DNF at 10%

Interesting premise, but the writing style and narrator aren’t for me. It sounded very middle grade, although the summary presents as an adult read.

Thank you Splinter Press & Benny Fife Audio for the ARC via NetGalley.

I don't know what I was expecting when I got into this book, but it was darker and creepier than I had anticipated! The Dissection and Reassembly of Cohen Hoard starts with mild-mannered, strict Cohen just living his life - until he is sent a mysterious package. He is an AI programmer in a world where AI dominates and when he realizes that there is a body part in the package, his world is turned upside down. The writing was intense and well-paced and it was cool entering a futuristic, rainy Portland - plus, found family is always a win for me!

The book was expertly narrated by Benjamin Fife, who is always a pleasure to listen to. Hagberg is new to me, but I would certainly read more!

I really enjoyed this title! I don't read a lot of sci-fi but I loved this version of a dystopian, AI run Portland. The world was probably my favorite part about this book. It felt so unique. I also enjoyed the found family that Cohen discovers. The main character's growth through the story can be felt through the way Benjamin Fife decided to read the story. It causes the beginning of the book to feel slow moving but was a great way to represent the changes Cohen goes through. Overall, I enjoyed this audio book and am inspired to pick up more dystopian books soon.

Thank you NetGalley , Splinter Press and Benny Fife Audio for the ARC of this audiobook for my honest review

A very interesting plot, I didn’t feel that I cared too much about what happened to the characters and I was occasionally confused but other than that it was really well done. I enjoyed learning about this interesting world and how things are done there.

I'll be publishing my review on Goodreads and StoryGraph 17th November and on Tik tok most likely will add to a monthly wrap up post with review the beginning of December.

Author Elesa Hagberg sets her story in the future, where AI is commonplace and something has failed in the environment, as Portland, where the story is set, is drenched nightly by heavy rains.

The main character, Cohen Hoard, is a programmer for a company that has created traffic coordination software, which is based on an artificial intelligence, and is used in the city. Cohen is socially awkward, has an obsession with safety, and needs his life to follow a controlled, predictable path, every day.

When a tongue is delivered to his door, Cohen doesn't know it yet, but this unusual event is the catalyst to transforming his life. Cohen tries repeatedly to refuse the package, but in the end tracks down its actual recipient, Calla Human. When she, and the others with her, discover that Cohen opened the package and saw its contents, Calla refuses to let him leave. Despite his anger, she takes his phone, and then drags him along with them as they have more body parts to pick up, and Cohen discovers that there is a market for items such as these. (What intrigued me at this point in the story was that body part transplants are common and successful in this time.)

Cohen discovers also that the people he is with are actually all a family; he has his gran, whom he loves dearly, and this chaotic bunch of people clearly care for each other, too, and they seem to be making space for him, and all his foibles.

As the group continues with their grisly commissions (as ordered by some shadowy client), not only are things going wrong, but Cohen is starting to glean that there seems to be a similarity between the people whose parts they are getting. He also begins to find himself attracted to Calla, and caring for the rest as well. More importantly, Cohen finds himself doing all sorts of things outside his comfort zone, taking risks and opening up to others.

This was an enjoyable story set in a very wet Portland (note that I found that the book's cover evoked the city streets of the original “Blade Runner”.) Cohen's need for safety and control over every aspect of his life seems initially quirky, but has its basis in a terrible event in his past. This moment kept Cohen locked in fear, and it's the energy and love of the Lewis family, with Calla at its head, that manages to break through this fear, and embrace the loveable weirdo that Cohen is.

While at first I wondered at some of the disparate details the author gave us about Cohen and about life in the city, gradually things began to come together, and though the story starts slow, there's plenty of action and danger to keep things moving well.

I was pleasantly surprised by this novel, and was glad that I decided to take a chance on an author whose work was totally new to me. This future Portland intrigued me, and I'd love to return to it some time, and to these characters. And with that open-ended and surprising last chapter/epilogue, I felt that the author had more in mind with this world. I hope so!

I listened to this novel, and though I found Benjamin Fife's delivery of women less successful to his male characters, I enjoyed his narration overall. He starts with a slightly flat, controlled voice for Cohen, at the novel's outset, and gradually brings more emotion into the character's voice, which nicely mirrors Cohen's progress through his adventure.

