genre: speculative fiction
When the climate forced people to leave their homes and build a walled city, those who made the most sacrifices to ensure humanity continued were named Sainted. Their houses and families deserbe the best that their new city, Bulwark, has to offer. In Bulwark, a complex network of systems ensures that everyone will eventually pay their life debt to society – except the Sainted. For Enita, also known as Skin Stitch, she still wants to contribute despite her being Sainted. Enita can grow any part a human might need to have repaired or replaced and this ability has only come about with the help of the the AI that runs her home and, eventually, will become so much more to her. As Bulwark’s seams between to show its wear, Enita and the small family-she-chooses, will have to make some devastating choices about whether staying is possible.
Honestly, I really got in to this. I saw some other reviewers say that it feel repetitive, I see a tiny bit of that. For me, the whole meta idea of this novel as well as the super intricate details of how this kind of world could happen and exist – I just was completely interested. Enita is a frustrating character sometimes but empathetic at others. This book REALLY made me think about AI in a way that felt almost spicy to my brain, I believed that it could happen this way and that made this such an intriguing read. The end was gorgeous and powerful to me. If you enjoy books by Ursula K. Le Guin or Margaret Atwood or Octavia Butler, this might appeal to you too!
