A year and a half ago, Isla's middle sister, Flora, died of cancer and the family have been struggling to come to terms with this ever since. Isla spends time watching Flora's 389 social media videos on Sekkon and it's whilst doing this that she discovers an advert for Homeward Healing, 'a free online support for those struggling with bereavement'. Clicking on the link, Isla is taken to a website where she signs her parents up, thinking the group will help them to deal with their grief.
We are then transported forwards eighteen months and discover that the website lead them to a Californian tech group called Second Chances, who are trialling creating AIs of people who have recently passed away. They use the deceased's digital footprint to create perfect replicas of people's loved-ones and Isla's mum signed the family up for the top-secret project which has involved the entire tiny island of Eilean Dearg signing agreements to keep the project secret in return for large sums of money. Chapter one sees Isla, her sister Una, her mum and the rest of the islanders out on the harbour to greet the boat that is bringing the Second Chances team and Flora.
Everybody is shocked by just exactly how like Flora the AI is and she quickly settles back into the life she left behind when she died. But how will Flora reintegrate back into her old life and what happens when it becomes apparent that not everybody on the island is happy with the situation?
There is no mistaking that My Sister, Again is a powerful read and one that had me gripped. It's also a plot that I think raises a question we would all find difficult to answer: what would we do in the family's situation? (I was able to pose this question to Sophie and you'll find the answer further on in this review). Throughout the book, I asked myself that several times and I'm still not certain I can answer. As I type, my son is sat next to me and I simply cannot imagine life without him; it's a situation I would never wish on anybody and I can imagine people being desperate for more time with their loved ones.
Isla is clearly struggling at the start of the book: her sister has died and her parents haven't been the same since - life has changed for them all and moving on seems impossible. As a teenager, she turns to online support in the form of her sister's Sekkon account so she can watch her sister and I wonder whether this is a help or a hindrance for her?
Living on a small Scottish island, this is a place where everybody knows everybody else and the small community feeling comes through strongly in the book. I enjoyed seeing the relationships between the locals and the family - they felt very real and believable and their portrayal showed how long they had known each other - I really liked this.
I also liked the relationship between Isla and Holly: it builds so naturally and I found myself really rooting for them. A first crush developing between two people is a big thing, but especially at such a difficult time for Isla - it's lovely to see something so normal happening for her at this time in her life. I also liked Isla's parents reaction towards the end of the book: it's things like this that will give young people the confidence to follow their hearts and be themselves.
I was also intrigued by Flora: although she is an AI, she is so very realistic that, down to her mannerisms, she is Flora but, even from the very beginning, small differences are noticed: she has a point in the back of her neck where she needs to recharge and when she eats, she needs to empty a food chamber which pops out of her stomach. It is these things, and the development of Flora's character and her relationships that I found fascinating. That and the idea that the age gap between Isla and Flora has been reduced and there is now only 2 years between the sisters. This changes the relationship they had with each other and makes many others on the island sceptical.
The book undoubtedly tackles some big issues in a very sensitive and powerful way: grief and how families deal with the death of a child; the power and influence of online life; changes in relationships and friendships; LGBTQ+; keeping secrets; moving on; the moral dilemma of AI and the rights of AI - do they feel emotions?
Should we bring someone back once they have died? It's a moral dilemma that will create much discussion... the book looks at the complex issues surrounding this sensitively and brilliantly, and will provoke many discussions amongst all who read it.
As part of my review, I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to pose questions to Sophie, so I chose to ask the questions that had arisen for me whilst I read the book and wrote my review. In answer to what Sophie would do in the family's situation if Second Chances came calling, she told me that it would be very tempting to do the trial if she'd been through a sudden bereavement, one where she hadn't had the opportunity to say goodbye; that the possibility to be able to spend more time with that person would be irresistible. However, generally, she doesn't think it's possible to 100% recreate a person, and that it wouldn't be them that came back, so wouldn't be the healthiest thing, 'but you never know'.
I also asked whether she though social media is a help or a hindrance to those who lose loved ones. To which she told me that she believes it depends very much on the person. For some people, it could be a real source of comfort to be able to revisit loved ones through their social media content; however, for others, it could be a hindrance in that they become so absorbed by it that they are unable to move on. She believes that a lot of the time, it comes down to personality.
My final question was about the idea for the book and where that came from. She told me that the general idea came from TV shows such as Humans and Black Mirror as she was interested in how AI affects human people and how they interact with humans. The mystery element of plot developed through her thoughts on the different ways the community would react to Flora and that there would be some people who wouldn't be happy about the trial.
My Sister, Again is a powerful, thought-provoking, heart-wrenching, unputdownable read that is absolutely incredible! I sobbed several times but Isla and her family are still with me and I would absolutely read it again in a heart-beat!
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