Thank you to Netgalley and to Splinter Press & Benny Fife Audio for this ARC in exchange for my review.

I got a few chapters into this one and still didn't have any idea where it was going. The main character was very mundane, and I think he was supposed to be, but the package scenario drug on and I didn't get interested, even after finding out what was inside and meeting a couple more characters.

I haven’t delved much into sci-fi, but this was a fun start. Lots of chuckles while listening, easy to grasp alternate world, and well-paced story. Imaginative and fun with well-done narration, I didn’t want to stop listening. There was a bit of predictability, but also a lot of twists that I didn’t expect. Curious if a sequel is in the works after listening to the epilogue— if so, I’ll definitely be checking it out.

Somehow this book was both gruesome and delightfully cozy at the same time. In a tone similar to the writing styles of T.J. Klune and Rebecca Thorne, The Dissection and Reassembly of Cohen Hoard brings an awkward, loveable, pun-loving protagonist to life. Elesa Hagberg creates a futuristic Portland with double-extra rain and self-driving AI technology that Cohen helps write. Following Cohen's journey from awkwardly hitting on his neighbor, to getting a tongue in the mail is full of puns, sweet moments, and my favorite trope: found family. It was delightful to see the character growth in this book with humor sprinkled in that makes you laugh but doesn't detract from the story. This is a perfect cozy read for the coming winter season.

Audiobook received for free through NetGalley

A really good listen that I’m happy I came across. Loved the story and would love to follow it along some more if there are more. Epilogue hints that it could happen.

This is such a promising plot but sadly, I find it struggles to deliver on all fronts. It ends up being so predictable, that this short story feels much longer than it actually is. Parts that required more care developed needlessly quickly, while parts that you can see developing from miles away went through all the motions. The relationship feels forced. The characters don't feel like they underwent growth through their arc, but more as if some core believes are radically and abruptly changed for convenience.

Dissection and Reassembly is a very bizarre and compelling found family novel about a man pulled into a mystery and a group by a package. There is a method to the madness as Cohen Hoard, software engineer working on a demo of a networked system for self-driving cars, receives a mysterious package addressed to his unit with the name Call a Human that he reads as a person - Calla Human. Ever the diligent and curious person, the contents of that package get him mixed up with a group of body part acquirers that are on a crazy quest with a mysterious, diving=masked pursuer. Part of the mask makes sense in that this world has torrential rain every night in exchange for none during the day.
This is a well-paced novel with good mixes of action, humor, and heart - all from the various characters of the body finding gang, who are all adopted siblings by the way but quickly pull Cohen in as one of their own.
The timeline is a bit tricky but don't think too much, just enjoy the speed cycle ride.

I loved the cover and book description. Unfortunately, I had to mark it DNF at 35%. The conversations between the characters gives a middle school vibe however the content of being organ smugglers seems like it should be in the adult category. I was just expecting more. I did listen to this book and did not enjoy the narration either. The narration seemed to add to the middle school vibe. I might try reading the book at some point instead of listening to it.

A mild-mannered, rule-following office worker attempts to return a package delivered to him in error and gets caught up in a crazy, human-organ-delivery scheme in a future Portland OR where the days are nice but it rains all night, every night. This is set in a future some 20 years “after they broke the weather,” so who knows when that might be, but it’s not that advanced. In fact, there’s a bit of a Steampunk vibe as it is so retro in places. He goes into an office. He calls a company and goes to their location (vs handling this inconvenience online). Nevertheless, it’s entertaining. Solid (but not exceptional) audiobook narration. 3.5 rounded up.
My thanks to the author, publisher, producer, and #NetGalley for early access to the audiobook for review purposes. Publication date is Dec 13, 2024.

For a rather gruesome premise, this book has a lot of heart (and not just the harvested organ kind!). Thrown in to a future where technological advancements have automated everything right down to the weather, I found myself drawn to the warmth of the unlikely crew of misfits doing there best to finish a job and find their way out of a dangerous and mysterious plot.

Some fantastic twists, especially the ending. But the real triumph is the charming and funny characters we the reader and Cohen the protagonist find ourselves entangled with.

