Timely and lovely ... A loud topic, but Michaels’s novel is quiet and thoughtful ... Michaels has a poet’s eye for detail and ear for fresh phrasing ... A tender and moving character portrait full of sharp scenes and memorable observations. While the novel might have a timely premise, it’s a jumping-off point for timeless meditations on art, family, connection and the meaning of a life.
Timely ... Overall, the literary writing is emotional and engaging, and many of the scenes are compelling, but at times the abundance of metaphors bogs down some of the better writing.
Michaels’s own collaboration with AI is fascinating, even though the models seem to occasionally produce passages that are so narratively convenient that they raise suspicion ... Wildly unique now, but it might be the forebear of a whole new genre of writing.
Tightly focused ... entence by sentence, line by line, Michaels builds a beautiful structure with dizzying, surprising imagery, conjuring metaphors that will leave you with a smile and lingering questions ... [A] captivating success.
Inventive ... Readers wary of AI’s role in the production of art will approach the premise warily, but Michaels entices with probing and humane questions about what it means to be an artist. By focusing on Marian’s conundrums, Michaels elevates what could have been a gimmick.
