I absolutely adore speculative fiction and this was no exception!

The parallels between our society and this fictive reality are so glaringly disturbing. Definitely recommend.

It’s 2060 and a tech company has just launched WellPod- floating pods in the Pacific Ocean that bring the user a solitary, personal relaxation experience. Noa’s finance, Maggie, is in a pod, when Noa finds out they aren’t as safe as they thought.

I loved this glimpse at the future and the technologies described. A lot of it made sense and seemed like a possible future. My favorite part was reading about these technologies. I did not find myself as interested in the main plot and the action in the story. I felt the story relied too much on the technology and science, instead of developing the characters and connecting the reader to them.

“There are some things you learn best in calm, and some in storm.”

You’re Safe Here comes out 6/25.

A Black Mirror-esque dystopian novel that takes a deep dive into the wellness industry and social media culture of a not so distant future. Intriguing right?

I’ve read Leslie Stephens’s lifestyle writing for years (her resume includes Food52, Cupcakes & Cashmere, and, most recently, the popular Substack Morning Person), so felt like it was inside knowledge when You’re Safe Here, her debut novel, contained known traits in her writing such as excellent food descriptions and a love for Mary Oliver references (same).

What was new and delightful was the very compelling tech writing and overall world building that expands upon norms of today-wellness retreats, therapy, smart watches, live streaming-getting an intense, but not totally out of reach makeover for the year 2060. The impact of climate change in the novel also reads as a realistic possibility that gives pause to reflect on the current state of it all without being distracting.

I was engrossed by the luxury and, ahem safety, of Stephens’s 2060 until, per the artfully inserted looming dread, I wasn’t….

As with any good suspenseful novel, I’m eager to discuss the ending with anyone and everyone-DM me please once you read!

I am so thankful to Scout Press Books, Netgalley, Librofm, Simon Audio, and Leslie Stephens for granting me advanced audiobook and digital access to You’re Safe Here, a dystopian technological thriller, before it’s projected to hit shelves on June 25, 2024.

In the not-too distant future, the world is no longer livable so the invention of Well-Pods, a fleet of floating personal paradises scattered across the Pacific Ocean, focused entirely on health, solitude, and relaxation. Noa and her pregnant fiancé Maggie are set to escape into one of these Well-Pods along with the tech company’s slew of tech accessories and AI assistants to help make their lives better.

Shortly, however, Noa notices that there’s some faulty tech passing clearance checks in the backend of the company and in an attempt to do something about it, she uncovers a whole library of cover-ups and shady happenings that need to be stopped. It’s not long before she’s let go, losing her spot in the pods and her place of residence, but a bigger storm is coming, and the security and safety of the fleet is at risk.

I was glad to listen to this on audio, but I was also thankful to have a physical copy to follow along with during the fast-paced parts that got a bit blurry.

You're Safe Here by Leslie Stephens is a so-so science fiction drama following three women and a fleet of floating personal pods in the Pacific.

The company run by tech and wellness guru Emmett Neal she named WellCorp has created a successful at-home sanctuary "nests." Now, Emmett has come out with WellPods. They are personal pods which float in the Pacific Ocean. The single occupants of a WellPod have two months to relax and regroup in an isolation environment where all their needs are met. Maggie, a 25-year-old newly pregnant artist, signed up for a WellPod and is at sea. Her fiancée Noa is a 38-year-old coder for WellCorp and she has just discovered something that places doubt on the integrity of the pods. Now Noa realizes that Maggie may not be safe at sea in a WellPod.

The narrative is unfolds through the point-of-view of the three women in chapters dated by the number of days pre- and post-launch. The choice to switch back and forth in time while telling the story didn't work out well in this plot for me. Additionally, as a fan of science fiction, it felt like I've read this story before so no new ground was covered. There is interesting world building, in spite of an almost obsessive need to describe in detail the food prepared by the pod. I didn't connect with any of the individual characters and their development seemed inconsistent at times.Thanks to Gallery/Scout Press for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.

The review will be published on Edelweiss, X, Barnes & Noble and Amazon.

**Thank you to Gallery/Scout Press for this free digital review copy.**

This book's concept was so up my alley, and I truly loved the story all the way up to the ending... which was completely unsatisfying, a total letdown, really dragged my rating down by a mile.

The book follows three women in relatively near-future America where technology is everything. People's wellbeing is constantly monitored, their schedules are micromanaged down to the minute, all work is virtual and anonymous, and there is a stark contrast between those who live within the WellCorp compound and those outside it.

