Started off with a great premise until you discover, fairly quickly, what a train wreck Slaton is. Which makes you no longer care about her just as quickly. She's hung up on an ex-lover (a trans man, it's pointed out right away), who has a partner but is still willing to explore the "benefits" part of their ongoing FWB relationship. When Slaton is detained at the border (another stupid and unconvincing move on her part) and interacts with the AI-in-Training Julian as a condition of an early release, she acts and talks like the mentally struggling detainee she claims not to be.

There are interesting lyrical turns of phrase and philosophical arguments throughout the book, but the often whiplash shift in conversations made me wonder if this is actually how the book will reach the printing press, or if the digital formatting was simply (even more) godawful. Probably both. I didn't buy Julian's love for Slaton, and when skimming the rest of the book shows Julian guiding Slaton to her eventual husband as a way to protect her in an ever more dangerous world (there's soon a plague added to the existing dystopia of climate change and an anti-choice, authoritarian United States), I couldn't help but check out even more. If you want to redeem Slaton in my eyes, make her truly worthy of love and heal the train wreck of her life, then let her have love with the AI. I'm not looking for some dystopian version of a meet-cute; but I do want a character who has such a prominent introduction to remain one of the main characters in the book.

I requested this one because it might be an upcoming title I would like to review on my Youtube Channel. However, after reading the first several chapters I have determined that this book does not suit my tastes. So I decided to DNF this one.

It's 2035: a fledging synthetic consciousness “wakes up” in a lab. Jenny, the lead developer, determined to nurture this synthetic being like a child, trains it to work with people at the border of the American Protectorate of Canada. She names it Julian.

Two years later, Slaton, a therapist at a university, is framed by a student for arranging an illegal abortion. She follows the student to America and is detained at the border, where she meets Julian in virtual space. After a week of interviewing, he decides to stay with her, learning about the world, the human condition, and what it means to fall in love. Meanwhile, a mysterious plague is spreading across the world. Only the far-seeing and well-connected Julian can protect Slaton from the impending societal collapse.
⭐️⭐️⭐️ 3 star

DNF at 29%.
Autonomy is just like the movie Her, if Her was set in a dystopian near future and made no sense.
It follows therapist Slaton, who gets entangled with an AI called Julian after a patient gets her in trouble with the goverment saying she adviced her into getting an abortion. In this futuristic Canada, the goverment listens to its population through their phones and computers, actually takes action when said population commits crimes such as getting an abortion, taking birth control, etc. So it's just like any other dystopian stories where it's supposed to be scary for everyone, beware of technology, the goverment is everywhere! bullshit, but it's actually just misogyny—case in point, in the world of Autonomy, women are advised not to drink or smoke as to not hurt their chances of having a baby.
I'm hoping Hetherington had only good intentions in adding these clichés into her book, but it didn't read like it. There was one particular instance which rubbed me off the wrong way, in which Slaton, while talking about her trans boyfriend's transition, mentions how uncomfortable she felt that he chose to transition at a time that was so hard for women, as if he chose to present as a man to escape the brutality they do. This is wrong in so many obvious ways, and possibly one of the dumbest things I've ever read, but don't worry! Slaton says she's an asshole right after. That makes up for it, right? ..... right?
Reading the synopsis, I have to admit I didn't really understand any of it, which bleeds into the narrative as well. The writing style is very unpolished and confusing, with characters changing their emotions in a split second, dialogue jumping from one point to another with every little context, poor worldbuilding and threads of different plotlines that start and then never follow through.
As for the relationship between Slaton and the AI Julian, it just, once again, makes no sense. They meet while Slaton is a jail, though Julian goes to extreme measures to make sure she doesn't feel like she's in jail. They start talking because Slaton can't afford a lawyer, so the other option she has is to take part in this experiment. Their conversations were oddly paced and scattered, and Julian honestly reads as creepy. I have no qualms with weird relationships in media—I love The Pisces by Melissa Broder, in which a woman starts dating a mermaid—and was actually excited to read a book that promised a love story between a human and an AI, but the base for their connection was wrong from the start.
And this is just my personal preference, but I have no interest in reading books about pandemics.

This book has an interesting premise, but there are plot issues which detract from the overall narrative. I had more questions than answers by the end.

Set in 2035, Julian as an AI who’s been created in a laboratory. He later on meets a character named Jenny, and stays with her to learn more about humanity and all aspects of humankind.

