This book is interesting and makes you think.

In "eMortal" by Steve Schafer, Liv is a high school junior and an expert computer programmer. She enters a contest programming an AI to solve challenges trying to beat other AI at it. Her mother wants her to help out in the family toy store .

Her creation, Breck, learns so fast that it seems he's becoming sentient.

Characters - 4/5
Writing - 5/5
Plot - 4/5
Pacing - 4/5
Unputdownability - 5/5
Enjoyment - 5/5
Narration - 5/5 by Rebecca H. Lee and Stacy Carolan
Cover - 4/5
Overall - 36/8 = 4 4/8

Thank you to Netgalley, Books Go Social, and Steve Schafer for providing this audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

This book was such a welcome surprise. The gist of it is a young girl, who’s very good with programming and enters an AI programming challenge. The character she builds in this world shows signs of sentience. There are lots of concepts to ponder and a spectacular twist at the end. Thoroughly enjoyed this one :) Thanks to the author and @booksgosocialgroup for my advanced copy.

This book was such a fun little surprise. Emphasis on surprise - AaAaAAAaahh!!!!! *Existential Dread*.

I didn't expect to become so attached to the characters and all of their stories. Schafer took some old tropes and changed everything about them that makes me groan (no whiney teen mc here!). It was really refreshing.

The whole coding and AI thing was super cool to read about and no jargon was shoved in your face - it was very accessible.

Thanks for allowing me to read and review this! It was genuinely fun and I think it would have been a great and also important story for me to read when I was a lot younger.

I did have a problem with Liv and her mother's resolution though.. without getting into spoilers, I think that the ending was something different and therefore refreshing and I am all for family first and building community and relationships but jeeeez Liv sure cops it from her mother... that the whole situation with those two characters was a resolution that left me feeling sad for Liv.

Quite a contemplative ending! Loved it.

I really enjoyed this book, and the thoughtful q&a that followed! I’m a fan of ya sci-fi and didn’t expect this book to have such a jaw dropping twist ending, so i Was pleasantly surprised. The writing is good the pace and structure of the story is strong and wow I keep thinking about the ending and its implications. I hope lots of people pick up the book and share it with their friends!

eMortal is an engrossing, thought-provoking journey that effortlessly pulls you into the intricacies of Liv's multi-layered life—balancing her personal struggles and a high-stakes coding contest in which her AI creation, Brock, must complete numerous challenges. The alternating narrative between Liv and her creation, Brock, is executed brilliantly. As Brock learns, questions reality, and becomes increasingly self-aware, his growth is captivating as it is unpredictable.

Additionally, the superb narration by Rebecca H. Lee and Stacy Carolan breathes life into each character and scene alike, enhancing the already compelling storyline and making the complex themes both accessible and entertaining. Overall, eMortal is a skillfully crafted audiobook that not only entertains, but left me pondering the boundaries between human life and artificial intelligence.

A huge thank you to Netgalley, BooksGoSocial Audio, and the author, Steve Schafer, for providing me with a free advanced listener's copy (ALC) of this book. I am voluntarily leaving this review; all thoughts and opinions are my own.

I really enjoyed this! It was enjoyable and posed a number of questions I wasn't expecting to face. That said, I predicted the twist and found that Liv dealt with it all far too smoothly and it was almost brushed aside?

This audiobook was a surprise, It gives us a solid approach to IA, and what it can change in our world. Or better our perception of what is our world… I wont give spoilers about what twists and turns this book gives or what the story is really about. I will just say this, I really enjoyed this audiobook, first because we had two different people reading, one female and one male and that does all the difference to really enjoy the story.

And I really recommend this audiobook or even the book, the story is well done and makes us cheer for breck and liv, I’ll just throw this out there, grab a copy for yourself and you’ll enjoy it and I think you wont be expecting the ending ^____^

Thank you NetGalley and BooksGoSocial Audio , for the free AAC and this is my honest opinion.

This was a fun book the plot twist really surprised me and I loved it .. it's a y.a scifi fantasy read and was a really fun listen

I really enjoyed this book. Liv is a computer genius. She enters a contest to build an advanced AI model that has to complete challenges to win the contest. Cue Breck. Breck is a different AI though. He has emotions and is unlike any AI around.

At the same time as the contest Liv is helping her mom around the toy store she owns which is struggling a lot.

Breck is becoming more and more human like which baffles everyone around Liv.

This book was fun! I liked how the reader saw Breck develop throughout the book. Also that plot twist? Can we get a second book or even a novella? Please!!

🎧4.25⭐️

I had the audiobook of this YA sci-fi fantasy read by Rebecca H Lee and Stacy Carolan who both do a good job instilling feeling.

Liv entered a competition to create an advanced AI called Breck only his world ends when the competition closes.
It’s a lovely story about the relationship that builds between human and AI. I was very invested in Breck and his outcome, what a lovely character. It’s quite emotional in places.

I did struggle at the start with all the coding language which is beyond me, but I soon became absorbed in the storytelling.
I can’t really say much without spoilers but I loved the ending which increased my rating. I need to specify that I’m not the target audience for this book.

For those who love cozy SciFi like A Psalm for the Wild Built by Becky Chambers & Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro, eMortal by Steve Schafer(image below) is a must read. Like Klara and the Sun, it makes the reader contemplate the evolution of AI in unique ways.

Thank you BooksGoSocial Audio and Net Galley for the opportunity to read this ARC. All my opinions are my own

eMortal was a 5⭐️ read that totally took me by surprise. I quickly went from ‘this is a cool concept’ to being unable to put it down.

Liv is a teenage girl who spends too much time on her computer. Right now, you can’t blame her because she’s competing in an online coding contest for a chance at her dream tech internship. She had coded an advanced AI, Breck, who needs to complete increasingly sophisticated challenges before the contest ends and his program ceases to exist. Liv, frustrated by his lack of progress, decides to try something totally new and the results are astonishing. Breck is becoming more humanlike everyday and Liv is desperate save his consciousness before time runs out.

I find AI-centred science fiction fascinating any day of the week, and the YA accessibility and fast pacing made it even better. I surprisingly loved that the main characters sometimes made illogical decisions because, duh, they’re teenagers. I also really enjoyed the chapters from Breck’s POV because I think the author navigated the experience of gaining sentience and the desire to question things perfectly. Breck is an incredibly likeable character and by the end I was rooting for him so hard! Most importantly this has a brilliant ending and it’s one of those books that will have you questioning your whole reality. 🫠

I’m not even sure if thought provoking fully explains how I’m feeling. The ending is mind blowing and I did not see it coming. My brain is going in circles trying to process it all. Super unique and awesome storyline. Definitely not my normal read but glad I did.
Book is about a 17 year old MFC Liv who enters a contest to program an ai simulation. She creates Breck in the hopes of wining the competition. To her surprise he starts to develop characteristics like feelings, emotions and sarcasm among other things which were not things that were initially expected. He acts more human than ai. Liv then programs a phone into his world so she can converse with him. She’s worried she will be disqualified from the contest because it’s against the rules to interfere but she feels a connection with him that she can’t ignore. I can’t really explain much more without spoiling the book but this scrapes the surface.
This is a dual pov book with both Liv and Breck which I thought was great getting to hear both narrations.