Scan barcode
A review by thethumbedpage
Tell the Machine Goodnight by Katie Williams
5.0
Well-written, engaging, and just subtly futuristic Tell The Machine Goodnight offers an interesting perspective on where happiness, technology, and relationships intersect.
Tell The Machine Goodnight takes place in the nearish, familiar future. Although there are several upgrades to technology (like a machine that tells you how to be happy and a home system that tells you exactly where everyone is) it isn't hard-line sci that feels like a totally different world. The characters in Tell The Machine Goodnight might not quite live in our world, but they're still struggling with the same things - truth, intimacy, stress, love, and, of course, happiness.
The story begins and centers around Pearl. Pearl, when we first meet her, is the most content and even-keeled, boring person. She has worked at Apricinty for almost 10 years and enjoys her work as a technician. Her job entails telling people how to be happy. Or, more specifically, reading the results of their Apricity test. The results the machine spits out (everything from ea a spoonful of honey before bed to cut off 1/4 of your finger) are obscure, seemingly random but almost always makes a person happier. Or does it?
Besides Pearl, we also meet all those who orbit her. First her son, Rhett, who is troubled and rejects the idea of being happy (much less taking an Apricinty). Then her ex-husband Elliot, his new wife Val, a young horror movie queen named Calla, and several other supporting characters.
Although the book is told through alternating POVs, which I loved, Pearl always remains the center of the reader's experience. I think it is amazing that Williams was able to have a clear main character with tons of other compelling storylines and POVs woven throughout the book. This makes the theme and analysis of relationships, which is the cornerstone of this book, even more impactful.
Although Apricinty seems like an easy way to attain happiness it is clear that the characters who use it, work for it, and market it shows that Apricinty is anything but. Apricinty, in the book, becomes a character of its own. It becomes an obsession of Pearl's, the key in figuring out a teen mystery, the reason for a business deal gone bad, an art project, and even turned on its head to show that what will make people happy isn't always a good, easy, or legal thing.
For those interested in a lighter, funnier, strange Black Mirror-esque read, I highly suggest picking up this book. I'm no Apricnty, but I think it will definitely make you happier!
Tell The Machine Goodnight takes place in the nearish, familiar future. Although there are several upgrades to technology (like a machine that tells you how to be happy and a home system that tells you exactly where everyone is) it isn't hard-line sci that feels like a totally different world. The characters in Tell The Machine Goodnight might not quite live in our world, but they're still struggling with the same things - truth, intimacy, stress, love, and, of course, happiness.
The story begins and centers around Pearl. Pearl, when we first meet her, is the most content and even-keeled, boring person. She has worked at Apricinty for almost 10 years and enjoys her work as a technician. Her job entails telling people how to be happy. Or, more specifically, reading the results of their Apricity test. The results the machine spits out (everything from ea a spoonful of honey before bed to cut off 1/4 of your finger) are obscure, seemingly random but almost always makes a person happier. Or does it?
Besides Pearl, we also meet all those who orbit her. First her son, Rhett, who is troubled and rejects the idea of being happy (much less taking an Apricinty). Then her ex-husband Elliot, his new wife Val, a young horror movie queen named Calla, and several other supporting characters.
Although the book is told through alternating POVs, which I loved, Pearl always remains the center of the reader's experience. I think it is amazing that Williams was able to have a clear main character with tons of other compelling storylines and POVs woven throughout the book. This makes the theme and analysis of relationships, which is the cornerstone of this book, even more impactful.
Although Apricinty seems like an easy way to attain happiness it is clear that the characters who use it, work for it, and market it shows that Apricinty is anything but. Apricinty, in the book, becomes a character of its own. It becomes an obsession of Pearl's, the key in figuring out a teen mystery, the reason for a business deal gone bad, an art project, and even turned on its head to show that what will make people happy isn't always a good, easy, or legal thing.
For those interested in a lighter, funnier, strange Black Mirror-esque read, I highly suggest picking up this book. I'm no Apricnty, but I think it will definitely make you happier!