Hum: A Novel by Helen Phillips

(Thank you to S&S/ Marysue Rucci Books (Simon & Schuster) for providing me with a copy of this book!)

 

Book mail is fun mail when it introduces me to new-to-me authors. I was excited to get my hands on a copy of HUM by Helen Phillips. I love science fiction, and I knew this book would be right up my alley - robots, AI, dystopian cities, technology, climate issues, etc. I always enjoy reading about different worlds and cities where we as humans are living with all of the repercussions of the choices we've made in  allowing technology to become the main focus in our lives and livelihood; and nature is viewed as a secondary concern, almost like a last resort. Definitely makes you think about the future and how the worlds this genre creates are terrifying and we can only hope they never come true. 

So, what exactly is this story about? Well, here's the summary from Goodreads:

From the National Book Award–longlisted author of The Need comes an extraordinary novel about a wife and mother who—after losing her job to AI—undergoes a procedure that renders her undetectable to surveillance…but at what cost?

In a city addled by climate change and populated by intelligent robots called “hums,” May loses her job to artificial intelligence. In a desperate bid to resolve her family’s debt and secure their future for another few months, she becomes a guinea pig in an experiment that alters her face so it cannot be recognized by surveillance.

Seeking some reprieve from her recent hardships and from her family’s addiction to their devices, she splurges on passes that allow them three nights’ respite inside the Botanical Garden: a rare green refuge where forests, streams, and animals flourish. But her insistence that her son, daughter, and husband leave their devices at home proves far more fraught than she anticipated, and the lush beauty of the Botanical Garden is not the balm she hoped it would be. When her children come under threat, May is forced to put her trust in a hum of uncertain motives as she works to restore the life of her family.

Written in taut, urgent prose, Hum is a work of speculative fiction that unflinchingly explores marriage, motherhood, and selfhood in a world compromised by global warming and dizzying technological advancement, a world of both dystopian and utopian possibilities. As New York Timesbestselling author Jeff VanderMeer says, “Helen Phillips, in typical bravura fashion, has found a way to make visible uncomfortable truths about our present by interrogating the near-future.”

How awesome does that sound? I know that I can't wait to dive right in. HUM is definitely going to be a treat to read. Make sure to grab a copy ASAP - I'm sure you'll want to enjoy this techno-drama, too! 

Thank you to S&S/ Marysue Rucci Books (Simon & Schuster) for providing me with a copy of this book!