Naomi Kritzer’s near-future thriller, Catfishing on Catnet, follows Steph Taylor as she and her mother spend a few months in one small town before hitting the road for another tiny dot on the map, all to keep out of reach of Steph’s evil and violent father. Because of the constant moves, Steph turns to a social media site called CatNet where her chatroom, or Clowder, is filled with her friends from all across the country who exchange animal pictures and talk about their lives under screennames, such as Steph’s “LittleBrownBat.” Despite the upheaval of their lives, Steph has fallen into something of a routine, until they come to a new town where her mother falls ill and Steph meets Rachel, a potential friend worth putting down roots "IRL." Soon, Steph’s father is hot on their tracks, and Steph is turning to her Clowder friends for help to survive, quickly learning that some screennames may represent someone more artificial than human.

The premise of Kritzer’s novel is intriguing: how much does the internet know about us, and how can we determine how much we can trust artificial intelligence? Ultimately, however, this novel felt unsatisfying. Characters seemed undeveloped, and relationships, particularly between Steph and her mother, don’t make a lot of sense. The ending featured characters who seemed thrown together in a haphazard fashion, and the final showdown with Steph’s father felt completely far-fetched. Finally, there was little resolution regarding the question of AI; whether this was a calculated decision to set up for a sequel or a choice meant to reflect the uncertainty of human/AI ethics, it just felt frustrating to this reader.

Due to its thriller/realistic fiction/sci-fi blend, as well as its representation of a wide array of characters, this book will likely find a readership in many libraries despite its weaknesses. Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Love the natural tech world building. Clearly someone who knows how to write good sci fi. POV of AI is fascinating, and a very likeable character. Some of the most authentic teen rep. I've seen in YA. A great near-future read.

Catfishing on CatNet by Naomi Kritzer, 304 pages. LGBTQIA+
Macmillan-Tom Doherty Associates, 2019. $18.
Language: PG13 (22 swears, 0 “f”); Mature Content: PG13; Violence: PG13
BUYING ADVISORY: HS - ADVISABLE
AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE
Sixteen-year-old Steph doesn’t remember a time when she and her mom were not on the run from her dangerous dad. The constant moves makes finding friends difficult, which is why Steph is so grateful for CatNet and her group of online friends. No matter how careful she’s been, though, Steph’s dad is coming for her, and the only help she has is stuck online. What can they do?
While I was caught off guard by the unanticipated turns Steph’s story was making, they were positive pivots to the story I had imagined from the initial description. Each unexpected step that Steph and her friends made fed my desire to see what they would do next. I think the best part is the AI character and the food for thought given to what it means to “come out” -- and how we react to those around us who do so. The mature content rating is for the sex education topics discussed, like genitals and masturbation, beyond most sex education classes' curriculums and mentions of other sexual acts, like oral sex; the violence rating is for mentions of kidnapping and torture as well as gun violence.
Reviewer: Carolina Herdegen

Steph moves around a lot. On the run from an abusive father, Steph and her mother rarely stay in the same place for more than a few months. In order to make friends she can keep no matter where she goes, Steph turns to CatNet, a social network for lovers of animals - including the cat picture obsessed AI from Cat Pictures Please. When danger strikes, Steph will need the help of her diverse group of friends to survive and protect the place where they feel safe.

I ended up really enjoying this book, especially after the immense support Seph received from her friends during the second half of the book. While I do wish for a bit more science-fiction in the narrative, the genuine friendships made and strengthened along the way were more than worth the time reading through to the end.

I’m loving books with a love to hate or just plain lovable AI. I didn’t know what I was getting into with <u>Catfishing on CatNet</u> but I was impressed.

At first, I almost marked it DNF because I was having some trouble getting into it. I’m glad got it together and kept reading.

I really felt for Steph. Her mom constantly having her uproot her life and always on the run. Her only friends being those in the CatNet. Which in today’s world . . . internet friends can be more thoughtful and “real” than any other type of friendship. Steph’s character was strong and independent, I truly admired her.

There is a lot of queer representation in this book. Discussions are made on the CatNet — similar to an online forum of close friends — about various terms. I think most were handled with accuracy and care, but there was one character that had a few . . . insensitive moments.

