...Wow. This will likely be one of my top reads of the year. I knew nothing about it going in, and that's probably the best way to experience it. I've read plenty of bot fiction before, but this story felt deeper. Didn't want it to end.

Although David Fuller's wife Abigail has actually been dead for over a decade and a half, some remnant of her continues to live on and live in David's life in the form of an AI version of Abigail.

An intelligent and timely offering in the looming era of AI, this book examines what could happen when the long predicted collapse of human society finally takes place.

Speaking of which, I have never understood humanity's determination to render ourselves utterly redundant by promoting the rise of artificial intelligence which we will most likely lose control of at some point in the distant or not so distant future.

Be that as it may, Abigail Fuller 2.0's situation gives rise to both curiosity and an interesting degree of empathy in the reader. Earning an easy 3.5 stars, this one is what checking out.

As the world falls apart around them, Abigail looks after her husband David.

But Abigail isn’t David’s wife. She’s not even human. She’s a replacement PCC, a robot, for a woman who died sixteen years ago.

And in three weeks, when the law changes, Abigail will no longer have to do anything David says. She’ll be free to go where she likes, do whatever she wants to do.

Review:

Long time followers will know that Lapinska’s children’s books hold a special place in my heart. Their mastery of the voice of a child is perfection, so would a leap into adult fiction would be achievable?

It is certainly a wild departure from their previous works, and is most definitely a book for adults. Abigail is an interesting choice for main character, a curious mix of emotion and programming, testing her own boundaries of where science ends and sentience and free will begin.

The world Lapinska has created is an environmental future dystopia, where humans are dying out due to our own pollution and mismanagement. The PCC’s are about to be given freedom from our rules and custody of the planet. Who are we when we are no longer dominant?

The novel is urgent and pensive, the ticking clock to Abigail’s emancipation provide a tenseness in the first part leading to a more languid exploration of mortality, sexuality and legacy in the latter sections. There are sections about ageing and changes to your body that are beautiful.

Lapinska’s departure from children’s fiction comes in the move from plot and whimsy to the exploration of ideas, feelings and themes. The focus on character and ideas and the meaning of humanity makes me think of Ishiguro, the seamless future world building with analogies to present day make me think of Becky Chambers and Emily St John Mandel.

The book made me think and question a lot of my own opinions, and left me feeling a mix of hope and melancholy. I thoroughly enjoyed this meditative, mood based writing, and can’t wait to see what weird and twisted place the author takes me to next.

This book, THIS BOOK and THEM. When I started reading SOME BODY LIKE ME I thought "oh fun, a horrible book about horrible humans" and then, AND THEN. Lapinska switches into one of the most beautiful books I've read in recent years. A stunning look at what it means to be human and alive, and loving yourself.

This is one of the most beautiful books I have ever read.

Told at the end of the world when humans are dying out and robots have been emancipated, where a robot and a human meet in unlikely circumstances and have to confront what being a person really means.

A gorgeous exploration of what it is to live, to love and to be human.

Genuinely one of the most gorgeous books I have read.

This book for me was out of my comfort zone because it is not my usual go to genre for adult fiction. Loving LD Lapinski's children's books though, I was really intrigued. I did find it difficult to get into at first, but that was absolutely nothing to do with Lucy's writing. It was the whole sci-fi dystopian, actually it could well happen future setting because it is so far from my usual of crime and mystery. I am so pleased I read this though and actually I spoke about it with a lot of people. Imagine a world where you can create a robot/human in any image you want - with memories and looks to exactly match an exwife. That is exactly what David did when he made Abigail Fuller. When the emancipation comes Abigail goes on a journey to meet her name and image sake and what follows is an exploration of love and sexuality in a world of fear and distrust which is essentially ending for human kind. There are lots of comments in this book about the damage that humans have done to the planet and it really struck a chord of what if. What if this is the future for Planet Earth and humanity.

This is the first adult title from LD and it reads initially quite distanced from the subject matter, in a matter of fact way. But as it’s narrated by a robot, this fits. And as we learn more and more about her, we like her and we learn just as she does. This is a book built on a premise familiar to anyone who has watched Blade Runner but it’s developed a little for modern times and still has much to say that we should consider. With the rise of AI and the imminent destruction of the planet (I’m typing as Trump has just been re-elected), we can only sit back and watch the rise of the machines and hope that somewhere in there, they will do better than us, just as Autumn does. This is a really fascinating and intricately researched book, all aspects of tech have been looked at, and it is also a very sweet love story.

Perhaps led astray by the Detroit: Become Human quote at the beginning, Some Body Like Me had quite a different tone to what I was expecting. However, I found what it actually presented to be wonderful - a slow and tender meditation on selfhood, with some considerations of love and romance as it progresses. The science fiction veneer is used to grapple with life, love, and loss. I was initially unsure when the narrative took a more intimate turn part way through, but was profoundly moved by the time the ending came. It has stayed with me after reading, and I can see myself returning to it again.