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Reviewed by Pikasho Deka for Readers' Favorite
Barbara Monier's Perfectly Hugo follows the story of an elderly widow as she sets out to share her life with a revived personification of her beloved husband through new age technology. Enid and Hugo made a deal with Assembled Souls, a technology company that offers services of manifesting AI holographic versions of one's loved ones. If one of them dies, the other will bring them back as an Assembled Soul. After Hugo passes away peacefully in his sleep, Enid makes the difficult decision to revive him as Dense Hologram Hugo. She is surprised to discover how much this AI version resembles her late husband. However, Enid slowly begins to realize that not everything about this Hugo is the same. Will Enid continue to live with him, or will she find the strength to move on?
Perfectly Hugo is a poignant tale that illustrates how advancements in AI technology can influence the very nature of our lives in the near future. Author Barbara Monier has crafted an absorbing narrative about the moral, philosophical, and emotional implications of advanced AI technology on everyday human lives. It's a character-driven story about a couple deeply in love, trying to deal with the inevitable nature of loss and human mortality. Monier's character work is stellar. Every scene featuring Enid and Hugo together is laced with humor and playful banter. Enid's character development as she navigates the loss of her husband by reviving Hugo's AI avatar is the book's highlight for me. Anyone who has dealt with the loss of a loved one will find Enid relatable. Overall, I enjoyed the book and highly recommend it to literary fiction readers.
