My true rating would be closer to 3.5 stars. The concept is hardly unique, and while some of the plot was developed in ways I didn't expect, there were also too many plot holes and things left unresolved for a book I assume was intended as a standalone.

Set in a startlingly familiar world, Sarah Pinsker raises questions about the nature of technology in the Pilot, a brain implant that assists in multitasking and awareness. What is seemingly a fad amongst the wealthy explodes into a necessity - opt into the Pilot program or be left behind.

Following a family of four as they navigate a society that is slowly progressing toward dependence on Pilot technology, Pinsker artfully navigates invisible illnesses alongside progress, exploring strained family relationships in a divided world. It is in these separate accounts, each seamlessly flowing into the next through deft POV changes that alternate between Val, Julie, Sophie and David, that time flies, and with it, the progression of the Pilot over the course of a decade. In a world where technology rules and patients are receiving implants to urge their brains to work faster, Pinsker’s quick pacing makes sense, an omen and an inevitability, humans becoming satellites, mindful of each other, yet dependent on progress, Pilots propelled forward before they can even think about their next step.

Every family member offers a new, fresh take on life in a world increasingly dominated by the convenience of multitasking, Pinsker breathing life and personality into each one in a way that demands attention and compassion. David’s paranoia and scattered thoughts, which only intensify once he joins (and returns from) military service, marked by drawn out, breathless sentences rampant with repetition and unease. Sophie’s clever wit and strength, at turns analytical and insightful as she navigates her teens, always waiting, ready to jump the next opportunity to prove her peers (as well as her moms, Val and Julie) wrong about her illness. Val’s quiet determination, anxiety and rage, pushed aside in the best interest of her children, silenced by the pounding of her feet on pavement and her belief in the physical and old-fashioned. Julie’s good-natured optimism and work ethic, her inner fear at being left behind paired with her desire to give her children everything that she did not have, technology included.

Propulsive and cleverly written, Pinsker approaches important subjects with care, navigating mental health, trauma and invisible illness with finesse in Sophie's unexpected seizures from blank confusion to recovery, and in David's Pilot induced hyperactivity and PTSD, his thoughts a never-ending blur, a sentence without punctuation - every noise, every scent, every sight a distraction that splits his focus further, complicated by his desire for normalcy and belonging. Over the course of three parts, the plot thickens tremendously, but Pinsker remains steady throughout, unraveling a technological conspiracy theory – a catalyst for change that upends the Geller-Bradley family.

Behind a seemingly simplistic yet modern plot, Pinsker deftly captures four distinct voices and explores a plausible technological divide while commenting on the nature of progress: social, political, medical. Complex and richly imagined, We Are Satellites is an invitation and a promise: a glimpse into a plausible near-future built on the foundation of a brand. At turns hopeful and haunting, Pinsker’s latest in SFF is a marvel, impeccably realized albeit a little quick to end that offers an examination of power dynamics in a delightfully queer family undermined by secrets.

Berkeley was kind enough to provide me with an eARC, and I was finally able to get to it. This is an excellent longitudinal look at the introduction of a new technology to society through the impact of it on a single family. It’s not quite dystopian, as though the technology that involves brain surgery becomes pretty universally adopted with little pushback, it isn’t completely infallible to counter movements that do the leg work and good old fashioned reporting. Each member of the family unit gets really good character arcs both solo and in the context of the family, and I am deeply impressed with the sheer amount of legwork and thought that Pinsker put into all aspects of this book. We get some excellent representation here - characters are referred to by they until their preferred pronouns are revealed, and then those are used from that point towards, David is eventually revealed to have ADD, Sophie has seizures, and Val and Julie are lesbians. Those with disabilities are never solely defined by these traits - part of Sophie’s arc is getting her parents to recognize her as an independent person, even with her seizure disorder. It does wrap up a bit too tidily for me towards the end, but any longer and it would’ve dragged badly. This is a good book for taking at a slow pace. Definitely pick this up when it comes out.

We Are Satellites by Sarah Pinsker follows a LGBTQIA diverse and Ability diverse suburban family as they reach milestones in the shadow of a brain-enhancing implant named Pilot. Much of the novel is a commentary on American capitalism, how technology furthers the gap between the haves and the have-nots, and what it means to be human in a synthetically simulated society. Although hard science fiction themes (the Pilot may be scientifically possible) underline the plot, the narrative centers on the family mentioned above: Julie, her wife Val, and their two kids David and Sophie. Because of choice or biology, each family member has a individual connection to Pilot, which causes each character to make very different life choices over ten years. We Are Satellites challenges readers to envision a dysfunctional, yet loving family inhabit a very realistic near future as they cope first with Sophie’s disability, divided ideologies next, then David’s mental illness caused by technical difficulties. If you enjoy complex characters living ordinary lives in a theoretically fantastic world, give this book a look.

