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A review by pagesplotsandpints
Artificial Wisdom by Thomas R. Weaver
3.25
<b>Read Completed 5/15/24 |</b> 3.25 stars
Booktok, you've steered me wrong again.
Look, I know I won't agree with all the BookTok ratings, but I saw a handful of readers who loved so many of the same books that I do that I really hoped this would at least be a four star read for me. ARTIFICIAL WISDOM started out really interesting, and I loved the 2025 dystopian concept. Between AI, global warming, and an election for a dictatorship, we were really cooking up something plausibly scary.
I feel like the book got bogged down and could have been edited to be a bit smoother. The pacing wasn't bad, but there were parts of it that were more dystopian, parts that were murder mystery, and parts that were sci-fi thriller. Combined, those all make for an amazing book, but I felt like some of those parts didn't seem to talk to each other while the rest of the book was going on. There were sections that felt so chunky and and not quite interwoven with the rest of the vibe. Granted, it obviously all connected plot-wise but I felt like the feel was changing here and there while I was still trying to get a feel for the book.
I don't know if this was really a 4 star book during the middle for me, but the ending was really disappointing. I'm actually surprised more people weren't upset by it from all the 4 and 5 star reviews. We had a huge reveal and honestly, in the last chapter, I was getting upset thinking that this was the first in a series and I didn't know it because it did not feel like it was wrapping up at all. The very end felt very rushed and while we got some really interesting things, there wasn't time to do anything with them.
Sadly, I was just a little disappointed in this one. With all the five star ratings from people with similar tastes, I really hoped this would be an easy win for me, but I just didn't quite get it. There were so many good pieces and there was really good plotting, but something about it just never really connected for me, personally. It was like it was always on the way to breaking through and becoming great but it kept swelling up to that point and crashing, never really reaching star-level. Oh well! I had to try.
AUDIOBOOK THOUGHTS: I listened to this as an audiobook, narrated by Steven Pacey. I don't know if I've listened to him before, but his voice sounded familiar. The main characters are British and his accent was also British. I think he did a fine job narrating! It's not instant favorite status, but he was pleasant to listen to, and his voices were different enough that I had a decent time separating the characters. Some of his American accents were pretty terrible. Everyone was southern? I don't know if they were supposed to be, and it's difficult to get Louisiana Southern different from other accents, especially if you're not American. It wasn't horrible to move past, but it was apparent. I still enjoyed his narration well enough!
Booktok, you've steered me wrong again.
Look, I know I won't agree with all the BookTok ratings, but I saw a handful of readers who loved so many of the same books that I do that I really hoped this would at least be a four star read for me. ARTIFICIAL WISDOM started out really interesting, and I loved the 2025 dystopian concept. Between AI, global warming, and an election for a dictatorship, we were really cooking up something plausibly scary.
I feel like the book got bogged down and could have been edited to be a bit smoother. The pacing wasn't bad, but there were parts of it that were more dystopian, parts that were murder mystery, and parts that were sci-fi thriller. Combined, those all make for an amazing book, but I felt like some of those parts didn't seem to talk to each other while the rest of the book was going on. There were sections that felt so chunky and and not quite interwoven with the rest of the vibe. Granted, it obviously all connected plot-wise but I felt like the feel was changing here and there while I was still trying to get a feel for the book.
I don't know if this was really a 4 star book during the middle for me, but the ending was really disappointing. I'm actually surprised more people weren't upset by it from all the 4 and 5 star reviews. We had a huge reveal and honestly, in the last chapter, I was getting upset thinking that this was the first in a series and I didn't know it because it did not feel like it was wrapping up at all. The very end felt very rushed and while we got some really interesting things, there wasn't time to do anything with them.
Sadly, I was just a little disappointed in this one. With all the five star ratings from people with similar tastes, I really hoped this would be an easy win for me, but I just didn't quite get it. There were so many good pieces and there was really good plotting, but something about it just never really connected for me, personally. It was like it was always on the way to breaking through and becoming great but it kept swelling up to that point and crashing, never really reaching star-level. Oh well! I had to try.
AUDIOBOOK THOUGHTS: I listened to this as an audiobook, narrated by Steven Pacey. I don't know if I've listened to him before, but his voice sounded familiar. The main characters are British and his accent was also British. I think he did a fine job narrating! It's not instant favorite status, but he was pleasant to listen to, and his voices were different enough that I had a decent time separating the characters. Some of his American accents were pretty terrible. Everyone was southern? I don't know if they were supposed to be, and it's difficult to get Louisiana Southern different from other accents, especially if you're not American. It wasn't horrible to move past, but it was apparent. I still enjoyed his narration well enough!