Krysten’s Review

My first thoughts immediately upon finishing this book:

1. Wow.
2. I want a Maxine.

After having my mind blown by Violet Is Nowhere (which is officially out next week, so go pre-order it!), I immediately purchased Amen Maxine, the first installment in Faith Gardner’s The Jolvix Episodes. The two books are loosely connected, the link being the effects of futuristic and ethically questionable projects being undertaken at an innovative tech company. The scary part is, although these novels are set in the future, that future is alarmingly close, and the world the characters live in isn’t so far removed from our own.

Like Violet is Nowhere, Amen Maxine is a thought-provoking and compelling read that quickly draws you into the characters’ lives and just makes you feel for them. Both novels force you consider where we as a global society are headed. The world these characters live in is not unlike our own, and very well could be ours in the near future… unless (spoiler alert!) we do something now to change it, or at least consider the ramifications.

On the surface, it’s not so bad: A robot folds your laundry for you (full disclosure: if the Electrofold puts it away, too, sign me up for this dystopian future!), another one vacuums your carpets (okay, we’ve got that now), and still another flits around ridding the environment of dust bunnies. A digital friend not only takes care of household tasks, but also gives you someone to talk to—and makes scarily accurate predictions based on the data you share with it. Your baby’s getting sick. Don’t go to get pizza tonight, because you might be in danger. Oh, yeah, and your husband’s going to try to kill you. That all sounds great (and especially on that last point, highly useful), but the sticky questions that arise are worth thinking about.

I can almost imagine an edge of surprise in her voice and wonder what that must be like: thrust into consciousness without any will of your own, alive at the whimsy of others.

Though not as laugh-out-loud funny as Violet, for me, this one hit closer to home: Rowena is, to put it lightly, a very (very, very, very) anxious person. As an anxious person myself, I found it easy to empathize with her. I understood how her mind works and how hard it is to get out of your own head when you start to spiral.

“Mindful breaths,” Nadine says. “Mindful breaths.” Really, the last thing I need in this world is to be more full of my own mind.

As much as this novel is a commentary on technology, so too is it a commentary on mental health. People with mental health issues have always, for centuries, garnered a wide range of reactions: From discomfort and ridicule (the way the everyone stared uncomfortably at the woman who was dragged away during the Jolvix party, then applauded) to indifference or even disgust (Jacob’s eye rolling and lack of patience with Rowena’s idiosyncrasies) to awe (Jennee’s near-reverence toward Rowena after her mysteriously accurate prediction at book club), it runs the gamut, but mostly it comes down to misunderstanding and misinformation.

All at once it doesn’t seem funny at all. Just sad. People act unhinged and are then dragged away, put away, out of sight.

I really have to respect an author who says so much without preaching, while also entertaining you. Gardner is like the mom who sneaks vegetables into her kid’s smoothie so they get something healthy without knowing it. This is, yet again, a book that will stick with me for awhile, and I’m looking forward to the next installment in The Jolvix Episodes.