Reviews with content warning for Abandonment - Η Κλάρα και ο ήλιος

This book is written so beautifully. While the plot may not be the most thrilling at times, I loved Klara’s characterization. I thought the author did a wonderful job portraying how someone like her would see the world. Typically, the vagueness would annoy me but somehow it worked really well in this book; it didn’t need all the nitty gritty details to make the characters compelling. The language and style were just so dainty and pretty.

Additionally, the human characters just felt so real. They all had their highs and lows and were full of so many different emotions and behaviours; there were even some that were more destructive or problematic and even illogical but still realistic and understandable. The author gave the characters a lot of dimension in this way.

I also loved the idea of

a solar-powered artificial intelligence basically worshipping the sun. Not only did it make a great allegory for religious devotion and faith, but it just made sense.

Honestly when I was approaching the end I was originally going to rate this lower but the ending really sold me.

Klara is content in the life she was able to live but it made me so sad to see her just thrown away like that after everything she did; a hard truth in real life I suppose.

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333amreen's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

The first half was really hard to get through because it felt like the whole purpose of the book was basically just Klara observing here surroundings & so I often thought of DNF-ing the book, but I'm so glad I continued reading. Little did I know how meaningful those observations would prove to be & so the latter half really got me thinking. I think this book conveys a beautiful and thought provoking insight into the human heart, I don't mean simply the organ obviously. I'm speaking in the poetic sense. The human heart. I do infact think there is such a thing, something that makes each of us special and individual.

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sandramarinis's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful reflective sad 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? Yes

4.25

This book really made me reflect on ethical dilemmas related to AI-technology. I never thought I would love a robot so much, but I ended up really liking Klara and wanting her to have her needs met. It's so weird since she technically doesn't have feelings like humans do, but she still has a strong moral compass which almost seems like human emotions. It's hard to explain this book.

For some reason I feel like this book would've made an even bigger impression on me if the ending was darker and unhappy. I didn't feel like it needed the happy ending, but that's just my personal opinion.

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thebetterstory's review against another edition

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emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

3.75

A very odd book, owing mostly to its very odd but lovable narrator. We still don't have all that many stories about an AI from their perspective, and those that we do tend to show the AI as very human (see: the delightful Murderbot). Klara's perspective is downright bizarre in a way that's continually surprising and interesting to read. I've never seen an author so successfully convey what it would look like if you essentially created a fully-fledged, mature human, had her live her entire life in a quiet retail store and then sent her out to experience the world with only that limited perspective to rely on.

The central plot, or what there is of it, remains tense and absorbing as you're drawn into hoping that things will work out for these characters, against all odds and in spite of their blatant flaws.

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