Love the lede of the synopsis: What
happens when a woman loses her memory but gains a conscience? ,
which is the binding hook of this very, very well-written and engrossing
sci-fi.
Dr. Alexandra Turing wakes up from a
six-month coma after a massive accident and the very first thing she says is to
call her Alex, which is friendlier and less formal than Alexandra. That is just
first of the many personality changes she seems to have. Alex is suffering from
amenisa. She can only remember things up to two years back. Her spotty older
memories seem like still photographs. She also has complete sensory amnesia
i.e. she had no memory of textures or taste. She remembers her educational
achievements, the robotics project that she was working on in her father’s
company, Organic Advancement Solutions (OAS). Her mind is sharp. She also
has uncomfortable memories of not treating either her father or her best friend
and colleague, Dr. Falguni Nanjiani, too well. With Falguni’s supportive
presence, Alex begins relearning living and retaking her paused life.
Alex meets Dr. Emily St. John, a vet, and
there is mutual interest between them. She makes the effort to get to know the
beautiful doctor better and Emily becomes the first person with whom Alex forms
a bond and a relationship after her coma. Alex also makes an effort to build
back a relationship with her father.
Amidst all this, she returns to working on
her pet project, Synthetica, a fully functional android. When she returns to
work, she is dismayed to find her project team reduced from twenty to maybe
just four, but she is undeterred. With encouragement from David Devos, a board
member n OAS who now seems to be in a way more active role than she remembers,
Alex gets involved with other departments of the company.
However, she seems to hit walls when it
comes to certain puzzling questions she has about herself, her project and her
past. Falguni and David seem to be giving her an unaccountable run around for
many things.
With Emily’s unwavering support, Alex takes
on more and more reins of her own life and makes surprising discoveries.
This is a gripping read. The reveal is
predictable and portended right from the beginning but that doesn’t take away
from how involved you get in Alex’s story or how invested you are in the
Alex-Emily relationship.
Alex is childlike in many things,
completely literal and frequently comes across as autistic. Emily is a
wonderful, emotionally rich partner to Alex. There are some great dialogues and
sweet scenes with these two. Their relationship is like a thread that weaves
everything together. The MCs and the supporting cast are well developed which
makes it a particularly gratifying read. We have to make a mention of the racial
diversity within the characters – much appreciated, that.
The writing is excellent (some regrettable
homonym misuses notwithstanding). The pacing is mostly good, though, at one
point it felt like the narrative was taking the scenic route to get to the
point. There is enough imagined technology and science-y terms to make it all seem
completely plausible. There are absolutely no loose ends in the story, which is
fantastic.
We definitely recommend this book to both, sci-fi
and romance fans.
⭐⭐⭐⭐★
