Reviews with content warning for Child death - Klara e il Sole

This is honestly one of the most unique books I have read in a long time. And its not that the premise is entirely unique, because the android servant plot has been done before in media like Detroit: Become Human, but it was unique in the way the it utilized this premise. Because it makes the main character an android as a way to explore what a person with no sense of society, the world, or religion, is able to discover on their own. It is less about android ethics and what Klara thinks about being an android, but more on how she perceives the world from her unique pov. The connections she made between different events were so interesting, and it was cool to watch how she basically invented her own religion through her observations that even has its own deity and rules. She comes from such a naive perspective that she is able to notice things that other people don't. I think the author did a great job of writing her as naive and like a child.

The ending also left me feeling so hollow in a way. It felt very bittersweet because even after all she has learned and experienced, she is left to waste away. But she doesn't even have the capacity to feel sad about this ending.

Yeah this book was very good and very emotional.
Listened to on Libby.

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usuallyaudio's review against another edition

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hopeful slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.25

I couldn't tell if most of the questions I had during the book were left unaswered until near the end on purpose, or to intentionally leave readers wondering. (ex. being 'lifted') I found that some of the dialogue was very abrubt or rigid, which makes sense in Klara's case, as she is an AI (or AF). But when the parents would speak to each other or otherwise, it didn't feel natural.

I was also a bit confused about Klara's vision being in boxes- I didn't realize it was her POV for a while. My guess was that whatever she saw that grabbed most attention would take up more boxes?

Ms Helen and Paul's conversation about him and his group being facists and him denying it seemed to come out of nowhere, then wasn't really brought up again.

I felt like most things we learned about the father didn't advance the plot, or hold any interest, but maybe that's just me. This read is my first ever for a book club, and I'm looking forward to discussing it with other people!

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wormgirl's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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arlaubscher's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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julieyael's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

I had sile difficulties with this book. I found it hard to understand everything that was going on in the world building, probably because we only have the point of view of the android/AA.

Lots of things are subject to interpretation and I found the style a bit complicated.

Also it’s a bit of a dystopian world, which I am not a fan of, and the global tone was pretty sad in my opinion.

The themes are interesting and there is some reflection to have, but I was not convinced by the point of the whole story.
I found the plot pretty weak too.
Not a bad book, but I would’t read it again nor recommend it.

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amsswim's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring lighthearted reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

This one was very sweet. You read from the perspective of an "Artifical Friend", a robot that accompanies children. I really loved how Klara interacted and saw the world. As well as how her perspective lacked context entirely sometimes, but had too much in other points. I would love to know more about the larger world the story takes place in, but it didn't matter to Klara so it was not in the story. It felt like a sweet, nice episode of Black Mirror (those are rare though). I'd recommend for science fiction people and those who like light science fiction.

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sarah_pvd's review against another edition

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dark reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

couldn’t really get into it but really wanting to pick it up again at a later time - i just don’t have the capacity to sit down and take my time with it, as i mostly read while commuting atm

update: finished it and still have mixed feelings. i didn‘t connect to it emotionally and the characters fell flat for me. my favourite was Rick, i wish he was featured more. Klara as a narrator was really sweet though. as the book is written from Klara‘s perspective and she is trying to navigate the world and get an understanding of human emotions, i often struggled to follow her description of some scenes and found myself rereading passages quite frequently (those boxes??). that was probably intentional, as you as the reader are meant to try to follow her thought process. nevertheless, it irritated me. pacing was incredibly slow and the ending felt super unsatisfying and rushed. the themes and ideas are pretty interesting but not explored enough. what exactly happened with Sal? what is Paul‘s life like living with the „outcasts“? it just felt really surface level. all in all a rather tiresome reading experience that did not live up to the hype for me, unfortunately.

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ninahuynh's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

Artificial Friend, or AF, are the thing of this world. The concept of having an artificial entity aid humans has been a point of discussion in various books and films. In this case, Klara, an AF, was purchased to be Josie's companion and ultimately <Spoiler> aid her mother in the grief process that is to come when Josie eventually passes from her illness. While the summary says that the book explores the question of "what does it mean to love?", I think the crux of the story lies more upon how far would one go for love. While an AF, Klara of course has a more mechanical demeanor to things than her human counterpart; however, that does not mean that she is any less human in the way she keeps her loyalty to Josie. From the moment they promised each other in the store to the moment

Josie leaves for college,

Klara expression of 'love' to her human friend is comparable to that of the humans in Josie's life.

I would also say that this book opens up discussion for artificial intelligent/artificial friends' self.

If Josie had not pulled through and did die from the illness

, how would her mother's demeanor towards Klara change? Would Klara still be able to be Klara after 'becoming' Josie for the mother? Would it be a simple reboot or is there something more complex that would need to take place?

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