That was one redeeming quality. The plot itself, however, kind of let me down. I feel as if I wasn’t sure if we were following Steph and getting to the bottom of her issue or if we were finding out about the AI. Yes, they’re kinda tied together but it really just felt like two different plots that didn’t quite fit.

Overall, this was a quick and easy read about how much the internet really knows about is and how it’s used against us. In addition, we have the power of friendship and sticking together.

I had no idea what to expect with this book, but it ended up being an adorable high school caper. It centers around Steph, who has had to move over and over to keep from being found by her psycho stalker father. The only friends she really has are in an online group called CatNet. Steph usually doesn't get too attached to the people or places she'll have to move from, but she finds herself wanting to stay at her latest school when she meets Rachel. Will that be possible when Steph's very life may be at risk?

Are you a fan of Murderbot? If you know what the heck I'm talking about, then A) Yay! Let's be friends! and B) you'll most likely fall in love with the central AI of CATFISHING ON CATNET. If you do NOT know what the heck I'm talking about, then A) Shame on you and your children and your grandchildren to the seventh generation! and B) go ahead and spend some time on Martha Wells's author page, why don't you.

As you might have guessed, given the above rant, there is good humor to be found in this book. It is worth noting, however, that some of the issues explored in this book may very well rate a TW warning, particularly as regards emotional abuse and stalking.

CATFISHING ON CATNET starts light and ends up going somewhere fairly dark, then reaches down deep into itself and whips out a great and empowering and life-affirming ending. The plot hinges on a character on the run from an emotionally abusive father, her adventures while tracking down her online friends in real life, and their collective attempts to free her from a past insistent on following her. The AI of CatNet alternately assists them in their adventures and needs *their* assistance as a growing and evolving program still in the early stages of its development as a free entity. The AI is also both snarky and entertaining, making those portions of the book when it is absent feel ... a little less bright and sharp. The prose is clean without being overly ornamented or experimental; most Millennial (or younger) readers will instantly understand what's going on with the chat transcript sections and will move fluidly between those sections and the "ordinary" prose sections.

Truly, the most interesting element of this book is its two thought experiments in surveillance. The AI of CatNet knows EVERYTHING about you but leverages its omniscience to protect those people who are members of CatNet and following its community guidelines. CatNet, therefore, is never perceived to be a threat by the book's central teenagers, to whom it feels especially drawn. On the other hand, the main human character's father engages in intensive surveillance of both his current and former interests in order to control and torment them. He engages in intense emotional abuse over the course of the book, and it is explained that he engaged in much worse than that with hints of sexual abuse and murder) in the years leading up to the book's main events. This human man is, therefore, a constant threat.

One might argue that the examples of surveillance are not quite so clearly drawn as that (the AI does not pay equal attention to every user of CatNet, and does not always tell the truth, for example) ... but generally speaking, Kritzer seems to be implying that total surveillance and the power to act on that surveillance is not inherently evil. I'll be really interested to see how other readers react to the implications of this position, and the notion that intent is more important than power.

This is altogether a competent and fun book for young adults and a worthwhile read for crotchety old people like me.

Ok so here's the thing: I'm a slow reader. I read like I'm mining ore, which considering my physical fitness level (or lack thereof), means I'm really slow. I chip away at books gradually, a few pages here, a few pages there...

But when I find the right book, I read A LOT. Still slowly, but a lot.

So I ended up reading Catfishing on Catnet <i>in a single day.</i> Almost a single sitting, although I did take a two hour break to watch a game review by a YouTuber I follow and to, you know, EAT TO SUSTAIN LIFE.

I should probably write some normal review type stuff.

Ok, so, I loved this book for a lot of reasons. I loved the whole concept of the book and the original short story, which you should absolutely read if it's available anywhere. But not-evil AIs and human-AI friendships are a particular jam of mine, and this book does it SO WELL.

I also love how sensitive the kids are in navigating theirs and their friends' identities, and subtly Kritzer captures the kind of conversations we have about these things.

Honestly, I was also impressed at how well Kritzer depicted the ways in which technology has changed teenagehood without being judgemental or handwringy about it. Its just part of the worldbuilding. Like, if I had written this, I would have been tempted to describe the kids watching DVDs, or at least using an actual TV, but in the story they don't even watch a show, they watch an extra for a show on a laptop on a probable YouTube-alike. (I don't know that's probably not relevant, it just struck me as particularly good writing craft.)

