More Perfect: The Circle meets Inception in this moving exploration of tech and connection. Paperback – 1 Feb. 2024

Another wonderful Novel by the acclaimed Temi Oh.This book combines hyper realistic world building, emotional and psychological exploration, and beautiful prose with the moral ambiguity of a dystopian future where the ‘bad guys’ might not be so bad, and the ‘good guys’ certainly aren’t that good.It’s rare that I read a dystopian novel where I sympathise with both sides of the story.Set in a future world where a pulse, a small neurological implant, gives every citizen the opportunity to access the world wide panopticon (think the internet but more user friendly and with holograms) effectively giving everyone the opportunity to implant their phone directly into their head.This brings about an interesting question, is the complete sacrifice of privacy a fair price to pay for a near total end to crime and loneliness?The Neo-Luddites would say no but as the reader I’m not sure either way.Orpheus and Moremi explore this world alone and together, finding both shining brilliance and dark uncertainty within the panopticon.The character building is fascinating with the inner workings of both our protagonists, as well as their supporting cast, explored giving the reader a genuine insight into the driving forces behind their actions.The plot moves at a good pace to keep the reader engaged, whilst also allowing tender moments to build a relationship with the characters.Just a warning, don’t start this with a deadline looming as I struggled to put it down.Overall a fantastic book and one I’m sure I will be reading again.

Another great novel from temi oh. An interesting twist on the genre

This was an interesting take on our future where the internet becomes embedded in your brain through a device called the pulse. Those without are marginalised by the Panopticon who is always watching what you access. Future crimes can now be detected and future criminals are put into a deep sleep. This is what happens to Orpheus in the story. I felt there was a lot of plot holes with time flashing by super quick or being tediously slow.An interesting take but not the best of this genre

More Perfect is a character driven, technology based dystopian novel. It looks at our connectivity in a near future world and is beautifully written by Temi Oh, who's last book was just as masterful.Although the book was a little long, it was well crafted and engaging, and a real thinker. One I'll be encouraging others to pick up!

I thought this had a really interesting premise and I enjoyed a lot of it. I'd say it's more a YA Sci-Fi book.It starts strong introducing us to the two main characters. I liked Orpheus and Zeeba, probably because I was against Total Adoption - I could see way more negatives than positives for the technology. I felt the parallels between the story and reality with the riots and helplessness against the enforcers - the emotion was certainly there.I felt the book was too long and parts were quite confusing - I got a bit lost as to the timeline in the middle. Also Moremi just annoyed me most of the time with her decisions. I'm not really sure about a section before the end - I liked the result, but thought the lead-up didn't have much point (hard to describe without spoilers).Overall, a clever idea looking at how technology can advance and what choices we have, or don't have, with that. The only question is #whichsideareyouon?*I received a complimentary copy of the book from Tandem Collective and am voluntarily leaving an honest review.

More Perfect is a sci-fi thriller for fans of the Matrix, Vanilla Sky, and Inception. This fast-paced read changed my views of the differing sides several times throughout this read, which I didn't expect it to do at all. Temi Oh has done an amazing job with this book, and I can see it being made into a film for sure! Set in the near future in London, UK, we follow the POV of two characters; Moremi and Orpheus. Orpheus has lived his life isolated on an island with his father, Pulseless (see below), and hidden from the Panopticon until one terrifying night that all changes. Moremi is one of three siblings being raised by her single mum and dreams of becoming a famous ballet dancer. Moremi is desperate to get a Pulse (a network that connects to your brain and allows you to access technology online as well as being able to see inside others minds and much more) but her mother is against it. After a terrorist attack, the pairs' lives differ dramatically. This book has amazingly vivid characters and wasn't overdone with the technology aspect. I could actually believe something like this occurring one day, which is scary. The word-building is fantastic, and I was happy with the ending, if not sad at the same time.

I really liked this book. It’s a different take on the dystopia genre but it’s interesting right from the beginning. I was getting worried around the 4th or 5th time the author wrote “his feet found purchase”; I was thinking the author really is limited in her vocabulary. But the repetitions did eventually stop (until much later) and I found myself totally engrossed in the story.

3.5 starsMore Perfect reminded of Black Mirror’s “The Entire History of You,” Minority Report, and several other science fiction media I’ve seen or read over the years. It deals with technology and whether more technology in our lives is a good thing or bad thing. A lot of this book also revolves around dreams and dream hacking and the implications around that. This book covers a lot of territory but I wish it had a bit more nuance. The two major factions in this story were painted with broad strokes and I don’t think we got enough backstory of either group.Our two protagonists are quite broken people but their trauma becomes instrumental in the ensuing battle between the two factions. I appreciated the depth of the two main characters and their motivations were clear throughout. In terms of the pacing, I struggled a bit at times. I feel this book was a little too long and with the length the plot lost some of its urgency. The Orpheus and Eurydice re-telling wasn’t a huge element and didn’t really factor into the book until later on. Overall, this book is an entertaining sci-fi story but not as provocative and nuanced as I was hoping.