This is a near-future science-fiction novel about friendship, grief and self-acceptance. Cora’s involvement with holographic recreations of people brings questions about identity, power, loss and whether technology can preserve someone.
Cora is autistic and Adrien has ADHD; their friendship helps Cora question pressure to mimic neurotypical interactions and find confidence in her identity.FavourableFavourable: the book presents this theme approvingly or positively.Favourable: the book presents this theme approvingly or positively.
How the book presents it: Neurodivergence is presented as part of the characters’ identities, while the pressure to appear normal is treated critically.
Talk about: How do Cora and Adrien understand one another differently from people who expect them to follow conventional social rules?
Grief and digital immortality
After her mother’s death, Cora is drawn to a programme that recreates people as holograms and offers the possibility of continued contact.MixedMixed: the book presents both supportive and critical signals.Mixed: the book presents both supportive and critical signals.
How the book presents it: The longing behind the technology is treated sympathetically, but the Institute’s use of vulnerable people’s grief is portrayed critically.
Talk about: If a recreation speaks like someone remembered, what would make it meaningful or troubling for the people left behind?
Power, persuasion and voice
Cora becomes involved with projects run by a powerful technology institute and must examine its motives while trying to make her voice heard.CriticalCritical: the book challenges or disapproves of this theme.Critical: the book challenges or disapproves of this theme.
How the book presents it: The Institute’s persuasive opportunities and darker secrets are framed as reasons for scrutiny, while Cora’s defence of her values is presented positively.
Talk about: When an organisation offers something wanted, what questions should Cora ask before trusting its promises?
✦
Why It May Be Worth Reading
Its strongest offering is a neurodivergent perspective placed at the centre of the story rather than treated as a problem to solve. Friendship gives Cora space to question social expectations and defend her identity.
!
What Deserves Attention
The book may deserve thoughtful preparation around bereavement, bullying, patronising treatment, social exclusion, frightening discoveries and the possibility that powerful people exploit vulnerability. The ending is described as hopeful.
↔
A Conversation Worth Having
How does the story distinguish remembering someone from continuing to possess or recreate them? What does Cora learn about consent, identity and whose interests are served by the technology?
◇
Reading Approach
Read alongside the child, pausing after major discoveries to separate Cora’s hopes from the Institute’s claims. Discuss whether a familiar voice or image would be the same person, without demanding one answer.
Confidence & Basis
Theme indicators describe how the book presents a topic; they are not a verdict on the whole book or your family's values. Confidence reflects how much book-specific material was checked. Only part of the book information was available, so some details remain unconfirmed.
What remains unconfirmed
Neurodivergence and self-acceptance: Some details of this treatment remain unclear.
Grief and digital immortality: Some details of this treatment remain unclear.
Power, persuasion and voice: Some details of this treatment remain unclear.
Suitabook