Noa works for WellCorp, but when it seems the WellPods project she's been working on is endangering her fiance, Maggie, she gets angry and speaks up and subsequently fired from her position (which also means she must leave her corporate-funded home). But before she can decide what to do or where to go, she's whisked off to the hidden home of WellCorp's founder, Emmett, who hasn't been seen since the launch of the WellPods. Secrets are revealed and Emmett's true motivations are made known, leading to Noa's forced departure from America, Maggie's much-delayed return from her WellPod, and an entirely unsatisfying ending where nobody ends up together!

I was honestly shocked by the way this book ended. It felt super abrupt and jarring, and it truly docked the book points for me! I know it's not unusual for a dystopian story to have a not-quite-happy ending but this one really seemed like it was going to all work out and then it just... didn't. I was bummed! But still a very interesting concept and some very likable characters, so if you are intrigued by that I would still recommend giving it a read.

It’s 2060 and Well pod is taking over the world. Their floating pods are the newest thing, and Maggie is one of the first to take off to spend 2 months floating in her own personal pod. The pod is supposed to encourage meditation, relaxation, and solitude. As most startups though, this one has it’s own set of issues….but will Not be able to get to the bottom of it because her fiancee Maggie gets hurt?

Damn what a ride! I first heard @lesliesteph on @badonpaperpodcast and as soon as she started talking about her book I knew I wanted to read it! This book seriously makes you think about the digital world we have all come to rely on, and where it could be headed in the future…which is pretty scary! While a pod floating in the ocean with pure solitude sounds amazing, maybe only for like a few hours. Then I want out! Also the big brother of it all was so insane! Overall this one left me thinking and slightly nervous hoping this never becomes a reality!

Thank you to @gallerybooks for my gifted copy of this book!

There was a lot complicated mother-daughter relationships in this novel and I admired the exploration of family bonds in a sci-fi context, even if the plot was a bit convoluted.

From Leslie Stephens, creator of the popular newsletter, Morning Person, comes a gripping futuristic tale about surveillance, wellness, and motherhood. We follow three women connected by the world’s largest tech company, WellCorp.

Emmett Neal, an Elizabeth Holmes-like character, sits at the helm of WellCorp. In 2060, years after she successfully launched WellNests, home tech devices used to improve customer health and simplify living, she is gearing up for the release of her new product – WellPods.

The WellPod, pitched as a retreat, is a personal floatation device equipped with everything a person could ever need to survive alone on the Pacific Ocean, including food, medication, exercise equipment, and access to every book, television show, and movie ever released.

Newly pregnant Maggie, whose partner Noa is an engineer at WellCorp, is offered the chance to partake in the company’s first trial at sea. It’s the perfect opportunity to be alone, given that the baby isn’t Noa’s.

News soon spreads of a storm heading toward the Pacific, but when Noa tries to speak up in an effort to save Maggie, she’s shut down by higher up employees. Her later escorting off the premises leads to a discovery not only about WellCorp’s corrupt business practices, but also about Emmett, Maggie, and even herself.

This is a stellar debut from an author to watch.

I have warm-but-complicated feelings about Leslie Stephens’ debut novel You’re Safe Here. Told in alternating perspectives from three women, each at a different point in the story’s timeline, You’re Safe Here presents a vision of our near future in which a Silicon Valley tech company has woven itself into every aspect of daily life, from the Lenses in people’s eyes to the WellNest therapy devices that have become a fixture in every home. Emmett, the company’s founder, has just announced WellPods, a floating retreat that will give selected applicants an opportunity to escape the distractions of daily life for two months. This is alluring to Maggie, who is eager to escape her crumbling relationship with her fiancée Noa, WellPod’s lead engineer.

Emmett, Maggie, and Noa are our narrators and are all strong, captivating, and realistic characters. Unfortunately, as the novel progresses and their timelines begin to converge, the plot began to struggle under the weight of the book’s ambitious world and its narrators’ complex backstories. I felt deeply invested in the central plot, but found it increasingly difficult to trace as the perspectives began to intersect and overlap.

Still, I think the story told is worth working through the sometimes opaque storytelling, and I would be eager to follow along if Stephens chooses to continue building out the world she’s created. 4*.

Thank you to Scout Press and NetGalley for providing this e-arc.

For me, this was one of those books where the premise was much more compelling than the execution. I was intrigued at the beginning - the world-building was imaginative yet believable, and the stakes were high, with Theranos-esque vibes - but I found myself losing interest around the 20% mark. In my opinion, there were too many perspectives and the POV shifts were more jarring than suspenseful; I struggled to get invested in any one character, timeline, or plotline, and the writing at times felt distractingly clunky. I also thought there were a few twists too many so that, cumulatively, they lost impact. And I'll keep this vague to avoid spoilers, but the ending somehow felt both anticlimactic and implausible. Overall, it just didn't land with me - while the premise and the first few chapters piqued my curiosity, I probably wouldn't have finished had it not been an ARC. Thanks to NetGalley and Gallery Books for an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC. I really enjoyed some elements of the book! Some of the dystopian details were super interesting and believable as well as the technology descriptions. I found myself rooting for certain characters while hoping others failed and I will admit, none of them ended up how I’d hoped. It was a twist and turn book that will have you making a list of characters and trying to unravel how they are all connected. I did not foresee the twist at the end, nor was I super happy with it.

