I've been a very bad netgalley-er. While I somehow managed to stop requesting books while in school, I also managed to only read like 5% of a non-school book a week. But the winter break is a month long and I am on a mission to read all my christmas gift books (new Terry Pratchett, [b:Sisters Red|6357708|Sisters Red (Fairytale Retellings, #1)|Jackson Pearce|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1291052720s/6357708.jpg|6544454] and [b:The Empathy Exams: Essays|17934655|The Empathy Exams Essays|Leslie Jamison|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1405924561s/17934655.jpg|25142547] are some of the highlights) and the netgalley ones that I'm months overdue on. I'M SORRY I WILL DO BETTER. Starting now!!

So WTF is right for this book. I'm not a big fan. It's a globe-trotting Google SineCo conspiracy thriller? It's very unthrilling, because the action doesn't pick up until maybe 60%, revving up for real at 80%. There are three characters here: Leila, a tired NGO do-gooder who stumbles upon a hidden super-evil computer in Myanmar woodlands; Leo, a possibly insane but somewhat lovable trust-fund alkie/pot-head whose board-game tycoon parents' blazing death has scarred him perhaps for good, and his ex-best friend from college Mark, who is now a big fish in the self-help bullshit book world as well as the lap dog for the president of Google SineCo. They don't come together forever, but their stories had some compelling elements to them, in a slow-burn way. I love character study books, but this was not rewarding enough to warrant the uneven pacing, particularly the slow roll in the beginning. Especially Leila's time in Myanmar - super boring and kind of painful to read. She's struggling to give nursing scholarships to underprivileged women, which is a noble goal, but she has so many roadblocks that it's exhausting to read. No thanks.

Leo and Mark's parts were better, but it was pretty weird that every time either of them mentioned Leila, she was growing more and more attractive, ending with Leo thinking she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. That was off-putting and boy-lit-y, so another minus there. The only relationship I cared about was the one between Mark and Leo, and just like everything else in the book, the thread didn't go far enough and I was dissatisfied. I don't mind the concept of the ending too much, but it felt so on-purpose that it ultimately soured for me. I saw the pieces of book that led critics to make all those over-the-top comparisons to other authors, but they were incredibly superficial and misleading. The writing was good, but it was more like comparing a really good imitation to a fresh-squeezed orange juice. It's fine on its own, but the comparison makes it laughable.

So... Bad pacing, unsatisfying anything, fine writing, and occasional humorous/clever situations. Plus good ideas for consideration in this day and age. But not that great in the end. Don't pick this up if you're looking for a conspiracy thriller. It's more for those that want a slow character-study book in which their journey culminates in a mildly interesting struggle with the big evil data mining corporation. Just don't think too hard about it.

-I got a free copy of the ebook from the publisher in exchange for an honest review-