As one of the first few people to read and review UnWorld, I did not want to give a negative review. But unfortunately, I did not enjoy this book at all. Conceptually, I think there are a lot of interesting pieces--AI avatars that take on sentience, philosophical discussions about what it means to be human, a searing portrait of grief--but these pieces never coalesced into an interesting or coherent whole.

I read a lot of literary fiction, so I'm no stranger to stream of consciousness, unique narrative choices, or nonlinear plots. But the decision to tell this relatively short book from the point of view of 4 different narrators--something which has worked so well in other similar books--is its greatest downfall. The narrators are, in this order: Anna, a woman grieving the death by suicide of her teenage son, Alex; Cathy, an adjunct professor studying "uploads" (sentient AI copies of the humans they bond with); Aviva, Anna's emancipated upload who finds herself bonding to Cathy in a desperate bid to keep alive; and Sam, Alex's best friend. If it sounds like these narrators connect only tenuously, that is correct.

So much time is spent on various different intellectual tangents--from consciousness to addiction--that I felt the characters were more mouthpieces for philosophy than fully fledged people in their own rights. A book that wants to be character-driven must put its characters in the drivers' seat. And a book that's told in first person ought to have some distinction in character voices. In comp Candy House, for example, each character was developed so sharply that I understood both how they connected to the whole, and also felt for each in the brief time I spent with them. I did not engage with Anna's two parts of the book at all--and felt it really should go through an edit to get those awful two pages about her breasts out of there (women really do not think about our breasts nearly as much as male authors think we do). I felt abruptly thrust into Cathy's section of the book, but did enjoy my time with her for the most part. I thought Aviva's point of view was...fine, I guess? I felt Sam's point of view was strangely Euphoria-esque, but appreciated how it did paint a portrait of Alex, at least.

And that's the thing--I can see what this book is trying to do. I can see how Alex, and grief over him, is meant to tie everything together, how the internalized memory of Alex is meant to be a counterpoint to the externalized (and sentient) memory of Anna that is her upload, Aviva. I can see how AI, and ghosts, and grief, function together. How the dead and departed take on a life all their own, and how only memory keeps them alive. I can see the message about isolation that Greene's trying to put in there--how a lonely teenager can find solace in that which is not real, and crave that reality more than reality itself (the titular UnWorld).

But I think this book spends so much time being artsy and deliberately obtuse for any of this to come through coherently. The above analysis is a result of me, with notes upon notes, trying to make sense of things. There is very little sense of time or place. It could take place in a white room. The characters could be anybody, but not in a "it could be you" sense; more in a "not developed" sense. And so--I do not get the message that this book is going for, and I don't feel it in my bones like I want to.

All this being said--literary fiction is notoriously decisive. Half of my favorite literary novels sit at a cool 3.5 on Goodreads. I love artsy-fartsy think pieces that are universally hated. I hate Pulitzer Prize winners that are universally loved. That's both the beauty and the curse of the genre. But my rule to combat that is this: I will only rate below 3 stars if the book is problematic, poorly crafted, or otherwise offensive to my standards of writing and/or humanity. And this book, for all its flaws, is none of those things. It just…not at all a flavor of LitFic that I connected with, and did not come together in a way that felt satisfying to this particular reader.

I was gifted this e-ARC by NetGalley, Knopf, and Jayson Greene in exchange for my honest review.

While reading this book I felt adrift in so many ways. Trying to understand the death of a teen from the perspective of several different people who care about him is bound to be an emotional experience Family and friends grapple with the question: Suicide or accident? and the book works its way to an answer, but the journey to reach a conclusion is unsettling to say the least. The narrative is divided into sections each told by someone close to Alex. The reader is plunged into the aftermath of Alex’s death with little preparation and must tread water as you figure out what is happening. Two factors add to the confusion — Alex’s emotional issues which he expresses ad infinitum and long past the point of interesting me. And the futuristic concept of the “upload,” a digital entity composed of the sense memories of a human tether.. That was key to the story but only made clear as the narrative reached its weird conclusion.
I can’t decide if I was not clever enough to follow all the twists, or the book needed tightening to make the plot easier to follow. What I do know for sure is that the characters did not engage me enough to give me a satisfying reading experience.