This book is absolutely eery and unexpected in all the best ways possible. The explores a rather treacherous terrain between a human and her AI companion. Throughout the book, I was constantly impressed with the way the author tackled and explored these new challenges that the characters had to deal with and how they navigate the world they live. I didn’t personally feel like this book was a romantic one, but the bond between the main character, Julian, and his companion, Jenny, was a truly fascinating one. While this book doesn’t introduce a new concept, the author’s writing style was also quite interesting, which made the book even more enthralling.

there is some solid, evocative writing but i didn't feel like there was a coherent plot or consistent characterization.

we get a well-meaning Slaton pre-incarceration & a completely different, selfish, shallow Slaton after. i didn't understand the transition. was it implied that Julian (beyond just advising) had done something to her to create such a huge personality change?

also, for a book ostensibly about AI, Julian's narrative disappears & it's all about Slaton & the Riches. it felt as though the author had an idea about AI but got sidetracked by the concept of income inequality. if she had only managed to actually integrate the two ideas, i might have enjoyed this book.

Thanks to NetGalley and Dundurn Press for providing me with an ARC of this book! All opinions are my own.

When I read the premise of Autonomy, I was immediately interested. I am a big fan of speculative fiction, especially when it challenges the reader, and this is what I was expecting from Autonomy. Overall, the book was not my cup of tea. My main issue was the writing, which made it so that I simply could not get through the book. I felt that there was an imbalance of descriptive elements in difference sections of the book, leading to topics that were overexposed, and ones that remained under-explored, like Julian's character. I will not be completing this book, but I am thankful for having been granted the chance to read it before its publication.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐ ½
Genre: Science Fiction

This science fiction story is set in 2035. Julian is a synthetic/A.I. that has been created in a laboratory by the lead developer Jenny. Julian is trained to work at the border of the American Protectorate of Canada. When a therapist (Slaton) at a university is accused of helping a student with her abortion (which is illegal at that time) she is detained at the border and she meets Julian in virtual space. The A.I will stay with her to learn more about humankind and their world. A strong bond forms between the two but the question is how far will it go?

This novel has a quite fascinating concept. Although it is not the first time I see such a concept of A.I. that is interested to understand humankind and their feelings. Maybe to be one of them as well. Movies such as A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001) and Bicentennial Man (1999) featured such a concept. In the latter, there is a huge romantic aspect between the A.I. and a human female. I think Autonomy has less romance between the main characters and more of a strong friendship. The synopsis says it is a romance. But I didn’t feel that relationship was passionate enough to be termed romantic.

I liked the author’s writing style. There are many philosophical questions and answers between the characters. The story is focused around Julian or in his presence until Slaton gets married to Peter. From that point, Julian disappears from the story and it becomes more about the married couple. Then towards the end, he reappears again. I liked the futuristic world that the author created. All the problems and challenges that people faced at that time were addressed. There is a plague that humanity has to deal with! And it plays a major part in the second half of the novel. The author did a great job with the ending of the story. Overall, this was an entertaining read.

Many thanks to the publisher Dundurn Press and NetGalley for providing me with an advance reader copy of this book.

I have trouble with the premise from a couple angles, but setting that aside, it is a good story overall. The writing is pretty solid, and I stayed mostly engaged. Those seeking a good scii-fi or AI centered literary story will probably enjoy this.

Thanks very much for the free ARC for review!!

Overall, I enjoyed and appreciated this book. In some ways, it reminded me of The Glass Hotel by Emily St John Mandel, which you could also describe as focused on a woman's brief, fascinating, and ultimately untenable foray into the "country of money" and all of the protections (and hypocrisies) that come with it.

Given that, I feel the blurb wasn't a great representation, so it took me a while to start to feel oriented - I struggled to follow along with what was happening or to feel really invested in the book for the first third or so. Jenny and Julian's relationship, which was a big part of the blurb, was barely touched upon in the book - we understand she values/has protected him and he cares deeply for/loves her, but I think that could have been communicated via backstory. (I kept waiting for the story to be told from Jenny's or Julian's POV, and I think both the blurb and the first chapter set me up for that mistaken expectation.) I also think our fraught relationships with our limited, disease-vulnerable, miraculous human bodies was a key theme and I'm surprised it wasn't highlighted in the blurb.

There was some really gorgeous writing; there were a few phrases and sentences that really struck me (I loved "wine wicked away my guilt at overshooting survival all the way up to this strange, stratospheric new world" and "some women see a gilded cage and think, it's still a cage; some women see a gilded cage and think, it's still gilded"). However, it took me much longer than usual to finish this book, both because of the mismatch I talked about above and because its topic and content just hits SO close to home right now. I know the author wrote this a while ago, but it almost felt like doomscrolling the news at times (which is far more a commentary on our current state of affairs than anything she could have done differently).