I was really intrigued by the concept of this one and enjoyed the beginning, but at 50% in I felt like I had been listening to it forever and nothing was happening. The pacing was very uneven and that detail started to wear and it felt very repetitive. I lost interest and never gained it back...

I used to be a science fiction fan, but too many books got too bogged down in technical details. The technical specs of a spaceship or a weapon or the descriptions of a planet just got too boring. However, I have found that I like stories that have science fiction aspects, but it's not the main focus. As an example, I love the In Death series by J.D. Robb/Nora Roberts. There are interplanetary transports and technical advances used by the NYPSD, but at its heart the books are police procedurals. The science adds to the story rather than overwhelming it. This book fell into that same category.

The story is about a computer programmer who gets a strange delivery at home via an express package. He tries to get it sent to the proper recipient, but it just keeps getting stranger and dragging him in further. He ends up working with a group of body part smugglers who are doing the bidding of their latest client.

The science adds nice touches to the story. Cohen is working on a program to make autonomous vehicles safe. There are vehicles specially designed for this kind of dystopian world where the weather has been "broken" with torrential rains every night around the world. There are also new technologies that the crew uses to find the body parts for their client. But the science and dystopia don't overwhelm the story.

Thank you to Splinter Press/Benny Fife Audio and NetGalley for an ARC audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

Exciting Sci-fi fiction story set slightly in the future. My experience of Cohan Hoard was in audiobook form. I liked the narrator and pace of the presentation. The story: A package, wrongly delivered, to Cohan Hoard’s home is a small issue he should be able to sort out. He’s a nice guy, just trying to be kind and helpful. But life, and unexpected deliveries, are not so simple to sort out at all. There are times Cohan Hoard doesn’t know what’s going on. Questions and surprises are there for the reader too. But like Cohen our eyes are slowly opened. If I’m completely honest I worked out the main part of what was going on, and wondered how Cohen could miss it. Yet that definitely didn’t stop me enjoying this audiobook. This is a complete book, but the ending suggest Cohen and I haven’t totally worked things out yet. I look forward to that resolution. As for Cohan well we will see. Thank you to Splinter Press& Benny Fife Audio and NetGalley for the Audio ARC. The views expressed are all mine, freely given.

The Dissection and Reassembly of Cohen Hoard
By Elesa Hagberg, narrated by Benjamin Fife

Set in a not too distant future Portland, OR, the city is dry during the day but a lightening storm deluge each night. Nerdy, reclusive Cohen Hoard spends almost all his time working at work or at home. When not working he is busy with his hobby of creating miniature scenes in test tubes. He has also spent the last three years fantasizing about someday asking his extremely hot next door neighbor for a date but he has to get to know her first since he won't ask out someone he doesn't know well. Cohen is full of excuses not to do things such as ever leaving his apartment once the rain starts each night. He has no idea there is life outside his door once night falls.

But that fact changes when he keeps getting the same package dumped at his doorstep. Try as he might, Cohen can't get whoever is delivering the package to stop sending it back to him each time he returns it to them. Finally, Cohen peeks into the package and finds it contains a body part! Once Cohen tracks down Calla Human, the person the package should go to, he gets dragged into a body part snatching operation he wants no part of. Afterall, Cohen avoids anything out of the ordinary in his life and this new glitch in his routine is anything but his usual boring but safe lifestyle.

The young people who take over Cohen's life are a motley crew and it doesn't take long before Cohen feels responsible for their welfare. Despite body parts unconnected to bodies, the story has an overall lighthearted, comical tone to it. Not only that, maybe Cohen should have been looking for love farther from his doorstep. He envies this little crew of misfits and their closeness and feeling of family. Getting a body part in the mail may just be the worst and best thing that has ever happened to Cohen.

This is a very madcap adventure and Cohen just might outgrow his nerdiness with exposure to the outside world. The audiobook narration by Benjamin Fife fits the story well since he can do goofy and serious with equal skill. I'd call this a cozy dystopian tale if such a thing is possible.

Thank you to Splinter Press & Benny Fife Audio and NetGalley for this ARC.

From what I listened to, it was engaging and well written, but I just couldn't stand the narration.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the ALC