This is another book I read without remembering what it was about or refreshing my memory by reading the jacket flap. I ended up enjoying it quite a lot.
The story is told through the eyes of Klara, an AF (Artificial Friend). This is done so well that after a few pages I could hear her contented tone in every word. She’s obviously programmed to be helpful, kind, polite, and content and that’s reflected in her attitude throughout.
Klara is also programmed, I think, to worship the Sun. This is in part because she recharges using solar power, but somehow comes across as a religious belief. She frequently refers to sunlight as the Sun’s nourishment and she believes it to be a cure-all. Later in the book, Klara decides to ask the Sun to help Josie, the teenager who chose her, to be well. Klara decides that a sacrifice must be made for this to happen, this sacrifice being the disablement of a pollution machine. As a reader, I could see why this wouldn’t work, but to Klara, this absolutely would. She freely donates some of her cerebellum fluid to disable the machine, at the suggestion of Josie’s father. Again, as a reader I could see the father was manipulating her a bit, but she was intent on stopping the machine so she agreed to have the fluid drained.
Oddly, the sacrifice worked. Josie got better.
Better from what is only somewhat clear. Children are lifted, I assumed genetically, to be more intelligent. This lifting caused Josie’s illness. Because everything is from Klara’s pov, the illness is never really explained. Late in the book it’s revealed that Klara’s purpose is to accept an upload of Josie, should Josie die.
Klara stays with Josie even long after Josie no longer has the time or room for her. Josie promised her early on that she would never put her in a closet, but once Josie has other friends, Klara finds a utility closet all on her own and stands in there to be out of the way. After Josie goes to college, Klara lives in the Yard, which is clearly a junkyard. But she never complains, never finds fault with her situation. She’s just pleased to be of assistance.
There’s a background story too, one of the rise of AIs and people’s general paranoia of them, but it’s not explored in depth because Klara’s concerns are with Josie, not the surrounding world.
Information is revealed to the reader by dialogue that Klara both participates in and overhears. I must say, this is where the book faltered for me. Klara’s dialogue was excellent, her voice clear and interesting, but every other character said things in a manner I found false. It was clear to me that the author was just trying to convey information, which annoyed me a bit.
Overall though, I enjoyed this book. Klara is a gentle protagonist and while treatment of her was not always kind, her responses were polite. I’d recommend this book for people that enjoy a different pov and are okay with not knowing the details of the world building.
Should Be Writing 