This was 3.5 stars for me, rounded to 4. Thanks to Dundurn Press and Rare Machines for my ARC.

thank you NetGalley, Dundum Press, and Rare Machines for providing me with an e-arc of this novel :)

this novel will be releasing on 08 Mar 2022

"Reach back for your earliest memories: the rush of faraway cars at night, your body small enough to truly be held. Digging in a sandbox, the sand packed tight and smelly from morning rain. It feels like you, doesn't it; it's not like you're watching a movie. That autobiography that extends all our lives, connecting us to us" - Victoria Hetherington

Autonomy - Victoria Hetherington - 3/5 stars 🌟

"Autonomy" follows Julian, a fledgling AI, and Slaton, a therapist, after she is framed for encouraging a student to have an abortion. Julian monitors Slaton at the American detention center for a week before deciding to leave with her and continue learning about humanity. Societal collapse is on the horizon for Slaton and Julian's AI guide is the only thing that can protect her.

I'm still struggling to distinguish my feelings about this novel. I remained confused for most of the beginning before I began to get intrigued by the story. I felt like I was floating in the ether and falling through moments of time and consciousness while reading this novel. At times it was a really reading interesting experience and at times I felt like I was in a fever dream / bad trip.

I love the concept of this novel, I have always been interested in artificial intelligence and near-future sci-fi. The societal decline occurring in "Autonomy" feels eerily realistic - America is taking over, women are losing rights (abortion has been overturned), people have begun losing jobs, the rich are hoarding wealth (moving to outer space & hiding), and an uncontrollable + poorly understood disease is spreading (and many are not taking proper precaution due to privilege). The themes and topics that arise in this novel are timely and almost terrifying for that reason - it presents us with a vision for a future if we continue without change. In this novel, it is clear that capitalism and the patriarchy (one and the same) have led to societal collapse.

I wish more of this novel had been written from the perspective of Julian. Slaton's perspective feels unreliable in comparison to Julian's - perhaps showing how colored each individual's perspective is by their emotions, experience, actions, and motivations. I also don't find Slaton to be particularly likable (none of the characters are) - each character is heavily flawed and borderline cruel at times (that's how you have to be to survive in this society - that's what this capitalistic/patriarchal society is breeding). Julian works at the witness, forcing the reader to question and truly see the flaws in society + culture + humanity.

I could write so much on this novel, but honestly, I think you should just read it and then come discuss it with me.

thank you again to NetGalley, Dundum Press, and Rare Machines for providing me with an e-arc of this novel :)

this novel will be releasing on 08 Mar 2022

Last year I read The Perfect Wife by JP Delaney. I was enthralled and it got me really thinking - what is humanity and how is it defined? So when I saw the blurb for Autonomy, I snatched it up. The concept of a romance between a human and Ai is fascinating - and I was interested to see it done in a realistic manner, if that's possible.

Well, this book was not what I expected. First of all, the first section of the book was more background and world building. The US has outlawed abortion. (I find this interesting that this was written in 2020 before all the challenges to Roe v Wade). So to get an abortion, you need to cross the border to Canada. There is additional background on Russia having easy access due to the melting of the polar icecaps.. It was all really reflective of a possible future, but it didn't "grab" me. I felt like I was sort of plodding through.

Then the characters meet. (I am using characters loosely since Julian was AI created in a lab). It was not one of those insta love relationships, but I never really understood why they formed their friendship. I didn't get any of the feels.

Then a plague spreads across the world. Again, kudos to the author for this, since this was written primarily before the covid mess that we have.

I think the part that was missing for me was the character motivation or feelings. I mean if I met an AI being and started to develop feelings, I would think I would have a lot of angst and soul searching, and I wanted more of that. I guess I wanted to the feels with this book. This book made me think, and it kept my interest, but it didn't give me any of the feels.

When I read a book I can suspend disbelief, and don't always care about realism. But when you have a thought provoking book like this, I can't help but inject my reading with my personal feelings. And I just felt something missing. .

This was above average, just based on how interesting it was - therefore, I am giving 4 stars.

Thank you to the author, the publisher and #netgalley for the ARC which did not impact my review.

Excellent sci-fi that, despite taking place in the future, grapples with relevant themes like identity and reproductive healthcare. Always enjoy reading from sci fi from new authors.

This book was not for me, for a few reasons. It felt very incomplete. The ending did not feel like an ending. I like things tied up at least relatively well and this did not feel like that. There was a lot of detail about some things, like the relationship with Crawford, and other things were very sped through, like most of the relationship with Julian. I thought, based on the synopsis, that Julian was to be the main plot of the book, bht I didn’t get that as I read. It also felt like a very long time before the prologue and the events of the book met with one another. I really wanted to enjoy the book based on the premise, but it just didn’t work for me.

"There is nothing you can do in your current economic situation. The rich will call the illness a 'herd-thinner'. They will believe their wealth means they have been chosen. They will think in Biblical terms; they will lock their doors and wait for mass death".