All in all, it was a decent read and certainly an interesting one!

I love the cover of You're Safe Here and was optimistic I'd love this dystopian literary --ish story about a tech wellness company. The Wellness pods in this story sound plausible in the same way Theranos seemed plausible. A safe space with your own personal AI therapist who can also administer drugs and ivs at the ready. That part was interesting to me, but the relationship between artist Maggie and her fiancé workaholic computer programmer Noa was not developed enough for me to care about.
This book was very character driven, but the rapid POV switching had me confused and irritated. I wanted more of Maggie or more of this tech wizard Emmett, but instead I got not enough of either.
The twists were fine, but nothing earth shattering. The end was just meh. Like it just kinda ended with a baby and that was that.

A decent debute novel, but not my favorite

As a former Silicon Valley PR pro, I loved the vibe of the tech/wellness world in You’re Safe Here. I loved the author’s world building with how life would be in the 2050s. Like we all thought it would be like that with the Jetsons but really it’s a dystopian world destroyed by technology, Mother Nature and mankind. Also I’ve followed Leslie’s journey from editor of Cupcakes and Cashmere and feel like she infused a lot of what she enjoys and her personality into her characters, which was nice to see that personal touch.

What took this book down a star for me was the often times hectic timeline shifting and the confusing character backstories. The switching between back story and characters made it hard to follow at times because we went from Emmett learning about the article to Maggie’s background to Noa living her daily life at WellCorp. Then diving into how do they save Maggie from the pods. I don’t want to have this review have spoilers. It seems disjointed to me even though the characters are supposed to be woven together. As a debut author, I see potential in this book.

Thank you to Net Galley and Gallery Books for the advanced reader copy.

I've read so much of Leslie Stephens' work over the years--from Cupcakes and Cashmere to Morning Person and everywhere in between. Needless to say, I was thrilled to read her debut novel, You're Safe Here. The near-future setting was hauntingly close to home, and the premise was entirely original.

I've already recommended You're Safe Here and can't wait for the world to read it this summer!

Thank you to the publisher and to NetGalley for the ARC!

This near-future dystopian book focuses on the Wellpod, a type of floating wellness pod that offers relaxation and health benefits. It is a very character-driven novel but I didn’t feel connected to any of the characters so the story fell flat overall. I think it’s a promising concept - and I generally really enjoy science fiction concepts - but the execution didn’t quite come together ultimately.

This novel didn't really do it for me. While the concept was cool - a near-future dystopia in which a woman-led tech company pioneers self-sustaining floating ocean pods - the characters and themes fell flat. The ground the novel re-tread has been done over...and over...and over. I imagine it's tough to write dystopian fiction in a world that feels increasingly dystopian in reality, but I just kept waiting to feel something while reading this and was left pretty neutral about it all.

Thanks to the publisher and netgalley for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Unfortunately, this book didn't quite work for me. While the premise and themes of this book seemed pretty interesting, the book didn't really do anything new with the themes. All the themes explored seemed to retread well tread ground about tech and motherhood. The book didn't really didn't explore the themes very deeply either, letting it be more tertiary to the thriller aspect.

The thriller aspect of the book mainly hinged on one big reveal, which became very obvious to me less than halfway through the book. I kept waiting for the reveal to happen for most of the book and what that would result in, but the reveal doesn't happen until the end of the book and there was not really anything after. This made most of the reading experience repetitive and pointless. There were some minor reveals that were pretty well executed, but overall the thriller aspect was lacking tension.

These book attempts to deal with some very flawed women and I appreciated that for the most part. I did end up appreciating Noa's character for the most part(though her inability to connect very obvious dots was more than a little frustrating). However, the character motivations/feelings, particularly in case of Maggie, were sometimes quite inconsistent.

One minor thing(it might just be how I am reading them and not entirely objective) is that some of scenes seemed to have a line or two that I felt had slight homophobic implications. Mileage may vary about those though.

Overall, I thought You're Safe Here had a lot of promise, but kind of fell apart on execution.

3.5 stars, rounded up. Good plot, good characters, but I was left wanting more of both. There’s a certain fullness that’s lacking.

Unfortunately I was not the right reader for this book--but in all fairness I think that was due to the way the book description was written/focused.
Found the characters difficult to connect with and unlikeable, but again that may have been related to the genre.

With thanks to NetGalley & Gallery Books for this e-ARC.