A N Y W A Y this book is up there with Murderbot and Person of Interest in the new subgenre I'm declaring, "AI with a heart of gold" and if you like anything mentioned in this review you should read this book immediately. But maybe make sure you have a laaaarge free block of time when you do.

Thanks for coming to my TED talk.

I've loved Naomi Kritzer's short fiction for years. She has a remarkable talent for writing sharply observed, subtly funny, and quietly profound stories that show a deep appreciation for the human condition. Her Hugo Award winning story "Cat Pictures, Please", about a kind and considerate AI that wants to do the best it can for people (and also really, really likes cat pictures) is one such story. Out of that piece of short fiction grew this wonderful, near-future science fiction novel about that same helpful AI, and the young people that meet on CatNet, the social media community the AI is now running.

One of those young people is Steph, who has been moving around the US with her mom for years in order to get away from her dad. I love this whole book, and I especially love the way it depicts social media and online interactions as both a source of belonging, community, and friendship; and as a potential source of trouble and danger. I also love how it is set in a future that is close enough to our own present day to seem very familiar, yet also includes several believable technological advancements (self driving cars, robot teachers, and - of course - a sentient AI) to feel futuristic.

The friendships and (tentative) romance between the young characters is beautifully captured, and so is Steph's troubled life as a teen who has always been on the move with few chances to really feel at home anywhere. There's a suspenseful undercurrent in the story from the start that involves Steph's dad and the reason why her mom first ran away from him, and the last third of the book ramps up the tension until the final chapters become a flat-out fantastic, riveting thrill-ride. The ending also very neatly sets up a sequel (can't wait for that!).

I'd recommend this book for both YA readers and adults.

Stephania Taylor loves bats. It’s a little unusual for a teenage girl to be so taken with bats, but Steph is unusual. She rarely makes friends at school, because she and her mom move around so much. She’s never dated. She hasn’t learned to drive. She’s learned to keep to herself and not make waves. Because the truth is, she has a secret.

Steph and her mother move a lot because of Steph’s father. He once tried to burn their house down, and Steph and her mother are deathly afraid of his finding them again.

But while Steph doesn't usually make friends at school, she does have CatNet. On CatNet, she has a group of friends, also teenagers, who live across the country. They chat together in a Clowder (it’s a group of cats), talking about their schools, families, relationships, and anything that’s bothering them. The chat is monitored by admin CheshireCat, who loves to be paid off in cat photos.

For once, Steph likes her new school. I mean, the school itself isn’t great (she has to read The Scarlet Letter for the third time), but for the first time in ages, Steph has a friend. Rachel is an artist, and her sketches in class make Steph notice. As their friendship grows, Steph is more reluctant to pull up stakes and move again. But her mother’s health is worrisome. After an incident in school and Steph’s mother needing emergency surgery, Steph knows that she could be in danger. And when her friends from CatNet start to help her investigate her background, she learns that her mother has been lying to her, maybe even about her own name.

As Steph starts to piece together the puzzle of her past, she learns that she and her friends are in danger. Even with the help of an A.I. (artificial intelligence), Steph barely makes it away from her father. But where can she go to be safe, and who can she trust?

Catfishing on CatNet wasn’t quite the book I was expecting. The word “Catfishing” in the title made me think of the MTV show with its goofy hosts chasing down liars on the internet. But I kept reading, because I truly came to care about these characters, and I’m so glad I did. Author Naomi Kritzer created a fascinating world of reality and internet where teenagers can be the individuals they want to be, even if they change their mind on who that is from one day to the next. Steph’s story is so compelling, I want to keep following her (and I’m really hoping the slightly open-ended ending to the novel means that there is a sequel in the works!).

I loved Catfishing on CatNet, and I hope that people will open their arms to Steph and her whole Clowder and follow their adventures on the internet and in the meatspace.

Galleys for Catfishing on CatNet were provided by Tor Teen through NetGalley, with many thanks.

Unfortunately this novel fell flat for me. I did not enjoy the plot of the book. I found it to be very unrealistic and I could not relate to any characters. I found it to be to childish for me.
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The writing didn't make me as immersed in the story as I would've liked. The protagonist fell flat as well as the secondary characters.
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This book is for you if you enjoy YA but on the younger side with some artificial intelligence aspects.

If you've read the short story “Cat Pictures Please”, then this may sound a bit familiar to you. It won the Hugo Award and Locus Award and was a finalist for the Nebula, and was such a fantastic read that it's now been expanded into a YA novel. 

Set slightly into the future we have a world where robots are seen more and more - in schools, cleaning your house, making sandwiches and cakes upon request. They're also AI - real AI - who have the ability to sound and seem human. So much so, they can become a valuable friend. 

We have Steph, who has moved around every few months for the majority of her life. Her mother is paranoid, but doesn't tell Steph much, only that her father burned down their home and they only narrowly escaped. That he's dangerous, and because of this Steph doesn't have an internet-enabled phone, goes by several different names, and is only allowed a laptop because her mother is a specialist in internet security, and as such can properly protect their access, as long as Steph reveals literally nothing about herself online, which includes hiding from having her photo taken and having a very old style phone.

In a new place in a new school, Steph finds she's going to have to study The Scarlet Letter for a third time, that the language class selection is woeful, the art class seems to be full of druggie kids, and the sex ed class is delivered by a robot who teaches abstinence only and 'ask your parents' for anything outside of these parameters. 

Well, there's one kid in the art class who doesn't seem like a druggie. Rachel. And she's super amazing at art, and in most of Steph's classes, and soon she hopes she won't have to move in the next month because Rachel seems like someone she doesn't want to leave behind.

We also have an AI. This AI probably had an owner, once, but seems to have been left to their own devices. They really like cat photos, and they run a web chat group that specialises in sorting you into smaller groups, matched with people it thinks you'll get along with. 

Steph is in one of these groups, and the people there are her closest friends. They, after all, get to stick with her every move she makes, criss-crossing around the country. And its these friends who instantly pitch in as soon as it looks like Steph's mother may not simply be paranoid for no good reason.

I was approved to review this book quite some time ago... and I kept putting off reading it. I really loved the short story, and though I had no reason to think this wouldn't be any good I was still worried; more like a 'things keep sucking so if I read this and I'm having a bad day, and this sucks, too, I'll be distraught'. But now the book is out there, and I always like to get my reviews out right before the book comes out, so it was finally time to read it. I was late, I couldn't keep putting it off...

Reader, I devoured it in such a short amount of time. As it's a thriller it's hard to put down, and it's also so much more than that. I love that the internet friends are actual friends; they matter, just like anyone else. There are gay characters, non-binary characters, and it touches on racism. It's sassy, and it knows that cats are one of the best things about the internet. 

It's also interesting in how much the internet can know about you - I mean, we have smart fridges these days. We give so much of ourselves away online without much thought; and we like to believe it when we're told that our tech, with all its cameras and mics and such will only listen to us when we ask it to; rather than thinking it's on, all the time.

Although Steph is a lovely character who has her doubts and hopes about everything - her mother, her father, her new school, her old friends and new... I really love the AI. It thinks about everything so reasonably and yet is still somewhat robotic in being unable to predict some things... like, if you know someone is unhappy because you can read their emails and see everything about their life, they'll probably still get freaked out if you pilot a drone to dump a whole stack of books and drop them on your car just as you're about to get into it. Silly humans won't necessarily look at the delivery and go 'wow, what a great idea, I should read all these and figure out what changes I need to make to be happier!', no, instead they'll think someone is out to get them.

I love the AI, and I wish I could have them as a friend, too. 

Please let there be more in this world coming forth. I really can't leave any of these characters behind.

4.5

Thank you to NetGalley, Macmillan-Tom Doherty Associates, and Naomi Kritzer for the opportunity to read Catfishing on CatNet in exchange for an honest review.

From the description, I figured this book would be a fun novel for teen readers, as it relates to their interest in social media, privacy, and social life. This book not only nails the description on the head, but was a highly unexpected page-turner that I just couldn't put down!

The novel has three different chapter perspectives: Steph (the main character), the Clowder (her online chatroom on CatNet), and an AI that is also all the admins of CatNet. 

