Genre: Sci-Fi Age Range: MG Star Rating: 4 stars Series: Standalone
Blurb:
When Cora’s brother drags her along to his boss’s house, she doesn’t expect to strike up a friendship with Adrien, son of the intimidating CEO of Pomegranate Technologies.
As she becomes part of Adrien’s life, she is also drawn into the mysterious projects at Pomegranate. At first, she’s intrigued by them – Pomegranate is using AI to recreate real people in hologram form. As she digs deeper, however, she uncovers darker secrets…
Cora knows she must unravel their plans, but can she fight to make her voice heard, whilst never losing sight of herself?
Blurb taken from Goodreads. Add to your shelves here.
Review:
SHOW US WHO YOU ARE is another great MG from Elle McNicoll that I sped through in one evening in order to find out where it would end. The mystery of Pomegranate’s true motives is layered in so well, making for a gripping read,
While SHOW US WHO YOU ARE is a story about finding your courage to stand up for yourself, it’s also a book about grief. I was honestly surprised just how much it was about that (given the blurb.) Pomegranate are using holograms to let people “live on”, so naturally the question of whether that’s good for grief of not comes up. However, it also goes beyond that (with a very hard-hitting midpoint!)
Cora is autistic and Adrien is ADHD. It was so nice to see both identities given front and centre roles, and that that wasn’t the reason they became friends. They had interests that aligned, and their neurodivergence only comes out to one another later, once they’re already friends.
This is a book that rides the sci-fi/dystopia line in a near future setting. It is basically our world with more advanced hologram technology (and possibly actual climate action? There’s a line about no one being able to fly anymore, except the rich who own their own planes.) This makes it all feel very close and highlights how real the attitudes behind what some people at Pomegranate are doing.
In all, it was a very enjoyable read, and I’m a bit sad I’m now up to date with Elle McNicoll’s books, so don’t have another waiting on my shelves.
Read my reviews of other books by Elle McNicoll:
Standalones:
Sirens:
- LIKE A CHARM (#1)
Sifa Elizabeth Reads 