Feminist Robots and Epic Plot Twists

Weekly vlog, joy list, book & film recommendations

Jun 22, 2024

Welcome to another end-of-the-week check in where I share the things that brought me joy this week.

A Week in My Life Vlog:

Joy List:

Currently Watching: Bridgerton (still)

I’m now well into season 2 and still really enjoying it. Loving the whole ‘enemies-to-lovers’ trope in this season and still utterly obsessed with Eloise (a feminist rebel ahead of her time).

Keeping it short and sweet as I know I spoke about Bridgerton last week and I don’t want to give any spoilers for those that haven’t watched it yet, but it’s fab!

Themes: class | marriage | London Regency era | opulence

Currently reading: We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

I nearly crashed my car whilst listening to this audiobook because the plot twist was SO GOOD.

The Sinclair’s, a wealthy and privileged family, spend every summer together on their private island, Beechwood. They swim, kayak and laugh all summer long. But the summer of 2015 changes everything when a tragic event occurs leaving Cadence, the eldest grandchild, with a head injury. She forgets most of her memories from that summer and we are taken on the journey of unravelling what happened with her as our unreliable narrator. Cracks begin to appear amongst this seemingly perfect family as their privilege takes an insidious toll on them, tearing them apart.

This is a story of young love, passion for justice, class, secrets and loss with a gigantic plot twist at the end that will leave you staring at a blank wall for days.

Currently listening to: The Hierarchies by Ros Anderson

I’ve just started listening to the audiobook version of this novel and it is brilliant so far. The story is of Sylv.ie, one of many AI ‘pleasure robots’ created with the sole purpose of fulfilling men’s sexual desires. The book tackles the question of consent - can you consent if you are programmed to obey? - and the ethics of sex robots as artificial intelligence becomes more sentient. A thought-provoking, dark and fascinating take on AI, moulded into fiction.

Think Humans (the Netflix show) meets Handmaids Tale.

Sylv.ie is a synthetic woman. A fully sentient robot, designed to cater to her Husband's every whim. She lives alone on the top floor of his luxurious home, her existence barely tolerated by his human wife and concealed from their child. Between her Husband's visits, deeply curious about the world beyond her room, Sylv.ie watches the family in the garden—hears them laugh, cry, and argue. Longing to experience more of life, she confides her hopes and fears only to her diary. But are such thoughts allowed? And if not, what might the punishment be?

Themes: feminism | artificial intelligence | sci-fi | dystopian | sex work

Currently Loving:

Audiobooks! I have been devouring them the past fews days and it’s an excellent way to keep my head ‘stuck in a book’ when I can’t actually read a paperback (for example, when driving or walking).
Iced coffee - it’s iced coffee season and my go to order is always a decaf, oat, vanilla iced latte (it’s a bit of a complicated order and always gets a little smirk from baristas - sorry!)
Visible app - I use this to track my chronic illness symptoms and do a morning ‘check-in’ each day to monitor fatigue levels (using heart rate and heart rate variability which is linked to fatigue severity) and each evening I rate my symptoms from the day to help me manage my fibromyalgia. I currently only use the free app version but am thinking about getting the arm band and paying for the subscription as it helps me assess how many spoons I have each day and manage my activities accordingly (rather than just guessing!)

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