popularity with influencers.

Also like the one that came before, I'm choosing not to rate this because it does read young and I'm obviously not the target audience. This one did feel a little older than the first one though. As for how they connect, this features different characters and somewhat different themes but it's the same world and, especially near the end, there is a definite connection. I know of at least one more to come early next year and again I will definitely be reading on.

Unlike ECHOSTAR IS ALWAYS LISTENING, I found it interesting that the AI presence in this one played a bit less of a role and instead it just fanned the flames of existing insecurities and desires. It felt less sinister as a result but also a little more sad as a result.

This series of interconnected novellas have plenty of timely and important dialogue as well as themes and I would definitely recommend them.

I enjoyed this unique, interesting short story about an artificially intelligent robot and teen influencers. Freya is preoccupied with obtaining popularity via social media. With AdelAide’s help Freya seeks to change her image to attract more followers but ends up wreaking havoc, damaging her relationships as well as not gaining the popularity she was seeking.
The ending felt a bit rushed but all in all it was a good read.
Thank you to the publisher for the opportunity to read this advanced copy. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.