I received an audio ARC of Jonathan Abernathy You Are Kind through Netgalley.

Jonathan Abernathy is every American who feels as if they are three steps behind. I never thought a narrative written in third person could feel so much like second person. It's dreamlike, which works as much of the story takes place in dreams. The prose reflects this wonderfully, and I was completely immersed in Abernathy's small world.

The nods to the harsh realities of life in a capitalist society are on-the-nose and often stated outright, but the writing is beautifully dark and surreal. I wish there had been more to explanations of dream symbolism, as it would have added humor and depth to the parts that take place within dreams. The narrator gives hints to much of the ending as the story goes along, which made it feel slow to resolve in some parts, but overall the pacing is well done.

The audio narration by MacLeod Andrews is exceptional. The highs are high and the lows are low, and I felt he was in full control of the emotional rollar coaster that was this book.

I recommend for anyone who enjoys journeys with flawed characters who try their best but get in their own way. Readers who like speculative elements that are surreal, yet believable due to real-world parallels, will connect with this book.

I was so thankful to get a chance to read, listen and review this book before it hit shelves in the middle of October. I am such a fan of Dreamscape and Astra House Publishing and loved this production so much.

Confession: this is not my first attempt at this book. I abandoned an eARC a few months ago, which seemed promising but was moving so slowly and after a few weeks I had barely made a dent, so I moved on. Then, I saw the promos on Instagram and regretted giving up.

Luckily, I saw this ALC on the NetGalley homepage and took my second chance! This time I got to the end, but I didn’t really enjoy it.

The premise of this book is interesting: Jonathan Abernathy has student debt, inherited debt, and can’t earn enough to get out of it, when he’s offered a mysterious new job as a dream auditor. Sadly, I found much of the book to be too confusing, which made it hard for me to enjoy. Just like listening to another person’s dreams, being in another person’s dreams is not appealing or completely coherent.

I’m glad I gave it a second chance so I’m no longer wondering about it, but it won’t be memorable for me.

Thanks, NetGalley and Spotify Audiobooks for this ALC.

Thank you very much to NetGalley & the publishers for this ARC!

Jonathan Abernathy is many things—he's quirky and passive (and yes, titularly kind), but more than anything, he is destitute, desperate, and desolate. His isolation is nothing but the churned out result of late-state capitalism, and by his late 20s, Abernathy is already drowning in debt and determined to find a way to survive. When a unique job opportunity appears to him in a dream, Abernathy realistically has no choice but to accept.

The job in question: auditing people's dreams to expel their anxieties in a corporate campaign for higher productivity (i.e., to be less human and more worker).

There are many references to the transparent abyss of the American Dream, and we watch Abernathy's wholehearted attempts to personify it. He lies to himself about the value of his labor, the sincerity of "pulling himself up by the bootstraps". From a distance as the reader, it's hard to witness Abernathy's attempts to legitimize the cruelty of his corporate work. But so many of us have been AND are Abernathy. The self-justifications kept me thinking of the "Can't Help Myself" robot by Sun Yuan and Peng Yu.

There's a part in this book that also reminded of Normal People by Sally Rooney—namely when Connell earns a sizable scholarship that grants him the ability to see his life as livable for once, as opposed to merely survivable:
"Abernathy can afford to eat better, and his skin clears up. His skin clears up, and his mood shifts. He can get out of bed. He has energy, and he has desires—he wants to do things. The hope and happiness that comes with meeting your basic needs is almost enough to forget the original managerial meeting. … This amount of money makes the world seem navigable, experienceable."

All in all, Molly McGhee holds up this novel as a mirror to the world, reflecting all of its complexities and paradoxes with ease: it's both hopeful yet soul-crushing, wistful and dreadful, a fight to the death in a fight for survival.

When this releases, I hope everybody gets the chance to read this absolute gem of a novel. There are many ways that artists have captured the dreariness and despondency of late-stage capitalism, but Molly McGhee succeeded in creating one of the most sincerely written and innately creative depictions of it.

A unique book that is like no other, with a cast of characters that are unforgettable.

Jonathan Abernathy is in debt, lonely and his life is going nowhere. When he is offered a job that will clear all his debts, he jumps at the opportunity. The job he accepts is working for a company to audit workers’ dreams. He will remove any anxieties and memories that are disturbing employees’ current work life to make them more productive. As he naively begins jumping into peoples’ dreams, Jonathan learns more about the people who surround him and even more about himself. You can’t help but wish for Jonathan Abernathy to find happiness and to choose what is important, love over work-life.

This audiobook had a fantastic narrator, MacLeod Andrews. I will be researching to see what other books he has narrated.

This was a great book that I really enjoyed, and I thank NetGalley, Spotify Audiobooks and OrangeSky Audio for the Advanced Reader Copy.

This is a strange one. The story is compelling and I enjoyed the writing, but the MC is really unlikable. I enjoyed it while I was reading it but didn’t have the compulsion to pick it up when I wasn’t. The world building was interesting, I would have liked to see more about the “archives” and who they were.
I recommend for anyone who enjoys light sci-fi.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Spotify Audiobooks for the free audiobook in exchange for my honest review. This is narrated by Macleod Andrews who does a fantastic job!

Jonathan Abernathy is drowning in debt from student loans and the death of his parents. When he finds a job at a government agency going into people's dreams in order to keep workers in line, and depressingly, let them know it could always be worse, he thinks he has found the answer to his prayers. However, soon the lines between work and life, reality and morality begin to blur around him.

This story started off fairly slowly. I was intrigued by the plot. It does focus on how workers are exploited and what corporate greed is willing to do to them in the name of profit. But for me, it just did not hold my interest.

I really enjoyed Jonathan Abernathy You Are Kind. I liked the author's writing in really fleshing out the characters and showing their vulnerabilities. I liked the speculative element and it wasn't too heavy. While at times funny, the book had a sad tone as well.