Hum is the kind of book that instantly changes your perception of your world. We are all acutely aware of the technology that surrounds us every day, the speed at which that technology is taking over, and the impact it’s having on our lives and our world. But Humputs the sort of magnifying glass onto it that really makes it feel uncanny. Like Orwell’s 1984. While doing all of that, though, Phillips manages to give us these vulnerable, complex characters that make us both root for humanity in a world of tech and pity them. You love them and feel exhausted by them. Because they are us. Hum is billed as speculative fiction… but is it really? Didn’t feel like it by the end.
Hum by Helen Phillips, (List Price: $27.99, Marysue Rucci Books, 9781668008836, August 2024)
Reviewed by Emily Lessig, The Violet Fox Bookshop in Virginia Beach, Virginia