DNF @ 10%
Yes I broke my own rule. I’m dropping a book super, super early. Here’s the thing, three times in a week I’ve picked this up to start from the beginning or a couple chapters in to see if I could get into it. I just can’t seem to absorb any of the first four chapters or keep my attention span on it for longer than four chapters.
Meanwhile I read 2 other books and had one other DNF. So it’s not a book slump... it’s the book.
The writing is the problem... here’s an example:
“Billy Hinman’s caretaker was an actual v.4 cog named Hilda. She was one of the early releases, like most of the cogs who worked on the Tennessee, so she had wild and unpredictable mood swings. Most people—humans, that is—didn’t like the v.4s. I thought they were hilarious, though. And they also made Albert Hinman—Billy’s dad—the richest man in the world.”

The whole book is written like this. As though you are being told a story where someone interrupts, constantly. Additionally the overall flow is very stilted. I realize this is a science fiction, future setting and narrated by a teenager in said timeline. I think the intent is to make it feel like future slang and put you in their world. Unfortunately for me it just feels like work to read it and I can’t get past it.

Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review.

"... I knew we'd never see each other again, and never is a very long time to someone who isn't a machine and can't just squander ten thousand years here or there."

4 very solid stars for Rabbit and Robot, a hilarious and absurd look at what life would be like if you were to find yourself stranded with only a couple of other humans, and dozens of very human-like, yet entirely one-dimensional robots on an ultra-luxurious lunar cruise ship.

It took me a bit to get into this book because the narrative was a bit confusing and the situations were just so freaking outrageous. That said, at about the 25% mark, I got fully hooked, and I was completely immersed in this ridiculously crazy world.

Although the surface plot is terribly silly, there are some deeper insights to be found (if you care to draw some parallels) in this examination of a population hooked not only on drugs but also on entitlement and violence. There is also some well-written YA angst just to round things out.

If you like to have your stories about humanity and morality served up with a heaping dose of potty humour, then this is an excellent choice for you. Stick with it through the first bit -- the pay off is worth it! Strongly recommend for fans of Scott Meyer (especially those who have read beyond the "Off to Be a Wizard" series).

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Canada for providing me with a DRC of this book.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I really enjoyed this one. I appreciated the humour the author brought to the narrative, i loved the questions it brought up for me. Just overall great read.

Thank you NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Canada for this DRC!

This book was absolutely ridiculous.
It was like breeding the space opera genre with Beavis and Butt-Head to make some weird and funny book baby. Somehow that strange mashup worked extremely well.

P.S.
"Tigers are dicks."

Andrew Smith takes us on another wild ride through a futuristic version of humanity, where anthropomorphic robots called cogs do most jobs considered beneath humans. Two jobs are available to humans: soldier, to fight in the 30 world wars that have taken over Earth, or coder, to make more cogs. Unfortunately, both these two things have gotten rather out of hand, with the 30th world war destroying the planet, and a superior race of blue aliens feeling threatened by the cogs who have begun to gain the capacity to reproduce themselves. In the midst of all this, our main character Cager, who's addicted to a drug called Woz that coders use to be able to be hyper-focused enough to do the mind-numbing coding, and his best friend Billy, as they escape earth to the space cruise liner the Tennessee.

Cager and Billy try to survive as the cogs aboard the Tennessee mysteriously begin to cannibalize each other. Their time aboard the Tennessee is a hilarious and absurd romp, reminiscent of the Fifth Element, where cogs have personalities influenced by the people who coded them. We have Parker, Cager's valet, who is perpetually horny and walks around with his hand down his pants and hopefully propositions Cager at any opportunity. My favourite, though, is Lourdes, the cruise director, who is happy to the extreme, breaking into joyous, wild dance moves, and farting to express her happiness.

If you loved Grasshopper Jungle, you'll love this one. If you hated it, you'll hate Rabbit & Robot. I happen to fall in the "loved" category, even though this genre of book isn't one I typically am drawn to. Absurd to the extreme, Andrew Smith has a way of weaving a crazy tale that is just enough rooted in the probable and the possible to make it both scary and enjoyable all at once.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.