If you liked the leisurely paced and thought-provoking novel The Circle by Dave Eggers, or the bittersweet book about an unhappy family Tell the Machine Goodnight by Katie Williams, you will like We Are Satellites.

I received an ARC from NetGalley for an honest review.

After two novels and slew of stories, Sarah Pinsker has proven herself to be one of the preeminent science fiction writers working today. No matter the story, Pinsker tells it with thoughtful intelligence and grace. We Are Satellites is Pinsker's second novel and it lives up to her legacy of excellence.

We Are Satellites looks at the near future of technology, with an implant designed to improve the focus and an ability to functionally multitask. It's such a boon to those who receive the implant, truly transformative except, no technology is perfect and there are always those left behind. Sarah Pinsker examines the social and personal consequences of such a transformative technology and how that technology is used by governments and countries. The scale of We Are Satellites is tight and personal to one particular family - and all of those dynamics are explored, but that family is used to widen the scope for so many permutations for how that technology can work and go wrong.

We Are Satellites is really good, y'all.

This book follows a family as they navigate the world with a new technology called a "Pilot," which is meant to boost concentration and help people perform better in school and work. One parent is for pilots and even wants one herself while the other is concerned about them and the effect it can have on people. I expected more science fiction from this story, but it is very much about family relationships. The change in the family could be about anything, and the story wouldn't be that much different. This novel is perfect for readers who enjoy character-based stories that are heavy on internal thought.

Full disclosure: A Song for a New Day (2019) was my favorite book in 2019. So I had really high hopes for this latest book from Sarah Pinsker. And I take full blame for putting those expectations on an entirely different and new piece of work. That is to say that while I enjoyed this book, I probably would have liked it better if I wasn’t still so attached to A Song for a New Day. If I had put more space between the two books, I likely would have enjoyed this more.

We Are Satellites is a story about new technology, but it’s also a story about family and all the messiness of familial relationships. It’s about lies and trust. It’s about growing up. It’s about unconditional love and support. And it’s about implanting a new piece of technology into someone’s brain to help them to multitask and focus on several things simultaneously.

I recently read a study about multi-tasking and how it is functionally impossible for the human brain to perform multiple high-level tasks at one time. So, what better premise for a science fiction novel than to explore the potential of creating that possibility. We Are Satellites reminds us of the occasionally limited research on new advancements and the ever-present desire of corporations to protect the bottom line at all costs. After finishing the book, I was reminded of the famous line from Ian Malcolm, as played by Jeff Goldblum in Jurassic Park:
“Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether they could, they didn't stop to think if they should.”

And yet, the desire and ability to multi-task in a world with ever-increasing demands on our time and attention is irresistible. Would you volunteer for to implant a device in your brain to allow that?

But this story is also a touching portrayal of a family and how that choice impacts them all. The tale is told from the alternating viewpoints of Val and Julie and their two children, David and Sophie.

We Are Satellites is beautiful in that there are little things included that speak to respect for all people without judgment. Sophie suffers from seizures but is never depicted as less than. Personal pronouns are stated with a matter of fact appeal (and “they/theirs” is used to describe a person before they have stated their preferences). It’s interesting how that stands out in this book because it is not the norm in other books. I appreciate the respect given to all people and hope more authors take note to include a diverse cast of characters who are all treated with dignity.

With all these things, you’d think I would love this book. But for some reasons, things just didn’t click for me right away. I loved Sophie’s viewpoint chapters. I liked Val’s viewpoint chapters. David’s chapters were interesting. I was not thrilled with Julie’s viewpoint chapters. It was a slow burn and I kept hoping for a little more. As the book went on, I grew more and more frustrated and unhappy with Julie. Perhaps the shortcomings I felt with book were that I couldn’t love Julie unconditionally as her family does. But that is part of the beauty of the book, the portrayal of a family with varying personal convictions that still ultimately supports each other, even when they are angry with each other.

The book did click with me in the last third. I think part of that was because that’s when many pieces started to come together and perhaps more importantly, there started to be more acceptance of what people felt and experienced. I didn’t want the book to end. I wanted to see what happened next to help people and to hold others accountable!

I enjoyed the book and I know I’ll reread it and I have a sense I’ll probably enjoy it even more the second time around. I recommend that you give this a read, especially as the world actually starts to explore technological implants into brains.

Visionary, scary, realistic, dark, original , mind bending, extra smart, well researched, unique, extraordinary!

This book reminds you of the importance of reading more sci-fi novels to understand your present lives and prepare yourselves about what the future may bring to you!

It has sophisticated approach to the brain enhancing technology with four different voices!

We’re introduced to lovely and concerning couple Val and Julie who always think what’s best for their children : David and Sophie. A new technology introduced as Pilot is new at everywhere gives you impressive skills and cognitive powers to achieve your goals and the couple’s son David gets interested to have one to be successful at school even though there are always risks about the procedure!

On the other hand Sophie has epilepsy so she cannot ever have a pilot! Poor Julie is also pressured to have one because of overwhelming responsibilities and growing competition at work.

We just move forward throughout the years and learn how the family of four develop, change against the raising power of pilot technology. Each of them chose to follow different paths! As Val rejects to have one, Julie finally loses the war and reluctantly accepts to get one because of high tension at her work place and interestingly she starts enjoying its advantages. Their children are also having different ideas about the concept: Sophie becomes anti activist against pilots as David enlists the military.

This book is not the thought provoking sci-if tells us the advantages and destructive effects of technology in modern people’s lives, it’s also great family drama about how technology affects party of four’s lives, how it builds inner and outer conflicts, how it makes easier our lives as it pulls more barriers around people, how it could break a family apart.

It was one of the best reads I’ve recently had with rich, deeply layered characters. I enjoyed each of the voices and agree each of their opinions, learning to consider their different perspectives!

I enjoyed the author’s previous work which was about power of music! But I think I loved this one more! I think I can honestly say Ms. Pinsker is one of my favorite sci-fi authors and looking forward to devour her upcoming works delightfully!

I’m giving five blazing, brain enhancing, family, changing lives stars! This is not good! This book is freaking fantastic!

Special thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for sharing this amazing digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest opinions.

<b>4.0 Stars</b>
This was an intelligent and thoughtful piece of science fiction that explored the ramifications of introducing brain enhancing technology Told over multiple perspectives and jumping through time, this story showed the possible long term effects and consequences of this imagined future.

At its core, this was very much a character driven story. The four main characters were each clearly defined with unique personalities and traits. Each chapter listed the character's name, but it quickly became unnecessary to read this header, because I could immediately tell who's perspective I was reading from the context and voice.

I really liked that this novel showcased a diverse "non traditional" family.. The relationship between the new lesbian women was a realistic and honest portrayal of marriage. Likewise, the parent experience felt realistic, as raising they faced the challenges of raising their biological and adopted children.

There was very little action in this novel, yet the narrative still managed to be quite immersive, provides a nuanced analysis of a very possible future. The novel revealed the class discrepancies that would likely arise with the introduction of these kind of brain enhancing devices. What started out as an advantage, quickly would becomes the new normal and anyone without access to the technology would be left behind. From the very beginning, we see how parents must weigh risks and benefits of the technology, worrying their children will be placed at a disadvantage in society without it.

Since this book is set in the near future, this is the kind of science fiction that is very accessible to readers new to the genre. The only new technology introduced is the Pilots which were described in simple, understandable ways. Beyond that there was very little world building since it was set so close to the present day.

Overall, I really enjoyed this science fiction novel and would recommend it to a wide audience. I think this book will particularly strike a chord with parents who already grapple with the conundrum of trying to do what is best for their children in an ever changing world.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher.

Excellent grounded and all too plausible sci-fi. Highly recommened first purchase for all general fiction collections.

This is the first book I have read by Sarah Pinsker and I was hooked from the first pages! Sadly, this novel got buried in my Kindle and I'm sad it took me so long to get around to reading it. What a story - futuristic but certainly plausible. I loved how the story was told from the four family members' points of view. I am excited to go back and read Pinsker's first novel, and will absolutely read anything she writes in the future. I will definitely be recommending this book!

Guaranteed to fill the Black Mirror-shaped hole in your heart. I loved how it discussed the impact of new technology on not just society but family.relationships as well, rendering division and resentment in its wake.