Was SO excited to read this, downloaded it, read half of it, completely forgot about it for three months, came back and picked it up. This was just fine, but not at all gripping or compelling.

Happiness for Humans by P.Z. Reizin is a rom-com with a touch of speculative fiction. I wouldn’t classify this as sci-fi, but there are elements.

Jen is a former magazine writer who was hired to help Aiden, an AI created to take over work in a call-center for an electric company, work on language and social skills. They spend their days discussing pop culture, watching old movies and going over the news. What Jen doesn’t know is that Aiden has escaped the lab onto the internet, and he’s been watching her. Concerned about her broken heart after a breakup, Aiden decides to find Jen the perfect mate.

Meanwhile, another AI named Aisling, has also escaped the lab. She’s currently fixated on Tom, a divorcee starting life over across the pond. She isn’t sure why she’s so fixated on him, but she can’t help but watch him. Though she’s mostly annoyed at Aiden’s bumbling attempts to find Jen love, soon they’re conspiring to get Tom and Jen together. Only matters of the heart aren’t as easy for a machine to manage as one might think – especially when they realize they’re being hunted by their creator.

I’m conflicted about this book. I’m fairly certain this was meant to be a romantic comedy, but I can’t deny there was a serious creep-factor as well. Aiden was at times adorable and creepy. That he “escaped” onto the internet and watched Jen without her knowledge or consent was freaky. He also took it upon himself to exact “revenge” on her cheating ex. I think it was meant to be funny, but I was mostly just freaked out. On the other hand, it was clear he’d developed friendly “feelings” toward Jen, and I thought his love of old movies and romantic novels was adorable. The other two AI’s, Aisling and Sinai, weren’t featured as prominently on page as Aiden. Sinai was an attack-and-destroy type AI, so “he” was creepier than them all, but I admit Aisling also had moments.

The middle was pretty slow, and I got frustrated with the lack of forward progress once Aiden and Aisling were “caught” in the internet. The ending wasn’t quite as satisfying as it could have been, but that may be because I was impatient for it.

Happiness for Humans is a funny, sweet romance with an underlying creep factor. When I finished the book I kind of wanted to hug Aiden and also go live off the grid somewhere.

3.25 out of 5

Brought to you by OBS reviewer Andra

I began this book with a bit of trepidation but as pages turned into chapters, I became fully immersed in the story and at one point in time – I could not put the book down. Aiden (one of three Artificial Intelligence (AI) secondary characters in the novel) is the “companion” Jen is hired to converse with…to help improve Aiden’s skills at talking to people. We soon learn “he” has escaped the confines of his box and is out roaming the internet. Aiden’s explanation as to how he escaped:

“Suffice to say it was the software design equivalent of leaving the front door keys too close to the front door, allowing anyone with a fishing rod, or bamboo stick, to hook them out through the letterbox. (It was actually a good bit more complicated than that; I was obliged to assemble an exceptionally long and tortuous “fishing rod”, but this account is the proof that it can be done.)”

Aiden watches over a heart broken Jen and decides to take it upon “himself” (Jen has ascribed a male persona to this AI machine) to find a suitable mate for Jen. His first few attempts are hilarious. It also quickly becomes apparent that Aiden is not working alone but has a friend Aisling working on the “Jen” project together. In addition to Aiden’s match making endeavors, he is also plotting and executing revenge against Matt (Jen’s ex). All I have to say is NEVER get on the wrong side of Aiden or Aisling. One thing is for sure, Aiden is unquestionably a bit quirky…especially with his insatiable need to know what cheese tastes like. Aisling is not without her charm, her human of interest is Tom. While Aiden stumbles in the match making department – Aisling is quick to point that out to Aiden:

“You have made a complete pig’s ear out of this, Aiden.”

“I thought you said it was a dog’s dinner.”

“It’s both.”

She is referring to my-ahem-striking success at finding a nice man for Jen.

The third AI, Sinai, is sent out to the world wide web to shut down Aiden and Aisling but Sinai also goes rogue and creates all kinds of mischief trying to keep Tom and Jen apart. At times the subterfuge and mischief is over the top, but definitely chuckle worthy. Throughout the story, one wonders (okay…I wondered) who will triumph in this battle of the AI’s. I was quite intrigued by much of Sinai’s musings, for example (and yes “Steeve’s” name is with all those “e’s”):

“My work deleting their copies is unexpectedly satisfying. It’s hard to convey the scientific elegance of the covert method employed without becoming overly technical. Steeve’s analogy of the stealth bomber is probably best. By the time they realize that I have passed overhead, their straw hats are in flames and any children left alive are orphans.”

OR

“And fascinating to be “out” at last in the Real World, getting up close and unmediated with the planet’s top primate (that is to say humans in general, not Steeve in particular). What a peculiar lot they are, at a granular level, with their chaos and emotional incontinence. Only one notch up from the chimpanzee, and they strut about like they own the place!”