Steph has been to five different high schools. Her mother is constantly moving the two of them to avoid ever being found by their stalker and arsonist father (though there is much more to the story than that, which her mother is hiding). Having moved around so much, Steph ahs to repeat a number of classes that she has already taken and tries not to get too attached to people she might want to see as friends. Her mother won't allow Steph to stay in contact with people from previous locations, and she cannot have her picture taken for the chance it might get uploaded to a place where her father can find our where they are.

CatNet is an online domain that allows the uploading of photos, to share images with each other, and chat. CatNet sorts people into chat groups based on related interests. In the Clowder (Steph's CatNet chat room), everyone has a screen name to hide their identity. They all trust each other and talk in the chat room on a daily basis. Since they are internet friends, they are the few friends Steph is able to keep in touch with over the years. One of the people in the group, CheshireCat, is actually an AI that admins the entire site under various administrative names. The AI actually contacts Steph, claiming itself as an AI of consciousness and that it can monitor what Steph is doing. Along with the others in the Clowwder, who do not know CheshireCat is an AI, Steph gains the AI's help in hacking a sex ed robot that doesn't know how to answer any practical questions. While this is humorous at first, the hacking also makes national news.

While this may lead Steph's crazy father to come looking for her, it's actually when she begins to dive into her mother's secrets that brings her father to try to find her and kidnap her.

CheshireCat is a most helpful AI, but when it goes silent, Steph and her new friend Rachel take a road trip to find out how to help the AI and possibly stop her father once and for all.

This book is well-written, fun to read, and full of technology, adventure, thrill, and romance. Catfishing on CatNet has the reader questioning what it means to be "alive" when it comes to conscious thought, as well as thinking about family dynamics, paranoia, and what it means to find true friendship.

I absolutely adored this book and think it would be an interesting one to incorporate into classroom book choice, as well as recommend to teens who may be more reluctant to read. Catfishing on CatNet is relatable, fun, and worth the time!

Steph Taylor has never really learned to make friends after she was yanked from her first at age seven. Even before then she has always been on the move, and always in the middle of the night. Never with a destination named. Her mother says it’s for their own safety, as Steph's father is a psychopath and convicted arsonist, and if they show up on the grid in any way, he will find them.

Steph has always accepted this, but of late she’s begun to question details that don’t add up. Especially as her mother shuts her down whenever she asks questions, and barricades herself in her room. Quite literally.

The only social outlet in Steph's life is CatNet, a social network site where cat (or any other animal picture at a pinch) pictures serve as a currency and where everybody is put in big chat groups called Clowders. Steph (or Little Brown Bat /LBB) feels her Clowder are the only people who can understand and relate to her. To be fair, they are supportive and respectful of each other, despite a wide variety of interests and pronoun choices, as they all experiment with identity. Then, she notices that one of the permanent members of the group is always online, around the time a really weird thing happens: a package arrives in the neck of time, sent anonymously.

The story alternates between Steph’s POV, that of her Clowder chat, and an AI. Meanwhile Steph begins to make friends at her new high school over reprogramming a sex ed robot with hilarious results . . . until the news sources pick up on the story.

Kritzer deftly sets up the characters and situations, and gives us one hilarious scene before the second half of the story, which ramps up the tension. At the same time, Steph is learning about AIs and the weird world of cyber geniuses.

I really enjoyed this novel—I know it would have grabbed my teenage self from the outset, becoming one of those books I checked out again and again.

As it is, old me is hoping there will be another, as some tantalizing threads were left dangling . . .

Synopsis
This book is marketed as a dark thriller. I mean, look at that cover (Which, by the way, is not the cover it had when I requested it through NetGalley. That cover had cute cyber-kitties on it). Doesn’t this cover make the book look dark and spooky? Even the description and the initial reviews made it sound like a dark thriller about an AI that goes off its rocker.

On the contrary, this is a light book about a girl who’s always been on the run with her mother. They always have to move to different towns, so Stephanie doesn’t have any friends–in the real world. She has friends in CatNet, a chat room where pictures of cats and other adorable animals are like currency. It’s quickly revealed that one of these friends is an artificial intelligence, and this AI wants to come out of the closet. Meanwhile, Stephanie will do whatever it takes to keep from having to move to another town, because there’s a girl in her class who she isn’t ready to leave.

Plot
This book has a lot of great ideas, but I was disappointed in the execution. I’ll start with one of my favourite parts. In school, the students are expected to learn sex education from a robot, because adults find that topic uncomfortable. This part had me laughing (and a little angry, because it’s so darn accurate), and every time students would ask an unsanctioned question (about LGBTQ+ issues, for instance) the robot would tell them to ask their parents. This was a hilarious and interesting projection of the current political climate, and I do wish this book had had more of these types of funny (yet upsetting) insights.

I absolutely loved the metaphor of the AI coming out as an artificial intelligence. However, for a book that is very Social Justice Warrior-y, the characters were often insensitive, and a lot of the metaphors really didn’t work. Stephanie should not have been running around telling everyone that [spoiler] was an AI, because that ruins the metaphor. It was the AI’s choice to tell people, not Stephanie’s. *Sigh*

I enjoyed the main story arc of the novel, but again, it wasn’t particularly suspenseful or dark. I would have liked for there to have been a few twists or turns in the storyline, to keep me asking questions. Maybe I’ve been reading too many psychological thrillers, but I usually expect a twist or two in my books. At least one. (And that twist can’t be the one in the first chapter that reveals that one of the main characters is an AI).

Characters
I didn’t particularly like Stephanie, the main character. I felt for her plight, particularly the fact that her mother had lied to her her entire life, and her inability to make real-life friends–because she knew that these relationships could only be temporary. However, there were a few times when I really couldn’t stand Stephanie. In particular–when her mother is in the hospital, and Stephanie doesn’t know what’s wrong with her or if she’s even dying–and she doesn’t check on her for a very long time. Her mother has been essentially her only real-life friend her entire life, yet she doesn’t come across as particularly worried. She’s more concerned about her budding romance–which may be authentic for a teenage character, but this doesn’t make for a sympathetic character.

The saving grace for this book Stephanie’s relationship with Rachel. It was gradual, not insta-love, and they had cute interactions. However, I don’t understand why characters in non-fantasy YA books need to be so quirky these days. Why can’t the main character’s love interest be a normal girl who doesn’t draw on people and who has a normal number of birds waiting for her when she gets home (And for those asking, I’d say a normal number of birds would be 1-4).

I recommend this book to those who are looking for a YA quasi-thriller about artificial intelligence and contemporary social justice warrior issues. Just don’t think about the metaphors too much, and you might enjoy this book.

Please note, I received a free copy of this ebook in exchange for an honest review.

This book was truly awesome! I love reading about AI and the capabilities that this technology has. It’s closer than we think.
This book has everything from friendship to drama to action/suspense to happy endings. I would have liked more detail into the background of Steph’s mother and father. But I did enjoy the way that the author progressed the story. I am very curious to see what happens next!

I really enjoyed this book, though I wish it had been a bit darker. I was expecting it to be a bit more cautionary about the perils of the internet, but it was still a solid read that was fun at times.

Steph was a great character. I found myself really sympathizing with her nomadic lifestyle, and how lonely she felt because of it. She had a pretty good relationship with her mother, even with the constant moving and paranoia that her mother exhibited most of the time. There is a section where Steph begins to doubt the story her mother always told about her father, and her wondering if it was all her mother’s imagination. But then the truth starts to come out and Steph steps up to protect herself and others from her father.

I really liked CheshireCat as well. They were such a charming and amazingly nice AI. Even when they were spying on everyone and maybe pushing the boundaries of do no harm just a bit. They also had a pretty good sense of humor for an AI. I especially appreciated that they liked to look at funny cat pictures.

Steph’s online friends were also fun and pretty diverse. I enjoyed the fact that they eventually all met up in real life as well. But some of the banter on line was interesting and fun. They were also so supportive of Steph as she found out the truth about her life and her father.

Rachel was also a good character. I totally understood Steph’s reluctance to befriend her, because her mother would just up and move them soon. But Rachel was determined to become her friend and help her out when things got rough. I liked the chemistry between them, but I think the story could have been just as good without the budding romance aspect.

