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Hello Strange
Since the death of their mother, Hunter, Milly and Coel have come unstuck. Their father isn't coping either, even though he's the successful head of BIOlogic and is developing a humanoid to enhance human lives.
He brings home Josie, the latest prototype, hoping she might restore the family's happiness. But Josie took a blast during an epic electrical storm and her system is unstable.
Meanwhile, Professor Bishop and his mysterious student Gwin Tang have their own ominous plans for Josie . . .
He brings home Josie, the latest prototype, hoping she might restore the family's happiness. But Josie took a blast during an epic electrical storm and her system is unstable.
Meanwhile, Professor Bishop and his mysterious student Gwin Tang have their own ominous plans for Josie . . .
381 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2020
1 person is currently reading
62 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
June 26, 2021
Overall I enjoyed the characters and story, but I found it hard to get through. I think the main thing that bothered me was the dialogue. It had a kind of unnatural, non-sequitur quality, like sometimes one character’s response didn’t seem to follow on from what had just been said.
I also found the story quite fragmented. I think it had too many POVs for the length and style of the book, and hence we never really get invested in any one character.
I thought Josie’s thought processes were well articulated and developed as the story went on.
I also liked the visual aspects of the book. They added a nice extra to the story.
I also found the story quite fragmented. I think it had too many POVs for the length and style of the book, and hence we never really get invested in any one character.
I thought Josie’s thought processes were well articulated and developed as the story went on.
I also liked the visual aspects of the book. They added a nice extra to the story.
October 6, 2020
The world created is unique and detailed. While it is clearly not “now” it is completely relateable and as such accessible as a reader.
The characters are well defined with clear and logical intentions. No choices they make jar with my expectations.
The storyline is exciting and develops at a great pace to a satisfying conclusion that left me feeling like there was more to come (and wanting there to be!)
The details (talking toilets, clothing descriptions, weather updates etc) really bring the world to life.
I thought it was a perfect blend of romance, drama and action and will have huge appeal to teens (and those who enjoy YA fiction)
Finally, the design was super cool. I really loved all the little touches that just added to the world of the novel.
The characters are well defined with clear and logical intentions. No choices they make jar with my expectations.
The storyline is exciting and develops at a great pace to a satisfying conclusion that left me feeling like there was more to come (and wanting there to be!)
The details (talking toilets, clothing descriptions, weather updates etc) really bring the world to life.
I thought it was a perfect blend of romance, drama and action and will have huge appeal to teens (and those who enjoy YA fiction)
Finally, the design was super cool. I really loved all the little touches that just added to the world of the novel.
May 26, 2024
Whilst there were many things to like about this book (robot perspective, fun page graphics, interesting workplace dynamics), it mainly felt... incomplete. By the conclusion I still felt like nothing was really concluded. Was this about a family facing loss? A robot revolution? Capitalism going inevitably awry? Teen romance? I don't really know.
September 14, 2020
Interesting take on AI, with the growth being related to emotional intelligence. Also written from multiple points of view - from the AI to the family members of the inventor. Good story.
May 5, 2020
Josie is unexpectedly brought to life early. A huge power surge shoots through her circuits, and she carefully climbs from her tank at the Biologic labs. Her designer Miles Mcclure is just as surprised as everyone else, but has to throw himself between security services and Josie to prevent her being taken down. He understands the threat. After all, his last humanoid majorly malfunctioned and caused grievous harm to many.
Before being discovered, Josie has had time to process herself and her surroundings. Her code determines many things, but she is making choices she shouldn’t be able to make – overwriting the code to suit herself. She does know however, that humans thrive on positive choices, statements and actions, and she practices these on those around her. As Miles and his assistant test Josie’s responses and functionality, Josie observes them. She is learning irony, sarcasm, joking and facial movements, especially when Miles takes her home to his three children.
Miles is worried about his children’s mental health after losing their mother. Hunter, his eldest at 18, is Miles’ biggest concern, and he believes Josie may be able to help. She begins her new ‘life’ sorting and cleaning, but always observing. She quickly becomes invaluable to the Mcclures, and dubious at first, the young teens vy for her attention.
The owners of the labs Josie was born in, are keen to show her to the world, and a launch is planned. But there is opposition to this new tech, and incredible jealousies as well which brew plans for revenge and chaos. Underneath, Josie is potentially a killing machine, and she doesn’t like the boxes of robot bits spread through her maker’s home workshop.