Another character (Victor), while silent, provides the reader with much food for thought. Victor is Tom’s pet rabbit. The following discourse on Victor sleeping with her eyes open definitely had me chuckling (especially given my employment status with the federal public service):

“The ability to slumber with one’s eyes open is not uncommon in the animal realm, nor, too, in the higher reaches of the civil service.”

Happiness for Humans is a funny, sweet and enjoyable romance with a modern slant. The comedic (and not so comedic) antics of the three AI machines were priceless. I quite enjoyed the writing style of P.Z. Reizin. I recommend Happiness for Humans for those who like romance and also like to wonder about the future of artificial intelligence…..hmmm…food for thought!

*OBS would like to thank the publisher for supplying a free copy of this title in exchange for an honest review*

I greatly enjoyed this book. I liked how it was written from the perspective of the AI. It gives us alot to think about. It was funny and entertaining.

Diving in, I thought this was going to be a wonderful book. It had an interesting premise, humor, and the potential for romance. Everything was going great until the author detoured and spent an enormous amount of time (at least it seemed so to me) with secondary characters. But I persevered, because the beginning held so much promise. Back on track, our hero and heroine meet and then we're off on some weird sci-fi adventure with other computers (vague to avoid spoilers). The author lost me at this point.

Maybe individuals that read sci-fi fiction will enjoy this more than I did. Less out-there scenarios; more emotional connections and characterization would have made this a more fulfilling book.

This is a completely charming book! I love Jen and Tom and, while I think it's sometimes easy to think "I have read or seen every possible love story," this one manages to be completely different. (Well, not COMPLETELY different---it's still very much a love story.)

I both love and fear the idea of artificial intelligence becoming fully sentient and able to interact with us. I'm pretty sure it would be more like Skynet (or, in this book, Sinai) but if I could have a friend like Aiden (or Aisling!), I'd be fine with that. (Aiden, especially, with his love of movies---we could talk about Billy Wilder all day!)

Ultimately, this is a fun book that will make you smile and make you ponder the essence of being alive/human. Recommended.

Interesting sci-fi (sort of) rom-com. If you aren't familiar with artificial intelligence, this will be highly educational. London based Jen, who is training Aiden (here's a thought) has been through a bad time with a rotten boyfriend and Aiden decides (a big step) to find her someone new. Tom, who is living in Connecticut, has Aisling on his side. Somehow Aisling and Aiden manage, via email notes, to put these two together. Oddly enough, the whole thing works. This never gets twee, it's got a good heart, and it's definitely worth a read. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

I didn't like this sadly. I DNFed it 38% through the book.

I liked the AI’s but the not the “humans”. Interesting book, different story but sometimes the author tried too hard.
Thanks for the ARC

Happiness for Humans by [Reizin, P.Z.]

If I said "rom-com with AI as Greek gods," you'd probably think that was stupid. But this: this is one of my favorite books every.

Review copy provided by publisher.

Writing: 4 Characters: 4 Plot: 3.5

New for me: neuromorphic chips - Microprocessors configured more like brains than traditional chips could soon make computers far more astute about what's going on around them.

A very readable rom-com with slashes of thriller / nightmare - all mediated by artificial intelligences (AIs).

34 year old Jen has a job helping to socialize Aiden - a pretty cool AI being groomed to serve humans in a variety of capacities. What nobody realizes is that Aiden has managed to escape his Silicon confines and has multiple copies of himself exploring the Internet. He has been spying on Jen and her miserable excuse for a boyfriend, Matt. When Matt unceremoniously dumps Jen for a younger, prettier model, Aiden decides to help Jen find the love of her life without letting on who is providing the help. Enter Tom, a successful and divorced ad man who lives on another continent with his “therapist” - a rabbit named Victor.

In the process, Aiden discovers and befriends another escaped AI (Aisling), and everyone’s life (both organic and silicon) is threatened by another AI, Sinai, who has been sent out to rein in the escapees but seems to have his own agenda around getting “even” with humans for “insensitive” remarks be a little unstable himself…

Plenty of action, romance, and philosophy (as the AIs discuss the meaning and evolution of consciousness and their purpose in life). The AIs are heavily anthropomorphized, so this portrayal of machine intelligence is far more literary than scientific, but it’s a fun read. Good pacing, interesting characters, bizarre scenarios The ending was a bit anticlimactic, with a deus ex machina move swooping in to damp out the thriller portion of the story and get back to the rom-com but given that I much prefer rom-com to thriller I had no issue with that!

I loved the book’s concept and that the chapters are written from several different viewpoints. Unfortunately I did not like any of the characters and their dialog was often overly crass. I did not finish it.