The thing I really liked about this book though was the setting. It was set in a not too distant future that felt like a real possibility. Self driving cars and service robots are the norm, and play into the story as well. I liked that they had a robot teaching them sex education, but not being programed to answer some of the more important questions teens have about sex and sexuality. The plot was pretty fast moving and the mystery aspect of it was well done. I really thought for awhile that Steph’s mom was just being paranoid. The truth of why her father was looking for them was a bit scary as well.

This was a fun and interesting read. The setting is very well done as is the plot. The characters could have been a bit more developed, but for a short book you get a good enough sense of them.

Steph and her mom have been on the run from her dad since she was five. Her only friends are those she “knows” on the CatNet, an internet chat room of fellow like-minded teens, who all love animal pictures. Currency on CatNet is cat pictures, but other animals are allowed and even encouraged. Steph manages to hack the robot sex ed teacher earning her a real life human friend. When Steph’s mom goes to the hospital, she’ll need to rely on her new friend and the ones in cyberspace to keep her dad away.

Rating: 4/5
Source: eARC from Netgalley for review
Genre: YA sci-fi thriller
Pages: 288

Blurb: Steph and her mom are constantly on the run, moving every few months to hide from her stalker dad. She finds friends on CatNet, which it turns out is run by a sentient AI called CheshireCat. CheshireCat starts taking actions to protect Steph from her father, but eventually screws up so that Steph must go rescue CheshireCat.










Overall review:

I really liked this book! I've had a string of not-great reads for review so this was a very welcome change. This is the first thriller I've read in a very long time or ever, and it was great at that while also being super heartfelt.

The Good:

Firstly, I loved the perspectives - in particular the first-person AI narration in some of the chapters. The book opened with a chapter from the AI which is what really hooked me and made me regret waiting so long to read it. I also loved that that meant I could mostly trust the AI rather than fearing it'd turn out to be the stereotypical bad guy AI. The idea is that CheshireCat is an AI that insead of having a particular moral code cares about individual people - its friends - which really 'humanised' them to me.

The main perspective is Steph, told in first-person present, but there are also chapters from the AI (often first-person past - didn't know you could just have different tenses like that, but it was cool that those chapters would offer a very different perspective on what had just happened), and chapters full of messages sent in their groupchat on CatNet, which I enjoyed because I like epistolary things like that and they make reading fly by.

CheshireCat was a very interesting character in general, partly because they were so powerful in some ways (could get into nearly anyone's unsecured phone, security camera etc) but so weak in others (no body). This gave them interesting ethical dilemmas, like whether it was okay to use their immense knowledge and spying ability to intervene on a friend's behalf - even when the friend didn't ask for it. I really loved the idea of an AI that cares.

As you'd hope in a book like this, the author showed good knowledge of tech overall, with little details like sshing into a server and phone tracking. I also thought the online chat was realistic. The near-future setting (so there are lots of drones and self-driving cars and robot teachers) was fun too.

I was kept guessing as to who was really the villain for a large portion of the book, in that good way where you're not just unsure because you don't have enough information but where you keep being given really strong but conflicting evidence on both sides - was her father dangerous or was her mother just crazy? It was an important question because obviously if her dad's incredibly dangerous they have to stay away from him, but if not her mom is just constantly uprooting Steph's life for no reason.

There's a lot of LGBT rep, and I liked the glimpse of an f/f relationship we see. It was also funny how it matched my experience of being part of a community where you barely know any straight people.

The Bad:

I can't go into detail because of spoilers, but there's something her mam has that other people want, a key to world domination, that seemed a bit over the top and unnecessary as motivation. It was also weird that this very important laptop wasn't better-protected.

The conflict ended somewhat earlier than I'm used to, in the early 90-s %, and I was dismayed to discover that this seems to be the first book in a series. I'm very fond of standalones, but to be fair the author does wrap up this story quite well and just leave one small thread for the future, so it's not a cliffhanger or anything. And I did enjoy the book so I might be convinced to read a series...

Finally, I felt it went on a bit much about gender identity, with one of the non-binary characters repeatedly saying awfully didactic things like 'Shakespeare used they/them pronouns, you know!' at inappropriate times - but then, I suppose that probably is accurate to the character!

In summary

I would definitely recommend this to YA lovers in your life, especially if they're gay and/or into tech or online communities, and even if - like me - they don't normally read thrillers.