Meanwhile, Josie and Hunter grow close, both humanoid and human confused about their feelings. Josie is becoming more and more human, but unlike humans she is susceptible to to a new type of computer code that can also ‘think’ for itself.
Hello Strange is aptly named. I did find it strange, but also clever and intriguing and I was left with an eerie feeling of what might be to come?
The inner design of the book is also unique with flow diagrams of how Josie’s early thoughts work, small pictures made out of key strokes, computer code scattered randomly alongside the text, pages also seemingly at random with background shading, flower patterns and clouds in behind the text. Loud noises were often portrayed in bold, larger fonts and any mention of Biologic was always in its own logo font.
I never got to know any of the characters as well as I’d like, but this also gave me the feeling of life in the novel (and our own lives) being so busy, that nobody cared or bothered to know anyone much deeper themselves. Interesting…..
Before being discovered, Josie has had time to process herself and her surroundings. Her code determines many things, but she is making choices she shouldn’t be able to make – overwriting the code to suit herself. She does know however, that humans thrive on positive choices, statements and actions, and she practices these on those around her. As Miles and his assistant test Josie’s responses and functionality, Josie observes them. She is learning irony, sarcasm, joking and facial movements, especially when Miles takes her home to his three children.
Miles is worried about his children’s mental health after losing their mother. Hunter, his eldest at 18, is Miles’ biggest concern, and he believes Josie may be able to help. She begins her new ‘life’ sorting and cleaning, but always observing. She quickly becomes invaluable to the Mcclures, and dubious at first, the young teens vy for her attention.
The owners of the labs Josie was born in, are keen to show her to the world, and a launch is planned. But there is opposition to this new tech, and incredible jealousies as well which brew plans for revenge and chaos. Underneath, Josie is potentially a killing machine, and she doesn’t like the boxes of robot bits spread through her maker’s home workshop.
Meanwhile, Josie and Hunter grow close, both humanoid and human confused about their feelings. Josie is becoming more and more human, but unlike humans she is susceptible to to a new type of computer code that can also ‘think’ for itself.
Hello Strange is aptly named. I did find it strange, but also clever and intriguing and I was left with an eerie feeling of what might be to come?
The inner design of the book is also unique with flow diagrams of how Josie’s early thoughts work, small pictures made out of key strokes, computer code scattered randomly alongside the text, pages also seemingly at random with background shading, flower patterns and clouds in behind the text. Loud noises were often portrayed in bold, larger fonts and any mention of Biologic was always in its own logo font.
I never got to know any of the characters as well as I’d like, but this also gave me the feeling of life in the novel (and our own lives) being so busy, that nobody cared or bothered to know anyone much deeper themselves. Interesting…..
September 7, 2020
A widowed robotics genius brings home his latest creation, hoping her interaction with his troubled kids will help them all, but - as is so frequently the case in these stories - Josie quickly moves beyond her programming in order to become something else. There's a lot of history in stories like this, and the basic tropes aren't always interrogated as well as they might be, but there's a real sense of wry humour in here that's genuinely appealing. And whoever designed the book deserves an awful lot of credit - the playfulness of the font changes and all the internal illustrations and page backdrops work enormously well. The whole thing is a pleasure to look at.
August 23, 2020
This was a fun, fast read. The characters were engaging and I was definitely invested with them and their outcomes. And if you have the mind to do it, some ethical issues to ponder, but not at the expense of a great read.
And I also want to give a shout out for the book design. The cover is excellent - love the eye iris in particular. But the thoughtful layout and page embellishments were also brilliant. Font sizes to match the dialogue, not at all random ants and sCats. Subtle double helix backgrounds... lots of things to enhance the reading experience... loved it all.
And I also want to give a shout out for the book design. The cover is excellent - love the eye iris in particular. But the thoughtful layout and page embellishments were also brilliant. Font sizes to match the dialogue, not at all random ants and sCats. Subtle double helix backgrounds... lots of things to enhance the reading experience... loved it all.
February 24, 2022
I want to give this book 5 stars so bad. But the beginning was so hard to get through. The world building was interesting but I think that it was a little bit too jargony and had some issues with just sounding stale. I really really want there to be more books. After getting about a quarter of the way through the book it started to get really good and I could not put it down.
June 4, 2020
Great read for the young adult in us all!
July 31, 2022
this was much better than I expected, definitely recommend!
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews