Thank you so much to NetGalley and Celadon Books for providing me with a copy of this book for free in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own!

This debut novel by Fred Lunzer is a 288-page psychological thrill ride! Adrian is a ghostwriter for rappers he never meets who has just signed on to Sike, an AI therapy app that follows your every move via a pair of smartphone-like glasses you wear. It follows Adrian’s first year of a relationship with venture capitalist Marquie who is hesitant about Sike.

The story shifts between the two characters’s points-of-view - his in first person, hers in third limited. The matter-of-fact prose and casual writing style gave me the impression of unreliable narration. The story begs you to delve into the concepts of “connection, identity, anxiety, success, and the limits of our obsession.”

Sike by Fred Lunzer will be available on May 20th, 2025 for $27.99 in hardcover. 4/5 Stars


My reviews on Goodreads and gmpotter.com () are live now. My YouTube review will be live on 3/27/25 at noon CST

For being such a short book this felt so long. If you like over description of characters and settings (if you’re a fan of Stephen king) then you’ll enjoy this. If that’s not your vibe then don’t bother with this.

The characters in this book were insufferable most of the time and I don't feel as though their "growth" throughout the book was enough to make this read worth it. LOVE the concept of AI psychology and would love to explore that more. I'm very into rap culture and enjoyed that aspect of the book. HOWEVER, the lyrics written by Adrien were so painfully cringey. Overall - love the concept, not a fan of the story surrounding it.

This is not like the books I usually read, so it is hard to review this. One question I kept returning to was: What is the point? I am not familiar with slice of life books with lessons picked up on throughout. The writing was really good, if long at some points. I like how we really got into Adrian's and Maquie's brains - their thoughts, their actions, the way they processed life. I think I should have read this book slower to pick up on more of the lessons, but it had already been five days and I didn't necessarily look forward to reading this (I think I'm too dumb for his writing?)

The rap aspects of this book was interesting because I came into this with certain biases that were neither confirmed nor denied, leaving me with a feeling of inconclusiveness. The psychology aspect was verging on dystopian, but I don't know if that was necessarily the vibe the author was going for. Overall, I have no idea how to feel about this book because it was so much and yet nothing at all

This was a very interesting book, the AI and future of therapy utilizing AI was so interesting to imagine. I thought this book was just not executed that well. I think the writing was a bit weak, i did not like the coverart, and I was just expecting more out of this book. Overall, I was not too impressed, even though I loved the concept

Thank you to NetGalley, to the author, and to the publisher for this complementary ARC in exchange for my honest review!!!