My Rating: 5 stars
This book blew me away, which, to be honest, I absolutely was not expecting. When I first read the premise, all the mentions of things like "computer science" and "artificial intelligence" and "virtual reality" and "cryptanalysis" made me wary, as I thought this would be one of those "overly science-y" books that would go way over my head and end up being a struggle to read. Well, I couldn't have been more wrong! Yes, there was "science stuff" in here and computer as well as coding-related terms that didn't make tremendous sense to me at times — but what I appreciated was that these elements didn't overwhelm the main story; rather, they were more in the background. complementing the story, and only being brought to the forefront occasionally as necessary.
Despite the book's title as well as its science-themed elements, this story, at its core, is actually a coming-of-age tale that follows the main character Ada Sibelius as she navigates an unconventional life raised by her eccentric single father David, who runs a computer science lab in Boston in the 1980s. Ada is homeschooled and accompanies her father to his lab everyday where she learns the ins-and-outs of his work, so that by the time she is twelve years old, she is already a prodigy in the area of computer tech and coding. It is around this time that David is diagnosed with Alzheimer's and his mind begins to deteriorate more rapidly than anticipated — a diagnosis that deals a devastating blow to Ada, as David was essentially her entire world and now she finds herself unequipped to face the "real" world outside. Ada goes to live with David's colleague and neighbor Diana Liston, a divorcee with three sons who is also David's closest and most trusted friend. Before Ada has a chance to adjust to the new circumstances of her life however, she finds out that her beloved father actually is not who she (and everyone else who knew him) thought he was. This leads Ada to embark on a convoluted path to unravel the secrets that David had been hiding — a journey of discovery that follows Ada from adolescence to adulthood and becomes a necessary means to understanding her own existence.
As I mentioned earlier, I went into this one a bit apprehensive, but ended up loving it so much. Admittedly, this is a story that takes awhile to get into, especially the first third or so, as the author Liz Moore takes her time introducing and building up the characters (which definitely pays off in the end given how attached we become to these characters — specifically Ada, David, and Liston). This is very much a character-driven story told primarily through the lens of Ada's coming-of-age and interactions with those around her, yet the arc involving her father David's past and the quest to find out his identity is also written so compellingly. It's always a good sign when I pick up a hefty book such as this one (which clocks in at nearly 500 pages) and find myself unable to put it down because I care so much about these characters and want to keep turning the pages so I can find out as much as possible about them.
This is the second book of Liz Moore's that I've read (the first one was her newest novel Long Bright River, which I read in early 2020 and also loved) and I've noticed that her stories always seem to have sad undertones to them (probably because she writes about serious, difficult subject matter) where her characters experience their fair share of heartache and pain, and of course things don't necessarily turn out perfectly in the end — though with that said, there is also hope and resilience, which prevents the story from descending into complete bleakness.
Despite the book's title as well as its science-themed elements, this story, at its core, is actually a coming-of-age tale that follows the main character Ada Sibelius as she navigates an unconventional life raised by her eccentric single father David, who runs a computer science lab in Boston in the 1980s. Ada is homeschooled and accompanies her father to his lab everyday where she learns the ins-and-outs of his work, so that by the time she is twelve years old, she is already a prodigy in the area of computer tech and coding. It is around this time that David is diagnosed with Alzheimer's and his mind begins to deteriorate more rapidly than anticipated — a diagnosis that deals a devastating blow to Ada, as David was essentially her entire world and now she finds herself unequipped to face the "real" world outside. Ada goes to live with David's colleague and neighbor Diana Liston, a divorcee with three sons who is also David's closest and most trusted friend. Before Ada has a chance to adjust to the new circumstances of her life however, she finds out that her beloved father actually is not who she (and everyone else who knew him) thought he was. This leads Ada to embark on a convoluted path to unravel the secrets that David had been hiding — a journey of discovery that follows Ada from adolescence to adulthood and becomes a necessary means to understanding her own existence.
As I mentioned earlier, I went into this one a bit apprehensive, but ended up loving it so much. Admittedly, this is a story that takes awhile to get into, especially the first third or so, as the author Liz Moore takes her time introducing and building up the characters (which definitely pays off in the end given how attached we become to these characters — specifically Ada, David, and Liston). This is very much a character-driven story told primarily through the lens of Ada's coming-of-age and interactions with those around her, yet the arc involving her father David's past and the quest to find out his identity is also written so compellingly. It's always a good sign when I pick up a hefty book such as this one (which clocks in at nearly 500 pages) and find myself unable to put it down because I care so much about these characters and want to keep turning the pages so I can find out as much as possible about them.
This is the second book of Liz Moore's that I've read (the first one was her newest novel Long Bright River, which I read in early 2020 and also loved) and I've noticed that her stories always seem to have sad undertones to them (probably because she writes about serious, difficult subject matter) where her characters experience their fair share of heartache and pain, and of course things don't necessarily turn out perfectly in the end — though with that said, there is also hope and resilience, which prevents the story from descending into complete bleakness.
This is a poignant, beautifully written story that is well worth the patience it takes to get through some parts. It's also a story that invokes thought and self-reflection and definitely won't be easily forgotten. I'm glad I took a chance on this one and I'm also grateful that this is one of my book club reads, as discussing a book of this nature (where there are aspects I still don't really understand) usually helps clarify and enhance the reading experience for me.
One last comment that I would like to make about my rating of this book: throughout the time I was reading, I kept wavering between whether to rate this 4.5 or 5 stars, as I felt it could've gone either way. Well, in the end, it was the Epilogue (which was amazing!) that pushed this up to 5 stars for me. Given how much I enjoyed the two Liz Moore novels I've read so far, no doubt that I am definitely interested in exploring her backlist at some point!
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