Maybe it's partially due to the times we live in and the way things are looking with artificial intelligence and "super-intelligence" right now, but this story was incredibly unsettling and I really enjoyed it. I'm someone who is both horrified and mesmerized by the idea of the "Matrix" and the concept that our human lives are simulations, controlled by some more evolved entity, and this book touched on that quite a bit (no spoilers, just in conversations between the narrator and the AI) and it made me sweat a little! I really enjoyed the protagonist, flaws and all, and loved the AI. This was my first taste of Blake Crouch's writing and I already can see why he's so popular.

✨ Representation: Riley is queer and married to another woman; "Max" uses they/them pronouns