Review of Terms of Service
-
Tsanda H Correa
- Book of the Month Participant
- Posts: 11
- Joined: 06 Oct 2022, 11:08
- Currently Reading:
- Bookshelf Size: 9
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-tsanda-h-correa.html
- Latest Review: House of Eire by June Gillam
Review of Terms of Service
[Following is a volunteer review of "Terms of Service" by Craig W. Stanfill.]
Having every aspect of her life constantly monitored and manipulated, Kim tries her best to be a model citizen—completely ordinary, unremarkable, and most importantly, obedient. An ever-present feeling of emptiness and loneliness accompanies Kim wherever she goes as she strives to have some sort of genuine happiness in her life. In Terms of Service by Craig W. Stanfill, in the future, AIs are implemented in the surveillance and enforcement of the law. Their ever-watchful eyes capture and record every human interaction to later be analyzed by humans who will decide how they'll be punished if any terms of service are violated. Because the AIs are missing a certain human element, the human workers tasked with overseeing these violations are a crucial part of the system. Although Kim at first sees herself as anything but special (as she should, according to society), she still can't help but be curious and analytical about the world around her and begins to question everything she was ever taught to be.
There were some really cool and interesting ideas, like how even something as simple as any kind of commute is controlled by the AIs and being able to have sexual relationships. I feel like in a lot of dystopian Orwellian-type books, people are not allowed almost any kind of romantic relationships, but the dynamic was interesting and still came with a lot of restrictions. For example, being able to have children, but having to be approved beforehand and surrendering the child to the state by the age of four so they can be raised in a government-run group facility.
It was slow-paced in the beginning, but since there was a lot of world-building going on and information to take in, I didn't mind it at all. I'd say it helped me digest everything at a good pace and didn't cram everything in the beginning just to move the story along.
With the pronouns, it kind of caught me off guard as everyone is referred to as "she" or "her," so I would just by default picture everyone as a woman and kind of forgot men existed in that world until about two-thirds of the way through. This didn’t impact my overall experience, though. I would've liked to have had more information on Kim and Shan's relationship in school, how they became so close, and how their relationship began to flourish. A little more showing rather than just telling us about how they felt about their past and current relationship. At the end, the story began to take a really dark turn, but not even a page later, it receded. I hope that in the sequel, the book dives deeper into the darker tone, as it was well done and adds more depth and risk to the story.
It was well edited, and the story was intriguing. I rate this book 3 out of 5 stars . I felt myself genuinely immersed in the story and enjoyed the world-building. However, after the story picks up momentum, it suddenly stops, picks up again, and then simmers down. There wasn't a lot of consistency at the end. I'd recommend this book to ages 17 to 35, as it deals with mature themes such as sex, sexual identity, suicide, and sexual assault. Those who like cyber punk style settings along with self discovery adventures will enjoy this book.
******
Terms of Service
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on iTunes
Having every aspect of her life constantly monitored and manipulated, Kim tries her best to be a model citizen—completely ordinary, unremarkable, and most importantly, obedient. An ever-present feeling of emptiness and loneliness accompanies Kim wherever she goes as she strives to have some sort of genuine happiness in her life. In Terms of Service by Craig W. Stanfill, in the future, AIs are implemented in the surveillance and enforcement of the law. Their ever-watchful eyes capture and record every human interaction to later be analyzed by humans who will decide how they'll be punished if any terms of service are violated. Because the AIs are missing a certain human element, the human workers tasked with overseeing these violations are a crucial part of the system. Although Kim at first sees herself as anything but special (as she should, according to society), she still can't help but be curious and analytical about the world around her and begins to question everything she was ever taught to be.
There were some really cool and interesting ideas, like how even something as simple as any kind of commute is controlled by the AIs and being able to have sexual relationships. I feel like in a lot of dystopian Orwellian-type books, people are not allowed almost any kind of romantic relationships, but the dynamic was interesting and still came with a lot of restrictions. For example, being able to have children, but having to be approved beforehand and surrendering the child to the state by the age of four so they can be raised in a government-run group facility.
It was slow-paced in the beginning, but since there was a lot of world-building going on and information to take in, I didn't mind it at all. I'd say it helped me digest everything at a good pace and didn't cram everything in the beginning just to move the story along.
With the pronouns, it kind of caught me off guard as everyone is referred to as "she" or "her," so I would just by default picture everyone as a woman and kind of forgot men existed in that world until about two-thirds of the way through. This didn’t impact my overall experience, though. I would've liked to have had more information on Kim and Shan's relationship in school, how they became so close, and how their relationship began to flourish. A little more showing rather than just telling us about how they felt about their past and current relationship. At the end, the story began to take a really dark turn, but not even a page later, it receded. I hope that in the sequel, the book dives deeper into the darker tone, as it was well done and adds more depth and risk to the story.
It was well edited, and the story was intriguing. I rate this book 3 out of 5 stars . I felt myself genuinely immersed in the story and enjoyed the world-building. However, after the story picks up momentum, it suddenly stops, picks up again, and then simmers down. There wasn't a lot of consistency at the end. I'd recommend this book to ages 17 to 35, as it deals with mature themes such as sex, sexual identity, suicide, and sexual assault. Those who like cyber punk style settings along with self discovery adventures will enjoy this book.
******
Terms of Service
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on iTunes
Latest Review: House of Eire by June Gillam
