Review of Terms of Service

[Petra Rapaić]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Terms of Service" by Craig W. Stanfill.]

---

5 out of 5 stars

---

Share This Review

---

Kim is surrounded by pale beige, pale blue, and pale green. She needs to apologize to her fridge if she wants to have breakfast. And if she is not a good citizen, AI will make her wait forever on public transportation. The beginning of Terms of Service: Subject to Change Without Notice by Craig W. Stanfill is extremely adventurous: somebody refused to give her child away to the system so everyone, including Kim, was investigating to find out where they are. This made Kim upset because of her trauma after being surrendered to the system at the age of four. Despite the perfect system, she is lonely and drowning her sorrow in vodka and drugs.

At first, I believed Terms of Service: Subject to Change Without Notice is going to be a thriller, an extensive investigation about cultists who hide their children, where Kim will fight her abandonment and emerge as a completely different person. But it turned out to be a quest for love and friendship in a construct where love is not allowed. Kim always had trouble adapting to the procedure of finding mates. The only time she felt completely free was with her friend Shan when they were riding bikes, talking, laughing, and exploring.

Even though the world is controlled by AI, not everything is what it seems. The author took one phenomenon from our society, exaggerating it so that we could see where are we going to stand in the future. And the future is grim. There is no “he” pronoun because it sounds threatening - only “she”. Genders are described as innies and outies. Only AIs can use “I”, humans need to use “we” instead. Bright colors in fashion don’t exist anymore. People can’t love one person, not even one gender, because that is labeled as selfish and offensive. This innovatively represented social construct is what makes the novel so interesting.

I give Terms of Service: Subject to Change Without Notice 5 out of 5 stars. It is exceptionally well-edited and I didn’t find any mistakes. The only thing that I could complain about is that it didn’t turn out to be the thriller I envisioned at the beginning, but that is just me. Kim is a very brave character and she has just found her strength. I’m hoping her next adventure to be just as interesting as this one.

The novel is perfect for sci-fi lovers who also enjoy the occasional trip to the drama genre.

******
Terms of Service
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on iTunes