Imagine my surprise when I picked up Katie M. Flynn's debut novel The Companions, published in March 2020, and discovered that it examines a pandemic-stricken world where people have been in quarantine for years. Talk about a timely story! I sure do hope that our pandemic situation turns out better than the one in The Companions, however. Confined to their homes throughout the never-ending plague, people have turned to robots to combat their loneliness. But these aren't your average robots - no, in Flynn's future America, dying people can have their conscience uploaded and inserted into a robot so that they may go on "living forever" in perpetuity. If you think this sounds like a situation that could quickly turn bad, you're right.
The Companions is a series of inter-connected vignettes, following a rag tag group of people and robots just trying to get by in this new, confusing world. Every character has a part to play in this narrative, and their lives intersect at various points throughout the story. The narrative starts with Lilac, a low-rent companion to a quarantined high schooler who would do anything to actually see and experience the outside world. Murdered as a teenager, Lilac decides to go rogue and avenge her killer. This series of events puts her in the path of a wide variety of characters who all play a role in this companion-crazed world.
The Companions is a mixed bag with both good and bad aspects. The world that Flynn has created is intriguing and oftentimes disturbing when you consider the core components. However, her execution is weak and confusing - she introduces far too many characters and switches the narrative voice often, making it difficult to follow along. Additionally, this book really has no plot. Rather, it serves more as an examination of a world where the medical community has taken matters of life and death into their own hands. The Companions is certainly interesting, but is lacking in the fibers that make for a truly compelling narrative.
Availability: Book; eBook in cloudLibrary
Rating: *** Stars (I liked it)
Reviewer: Brooke, Public Relations Librarian
ARE YOU AND THIS BOOK A GOOD MATCH? DISCOVER MORE WITH NOVELIST APPEALS! The Companions
GENRE: Adult Books for Young Adults; Dystopian Fiction; Multiple Perspectives; Science Fiction
THEMES: Evil Corporations (Soylent Green, Skynet, SPECTRE -- well, we all gotta do something that pays the rent. )
TONE: Menacing; Moving
STORYLINE: Sweeping
CHARACTER: Well-Developed
SUBJECT: Consciousness Transfer; Escapes; Ethics; Murder; Near Future; Quarantine; Robots; Searching; Social Classes; Virus Diseases
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