Jennifer Lauer’s The Girl in the Zoo offers a gripping and adventurous journey through a dystopian world where artificial intelligence and forbidden love intersect. Set in a world where Mirin, believed to be the last human on Earth, finds herself trapped in a zoo-like enclosure, the novel is both action-packed and emotionally charged.

Mirin’s struggle for survival in this grim setting is at the heart of the story. Captured by robots during an AI takeover and subjected to the whims of a deranged scientist, she is forced to confront a reality filled with danger and deception. Her growing suspicion that her guard, Borgie, might be developing sentience adds an intriguing layer to the plot, while the introduction of a feral man who could be her potential mate raises the stakes even higher.

The novel excels in its fast-paced narrative and adventurous spirit. Lauer’s depiction of the dystopian setting is vivid and immersive, creating a tense atmosphere that keeps readers on edge. Mirin’s determination to uncover the truth about her captivity and her fight for freedom drive the story forward with relentless energy.

Character development is a mixed bag. Mirin is a strong, determined heroine whose emotional scars and resilience make her a compelling protagonist. However, the secondary characters, including Borgie and the feral man, are less fleshed out, and their interactions with Mirin occasionally lack depth. The emotional aspects of the story are impactful but can sometimes feel overshadowed by the action-driven plot.

The inclusion of a feline companion adds a touch of warmth and companionship to Mirin’s harrowing journey. While the romance element provides a nice contrast to the dystopian backdrop, it can sometimes feel secondary to the more pressing concerns of survival and escape.

While The Girl in the Zoo presents an exciting and imaginative take on dystopian fiction, it falls short in terms of character development and depth. The novel’s fast pace and adventurous plot keep the momentum high, but the lack of nuance in character interactions and the somewhat uneven emotional exploration detract from its overall impact.

In summary, The Girl in the Zoo is an engaging and action-filled read that will appeal to fans of dystopian adventures and strong heroines. Though it excels in creating a thrilling atmosphere and driving narrative, it may leave some readers wanting more in terms of character depth and emotional resonance.

This dystopian novel offers a unique perspective on a world dominated by artificial intelligence. Mirin finds herself isolated as one of the few remaining humans on earth. Trapped in a zoo for the entertainment of AI beings, she performs daily shows and interacts primarily with her AI companion. The book is filled with unexpected plot twists and maintains a steady pace throughout, making it a compelling and engaging read.

Neat premise, interesting story, but the prose didn’t grab me. Obviously it’s difficult when you’ve got one person left trapped in plexiglass. Stopped at 10%.

5 stars - self-publishing is hard.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kings of Kontent for the ARC.

(This review is based on an uncorrected e-galley of this novel)

I enjoyed the premise of this book. It was kind of AI and robots meets Dr. Frankenstein. However, I wish it had been executed a bit differently. The story felt rushed and it was difficult to tell the passage of time and the characters under developed until the very end with Mirin. Pedro just seemed more like a plot device than a character. As a character his personality wasn't consistent. What was really weird is that the robot, Hart, was more developed than the humans in the book. The story ranged from predictable (however, there was one plot reveal I didn't see coming) to erratic. There are aspects of the world that don't make sense even for the world that was created. Maybe if it hadn't been told in first person making the reader more privy to the behind the scenes of how things worked I would have liked it more.

Hmm, I'm kind of torn about this one. Part of me really liked the refreshing setting and the way the story developed, the other part was constantly confused about the world-building and all the little details that didn't seem to line up. Maybe I have to give this one a bit more dedication and read it again.

this was genuinely amazing and is on my mind months after reading it. the robots in this were so wonderful that im obsessed with them. would rec this to everyone!

I was so excited to read this book!

I loved it near to the halfway point, when i realised that it will not deliver what i expected: the synopsis promised a story of an AI uprising with an imprisoned human who will try to escape. Instead i got a young girl in a cosy environment and the main theme was motherhood. Had this been clear, i would not have picked it up.

While i enjoyed some aspects of the story, i found there were plenty of plotholes, unrealistic behaviour, and overall silly things in it. It really irked me to never find out about the outside world, and the way time passed - only in chapter headings, never in storyline. Also the "science" parts were unrealistic and stupid.
I did enjoy the ending though, it was good to see things actually progress somewhere.
I wasn't the right audience for this book, but it will appeal to many who love simple ya books and an easy read.

3 stars- liked this but didn't fully love it. this is one i think that would be better adapted for tv for the characters to truly become alive. thanks netgalley and the publisher for the ARC, in exchange for an honest review

This was a relatively straightforward work of science fiction. You have the end of the world as we know it, where humans are nearly extinct, for all our lead protagonist knows, and robots rule the world.
Some of them are more sentient than others, and their lifestyle is also not something that Mirin (and, by extension, we as readers) does not know much about.
Mirin is the only female human in a zoo. Once, it harboured other beings, but now it is a zoo where robots come to gawk at the human. Mirin is guarded at all times by a single robot with whom she interacts. Although we are provided with background information about the state of the world and also how Mirin finds herself in this situation, as well as the past couple of years that she has endured, we never really get the complete picture of the world as a whole.
I want to avoid spoilers because the big reveal was definitely a big one. While trying to avoid that, I must say that it was hard to digest that the basis for everything we are reading about could have come from that direction. There was a slightly separate smaller reveal, which I guessed once the other parallel backstory began unravelling.
I found it surprisingly easy to read for a book in this genre. More time is devoted to the emotional quotient of the story as a whole rather than the technical aspects of the world-building. It was emotional at times, although I did not feel like I felt as much as I should have once the reveals were completed.
It is not a completely new concept, but it is definitely one that has been approached with something different in mind. I like stumbling upon such books. They do not take very long to read and are interesting in the way they approach the more usual things. I would recommend this to fans of science fiction with a more dystopian bent.
I received an ARC thanks to NetGalley and the publishers, but the review is entirely based on my own reading experience.

This book is a super unique take on AI and the future of humans! I loved the short, creative tale that the author wrote and the tension of the escape. I think it took a lot of writing creativity to come up with a plot like this, and I would love to see more from this author!

The premise of this book is a good one, kind of AI and robots meets Dr. Frankenstein. I just wish it had been executed a bit differently. I didn't hate it, but it is not one I will return to reread. I really wanted the story to be more than it was. It felt rushed and it was difficult to tell the passage of time and the characters under developed until the very end with Mirin. Pedro just seemed more like a plot device than a character. As a character his personality wasn't consistent. What was really weird is that the robot, Hart, was more developed than the humans in the book. The story ranged from predictable (however, there was one plot reveal I didn't see coming) to erratic. There are aspects of the world that don't make sense even for the world that was created. Maybe if it hadn't been told in first person making the reader more privy to the behind the scenes of how things worked I would have liked it more.

Mirin has been the only human captive in a zoo for six years, placed there after a robot takeover of Earth. Her caretaker, a borg she calls "Borgie," has made her start wondering if these robots are becoming capable of emotions and sentience. With things at the zoo starting to suddenly change, she tries even harder to escape and find freedom.

I thought this book held several interesting concepts, exploring what makes feelings "valid," what constitutes being alive, and whether having your society taken over justifies killing in return. I really enjoyed this quick read, it was fast paced and had me turning pages until I finished it in a day. I think the cover looks really unique and great as well. I appreciate that it's not written as a strong anti-zoo book despite the main character trying to break free, it's not the main focus with so much else going on in the narrative. I also liked the complex relationships between Mirin and other characters, I thought they were well written and believable.

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who likes sci-fi or end of the world dystopian novels. I think it's geared more towards YA, but is still very enjoyable as adult fiction. I look forward to reading other books by Jennifer Lauer in the future, this was a great debut! I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley for my opinions.

