In an unspecified but not too distant future, classrooms give way to individual instruction on mobile devices and children are more isolated. “Artificial Friends” (AFs) - androids designed as companions - become more popular to help reduce their loneliness. Klara is an AF, bought for a very sick young girl. Though Klara is especially clever and observant, her knowledge of how the world works is very limited. This is a wonderful but very slowly paced story - if you're looking for something action packed, it's not here. I really enjoyed the way Ishiguro gives us a constant trickle of information about the future he's created, and I enjoyed Klara’s joyful nature.
I'll mention that I was one of the tiny minority of people who didn't really care for Never Let Me Go, one of Ishiguro's prior books that collected lots of accolades. I didn't hate it, but in that one we're halfway through the book before we start understanding what's going on. It was impactful by the end, but the pacing felt off to me. This one is also slow to fully explain what's going on, but has a much more satisfying pacing with just as much impact by the end.
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