A very interesting novel with some compelling characters. I did lose interest at times. But others might connect to it better than me. Well written.

Anna is heartbroken after the death of her son Alex, but what makes it even more disconcerting is the fact she’s unsure if his death was an accident or self-inflicted. Alex’s only friend Samantha was an eyewitness to this event. Aviva is an AI that teaches each person something unexpected. `

This book talks about grief in a whole new way by incorporating technology into the grieving process. It blurs the line between what it means to be human versus machine. It makes you wonder whether an AI can become a sentient individual and it makes a good argument in favor of it being the case.

The writing is beautiful and well thought out for such a heavy topic. It’s well-paced and doles out bits of information to keep you intrigued and piece the story together masterfully. It does get quite slow in the middle.

Thank you, NetGalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor for allowing me to read this book early. The opinion in this review is my own.

This novel is a haunting and thought-provoking exploration of grief, identity, and the blurred boundaries between human and machine. With its rich blend of emotional depth and speculative storytelling, this novel invites readers to ponder the nature of loss and connection in a world where technology intertwines with the most intimate aspects of existence.

The futuristic aspects never overshadow the deeply human core of the story; instead, they enhance its exploration of how people—and perhaps even digital entities—process trauma, guilt, and healing.

With beautifully crafted prose and four memorable characters that linger in mind long after the final page, Unworld is a profound meditation on the connections that bind us, even when fractured by tragedy.

The publisher provided ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

It stands to mention that there is a lot to like about this novel. It's clever, insightful, emotionally intelligent, and well written. The AI themed plot with tethering, untethering, and contemplating personhood of entities that aren't technically persons and are based largely on the persons they are tethered to, that's all very in. Very Severance, actually.
And yet, where Severance had me completely enthralled and excitedly glued to the TV screen, UnWorld didn't have the same effect. it's odd to not quite emotionally connect to such an emotionally expansive novel. But I think that's exactly where it lost me - UnWorld was just too deeply interior of a book. it read like a debut novel that got too hung up on being literary and too wrapped up in the microanalysis of its characters. A bit exhaustively so.
Perhaps it's the sort of thing you have to be in the mood for. This isn't the case of an underwhelming novel so much as one that didn't quite work for this particular reader. User mileage may vary. Thanks Netgalley.

UnWorld is a mesmerizing exploration of grief, technology, and the boundaries between human and digital existence, wrapped in a sizzling mystery that will keep you guessing until the very end. Beneath its dystopian surface lies the interconnected story of four compelling individuals, each grappling with their own struggles while piecing together the truth about Alex's untimely death.

The novel begins with Anna, Alex’s mother, who is haunted by his tragic loss. She is stuck in the liminal space between mourning and searching, unable to determine whether her son’s death was an accident or intentional. Her grief is raw, tangible, and complicated by the unsettling world she inhabits—a near-future where technology has advanced in ways that blur the line between life and death. We also meet Cathy, an AI professor who very much believes in the rights of AI as individuals. Then there’s Samantha, Alex’s best friend and neighbor, whose intimate bond with him reveals secrets that Anna may not be ready to face. Sam’s perspective offers emotional depth and glimpses into Alex’s inner world before his death, all while pulling us deeper into the unfolding mystery.

But the heart of UnWorld is Aviva, a digital entity untethered from her human host. As her story intertwines with Anna, Cathy, and Samantha, we begin to see her influence ripple through their lives—and uncover her connection to Alex. Aviva’s emancipation raises profound questions about consciousness, identity, and what it means to exist in the ether of the digital world.

The narrative builds methodically, chapter by chapter, peeling back the layers of Alex’s life, his relationships, and his ultimate fate. Just when you think you have it figured out, the story shifts, revealing truths that are far more intricate than you could have imagined.

UnWorld by Jayson Greene is a powerful and thought-provoking dystopian story that will leave you questioning the limits of technology, the nature of grief, and the bonds that tie us to one another. Perfect for fans of literary sci-fi and gripping mysteries.

#KnopfPantheonVintageAnchor #Knopf #JaysonGreene #UnWorld