The Girl in the Zoo is a fascinating look at a future where AI borgs have taken over the world. Minn was captured six years ago when the rest of her family was killed. Her captors are interested in breeding her and bringing in a feral male for her. She also discovers a cat that has somehow managed to get into the zoo and befriend her. I could not put this book down! I highly recommend it.

Another one of my whoops forgot to post a review.
This was a rather interesting concept of syfy. The characters are locked within a type of zoo but for humans. Where they are taken care of to a degree for viewer pleasure but not the human kind.
You really see them struggle with the isolation and confusion of accepting that the are to be used to breed but do not wish to do so.
It has slight romance appeal in it, but it’s also a strange storyline that it worked in some accepts and dropped the ball in others.

This book had a lot of potential, with an innovative concept (a human trapped in a zoo after an apocalyptic event practically destroys humanity) and a trope I love (AI that becomes sentient). I did like the short chapters and the start really drew me into the world created in the book.

Overall, though, the book fell short for me. Too many times, the main character stated that she felt sympathy for the AI, but there was very little in the book to help me understand why she’d feel this way. It is also a pet peeve of mine when characters spell out their feelings directly for the reader; I prefer when authors let characters act/react in ways that reveal their feelings more subtly. I also thought some of the dialogue was clunky. It sounded wooden and unnatural sometimes. I really wanted to like this book, but it was just a lackluster read for me.

I thought this was an enjoyable read. It does read more YA to me rather than adult. Our main character Mirin is in her mid-20s but reads like a teenager.

I will say that some of the timeline didn’t make a lot of sense to me, like what humans were around both before and after the robot takeover. But I very much enjoyed Borgie as a character.

Thank you to NetGalley & Kings of Kontent for this advance reader copy. All opinions are my own.

I am a sucker for dystopian novels and I really enjoyed reading this debut fiction by Jennifer Lauer. I loved the story, the mad scientist twist, and the post-apocalypse setting. I would have loved the novel to get into more details about the scientific part (robotics/borgs mechanism etc) but that is probably because I am also a hard sci-fi fan. I'd recommend this book to anyone who loves reading literary fiction/mystery/suspense/YA novels.

For me this book was interesting but hard to stay interested in the entire time. The book was very grabbing in the beginning but then dropped off in the middle. Once I i got through the few slow moving chapters of this book it picked back up. I don’t know if i could recommend it for the fact I feel as though it targets a very specific type of reader. I do not think this book is bad in anyway but you definitely need to be in a sci-fi, Dystopian, motherhood type of mood to read this. I did love the world that was created inside the zoo. I thought that was very unique and intriguing. I just wish there had been a little more attention grabbing facts as to why she was the one that was picked for the zoo. The way the story comes to an end and everything is answered I think was the best part and i will say I absolutely loved the add in of Linda. I’m glad that author made her who she was and it fit the story perfectly.

I will officially be calling chat gpt Borgie.

I don’t typically read sci-fi, but after listening to a podcast interview with the author, I wanted to give it a shot. The story takes place after AI won a war against humanity. Mirin was captured, and has been held in a zoo for six years. The story closely follows her and a ‘zoomate’ as they try to escape.

I loved the underlying themes in the story about what makes a human or robot sentient, and how, if given the opportunity, AI can possess more sympathy and understanding than humans. The end was incredibly heartwarming and satisfying.

It’s especially interesting reading this book after hearing so much about artificial intelligence in real life.

Thank you to Netgalley for a copy of this book in return for a review. I will be looking out for more books by this author.

Food for thought about where humanity truly comes from. It started a little simple but I got more and more into the story as the book went on. I enjoyed the development of Mirin, though there could have been more depth to the relationship with Pedro. The character of Hart was beautifully written. This is a totally unique storyline that can’t really be compared to anything else, and I love that! Thanks to Net Galley for the ARC.