I wasn’t into this book at first. I just didn’t find it funny. A nurse robot named Nurse Ratched who is always threatening to drill people. A vacuum who’s anxious and never stops talking. Lots of jokes about the human needing privacy to evacuate his bowels. That sort of thing.

The book got significantly better when Hap showed up. He was so angry and threatening, but that’s because he was scared and confused. He had no memories, didn’t know who he was or where he was or if these other robots were going to hurt him. It was understandable, and I felt for him. Once he realized he was safe, he was adorable. It was clear he felt safe with Victor, the way he didn’t want to leave his side, and it was so cute. I also did find some of his interactions a bit funny.

But mostly, once he showed up, the book became less about low hanging fruit jokes and more about found family and friendship and choosing who you are instead of being who you were told to be. I was going to say the book got more heart, and I just realized, funnily enough, that is both figuratively and literally what happened.

And it turned into an adventure with some wacky moments and some dark moments and some touching moments and a tiny little bit of romance. And in the end, I even ended up liking Rambo and Nurse Ratched.

This was more fantasy than sci-fi in terms of how things worked. But it was technically about robots, so I’ve just categorized it as sci-fi anyway.

The main character (who is human) was asexual, which isn’t something that really affects the story, but it’s still rep. I’ve also read (sort of through the grapevine, not verified) that he was also supposed to be autistic, but it was removed by the publisher. Whether or not this is true, some autistic readers have said they related to him.

The audiobook was wonderful! The narrator, Daniel Henning, brought the characters to life in ways that felt right. Sort of a funny thing to say about robot characters, but it’s true. And they all had distinct voices and ways of talking, to the point that I sort of forgot sometimes that it was one person doing them all.

Overall, I had a bit of a rough start with this book, but it grew on me, as did all the characters, and I ended up enjoying this adventurous story full of heart.

Rating: 4 Stars // Read Date: 2025 // Format: Audiobook*