A review by kieralesley
Repo Virtual by Corey J. White
4.0
A queer, modern take on a classic cyberpunk heist novel telling a very human story in the late stage capitalist city of Neo Songdo.
An action-filled read (shout out to one of the greatest car chase scenes I've read in a while!) with memorable worldbuilding touches (Hacked police Boston-Dynamics style police dogs co-opted by a white saviour techno cult leader? Yes please.) with plenty of nods to the classics of the genre (the Voight-Kampff test made me laugh on the train). The highlight for me was the band of scrappy hackers and gamers trying to get by in a world that has been designed to leave very few cracks for them to exist in and still finding friendship and warmth. Repo Virtual's gang of characters provides a fiercely hopeful contribution to an often grim, quips-replace-personality cyberpunk landscape.
I found it a little slow going in the first third and Enda's introduction and plot thread never quite gelled for me, but if you're looking for a smart, vibrant modern cyberpunk read this should be on your list.
An action-filled read (shout out to one of the greatest car chase scenes I've read in a while!) with memorable worldbuilding touches (Hacked police Boston-Dynamics style police dogs co-opted by a white saviour techno cult leader? Yes please.) with plenty of nods to the classics of the genre (the Voight-Kampff test made me laugh on the train). The highlight for me was the band of scrappy hackers and gamers trying to get by in a world that has been designed to leave very few cracks for them to exist in and still finding friendship and warmth. Repo Virtual's gang of characters provides a fiercely hopeful contribution to an often grim, quips-replace-personality cyberpunk landscape.
I found it a little slow going in the first third and Enda's introduction and plot thread never quite gelled for me, but if you're looking for a smart, vibrant modern cyberpunk read this should be on your list.