Review of Terms of Service
-
Amber Thorn
- Posts: 1
- Joined: 13 Jan 2023, 00:32
- Currently Reading: Raising Good Humans
- Bookshelf Size: 51
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-amber-thorn.html
- Latest Review: Terms of Service by Craig W. Stanfill
Review of Terms of Service
[Following is a volunteer review of "Terms of Service" by Craig W. Stanfill.]
Kim enjoys her job training artificial intelligence as well as spending time in virtual reality with her small social circle. Despite her refrigerator giving her tofu far too frequently and her shower never being quite warm enough, Kim's life is perfectly mediocre and she works hard not to stir up trouble. That is, until her best friend from school moves back to the area. The two quickly find themselves unwittingly breaking several societal rules, starting with a simple bike ride through the park. As a result, Kim is forced to unravel a web of deceit and illusion. Fearing for her job and her life; she attempts to correct her transgressions without losing her personal identity in the process.
Terms of Service: Subject to Change Without Notice by Craig W. Stanfill is a thrilling dystopian novel. The technological advances seemed quite realistic and made me wonder how close to totalitarianism the world already is. In this world, gender, religion and race have been wiped away from society. Drugs and alcohol are freely purchased, yet individualism is squashed and rejected. Fast fashion and hookup culture is rampant. Nowhere is safe from the spying eyes of AI and they can make your life quite difficult if you break their terms of service. The characters were relatable and fully developed. The plot was unexpected and kept me questioning what might come next. The book kept me intrigued and never felt predictable or boring. This book is not overly heavy with dialect and feels balanced. I was firmly impressed by this debut novel.
There were no negatives to this book, in my personal opinion. It was well written and edited, the plot was strong and the characters were well developed. I did not come across a single spelling or grammatical error. The only possible shortcoming I can think of is that I was left wanting to continue reading on to see what would become of Kim. If you are not a fan of cliffhangers, you may not like the ending of this book. To me, this was not something I found terribly troublesome and only made me more eager for the continuation of the story. I do hope the next book will be available before too long as I'm very anxious to read more from this author!
I rate Terms of Service: Subject to Change Without Notice a solid five out of five stars. I admire how well the book was structured and the way the author was able to keep me fascinated with his new world surveillance state. It is rare to find a story that is so well edited and fully imagined. Stanfill clearly spent numerous hours creating this exhilarating work of science fiction. The fact that the novel so closely parallels reality has instilled a niggle of fear in my core and has me questioning the path that we as a society are on.
I would highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys science fiction. If you appreciate George Orwell's 1984, this book will be right up your alley. The oppression of humanity by machine is a thought provoking subject that most have pondered about, making this book perfect for most readers.
******
Terms of Service
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on iTunes
Kim enjoys her job training artificial intelligence as well as spending time in virtual reality with her small social circle. Despite her refrigerator giving her tofu far too frequently and her shower never being quite warm enough, Kim's life is perfectly mediocre and she works hard not to stir up trouble. That is, until her best friend from school moves back to the area. The two quickly find themselves unwittingly breaking several societal rules, starting with a simple bike ride through the park. As a result, Kim is forced to unravel a web of deceit and illusion. Fearing for her job and her life; she attempts to correct her transgressions without losing her personal identity in the process.
Terms of Service: Subject to Change Without Notice by Craig W. Stanfill is a thrilling dystopian novel. The technological advances seemed quite realistic and made me wonder how close to totalitarianism the world already is. In this world, gender, religion and race have been wiped away from society. Drugs and alcohol are freely purchased, yet individualism is squashed and rejected. Fast fashion and hookup culture is rampant. Nowhere is safe from the spying eyes of AI and they can make your life quite difficult if you break their terms of service. The characters were relatable and fully developed. The plot was unexpected and kept me questioning what might come next. The book kept me intrigued and never felt predictable or boring. This book is not overly heavy with dialect and feels balanced. I was firmly impressed by this debut novel.
There were no negatives to this book, in my personal opinion. It was well written and edited, the plot was strong and the characters were well developed. I did not come across a single spelling or grammatical error. The only possible shortcoming I can think of is that I was left wanting to continue reading on to see what would become of Kim. If you are not a fan of cliffhangers, you may not like the ending of this book. To me, this was not something I found terribly troublesome and only made me more eager for the continuation of the story. I do hope the next book will be available before too long as I'm very anxious to read more from this author!
I rate Terms of Service: Subject to Change Without Notice a solid five out of five stars. I admire how well the book was structured and the way the author was able to keep me fascinated with his new world surveillance state. It is rare to find a story that is so well edited and fully imagined. Stanfill clearly spent numerous hours creating this exhilarating work of science fiction. The fact that the novel so closely parallels reality has instilled a niggle of fear in my core and has me questioning the path that we as a society are on.
I would highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys science fiction. If you appreciate George Orwell's 1984, this book will be right up your alley. The oppression of humanity by machine is a thought provoking subject that most have pondered about, making this book perfect for most readers.
******
Terms of Service
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on iTunes
Latest Review: Terms of Service by Craig W. Stanfill