Trigger warning: abortion

Victoria is an incredible author and her jovial warning to the reader about embarking on 'this cursed book' really set the scene for the journey I was abut to go on. The plot is a little misleading - A woman does fall in love with an AI, but the story touches on that briefly. The majority of the tale is centred around the main character seeking to save herself from an impending virus by shifting social classes and staying under the security blanket of money.

It's a fascinating think piece, mirroring the modern day inequality seen with Covid, but not so closely linked that the book will quickly date. Autonomy analyses the impact of human interaction from a realistic, almost pessimistic stance - "humans communicate a broad range of serious illnesses to one another simply through proximity, do they not? Depression, panic, eating disorders" and the reliance on others. The book considers the ramifications of immortality, desire and happiness. I adored the prose and really resonated with the concept of how do we define humanity? At what point does an AI transcend from machine to a being?

Theres some really weird sex scenes and some nauseating self-pity experienced by the richer characters who are quickly reprimanded for their efforts to seek forgiveness from others despite thier wealth-hoarding exacerbating the struggle.

It's wild, and I loved it. Maybe just a bit more consistency between the two varying plot points.

Thank you to NetGalley for the Arc!

Oh I love this book. Great sci-fi story about the limits of human capabilities. I really enjoyed the characters and couldn’t wait to find out what happened. Highly recommend!!!!

Like most of the best stories about artificial intelligence, Autonomy is really about what it means to be a person. Like many of the best science fiction novels with literary leanings, it uses a future setting and circumstances to explore the human condition in the time of its writing, extrapolating possibility from how we live now. And reading it now, during a global pandemic--something that features prominently during the novel's later sections--Hetherington's extrapolations feel eerily probable.

While in places I found the story occasionally lost its propulsive thread, getting bogged down in the minutiae of complicated relationships between its complex array of characters, it nevertheless held my interest through its evocative writing and believable situations. I have a weakness for slice-of-life stories set in extreme circumstances, and Hetherington's gentle hand when describing even the darkest moments in the book--which really gets quite dark--creates that certain feeling of coziness even in the face of disaster. That dissonance between emotional affect and apocalyptic impact creates a tension that results in a mostly-riveting read.

This is an unexpectedly quiet, interior story, and one that bears careful--and possibly repeated--reading. I would recommend it to anyone who likes stories that take place in the dreamworld that lies between genres, and anyone who fears the future and needs a breath of hope that some spark of human kindness can prevail.

I received a free e-ARC of this title from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my review.

Every passing day and technological advancement seems to push us closer to classic sci-fi novels. Victoria Hetherington's February 2022 release "Autonomy" is a glaring warning of AI's presence in society.

Hetherington's "Autonomy" is a spin on traditional artificial intelligence and a dive into the philosophical musings of love and humanity. The novel starts inside a laboratory where a researcher has created an autonomous, omnipresent AI personality named Julian in not so far future of 2035. Two years later, Hetherington introduces university therapist Slaton, who is helping a female student seeking an illegal abortion across the Canadian border in America. Slaton's rash decision to help explodes in her face when she's detained at the border–where she meets Julian.

After a week of detainment and interviews, Julian decides to stick with Slaton to learn about the world, love, and humanity. As Slaton and Julian go on together, an eerie plaque (also sounds very familiar) rapidly spreads across the globe. Only Julian's omnipresence can protect Slaton from the near-future dystopia in her ultra-rich bubble.

Right off the bat, "Autonomy" has an ambitious start that immediately draws you in–but fizzles out as Slaton's character is introduced. This disjointed introduction leaves you wondering how Julian and Slaton will be connected, and their delayed meeting isn't nearly as monumental as it could've been. If Slaton's existential monologues, in the beginning, were cut down, their arrangement and friendship wouldn't feel as forced.

Although an ambitious novel with philosophical musings, the number of common sci-fi concepts thrown in is a whirlwind. From deadly plagues and Big Brother-Esque AI, it seems Hetherington decided to take all of the classic bits of sci-fi and smash them together to create a slightly disjointed story. The narrative and suspense fizzle out with every new trope and eventually fail to stress the importance of the climax and philosophical message Hetherington tries to assert.

Despite these misgivings, Hetherington's eloquence overshadows the weird combination of sci-fi tropes. Slaton's melodramatic musings and conversations with Julian paint a nuanced portrait of the human condition, and the road mankind is currently set on.

If anything, "Autonomy" is a flickering warning sign of AI and the superrich but doesn't sucker punch nearly as hard as it was set up to be.

Autonomy by Victoria Hetherington was a fascinating, interesting story! I found it so engaging all the way to the end.