Memento (The Illuminae Files #0.5) by Amie Kaufman, Jay Kristoff - Starting November 1, 2022

[Vanessa Gayle ⚔️]

From New York Times bestselling authors Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff comes an Illuminae prequel digital novella that gives readers a hair-raising glimpse into the calamity that befell the invincible AI system known as AIDAN–and the daring young programmer who would risk her life to keep it from crashing.

AIDAN is the AI you’ll love to hate.

The advanced AI system was supposed to protect a fleet of survivors who’d escaped the deadly attack on Kerenza IV. AIDAN was supposed to be infallible. But in the chaotic weeks and months that followed, it became clear that something was terribly, terribly wrong with AIDAN…

[Dannii]

First Quarter- (view spoiler)[I flew through this today. Despite already having read this, I'd forgotten all that it was about. I liked Liv's perspective and also how Aiden's shows us important details without us knowing yet exactly why their important. She is right in her observations that he is sometimes like a child in his inability to understand things. (hide spoiler)]

Second Quarter- (view spoiler)[It's actually very sweet to witness Liv and Ethan's blossoming relationship and Aiden's scientific focus on it. His notes about her elevated work output and decrease in anger are somehow strangely very endearing me to both her and him. His growing awareness about what it means to be human are somewhat sinister though. (hide spoiler)]

Third Quarter- (view spoiler)[Aiden took a direct nuclear hit and this seems to not be the catalyst in making him more human and less computer but it did alter him further. (hide spoiler)]

Fourth Quarter- (view spoiler)[Poor Liv! The letters to her father are hard to read! I had guessed that he was dead but it was still sad to have it confirmed. It was also frustrating to have Liv's suspicions about Aiden be ignored. This might only be 100 pages long but its such an interesting read. (hide spoiler)]

[Vanessa Gayle ⚔️]

25%

(view spoiler)[Since AIDAN is artificial intelligence, I found it creepy when he said that he had been monitoring Olivia since she boarded. And then went on to list everything about her.

I like the whole AIDAN learning about human behavior thing. And the conversations AIDAN had with Olivia about sexual attraction was amusing. (hide spoiler)]

[Vanessa Gayle ⚔️]

Dannii wrote: "First Quarter- [spoilers removed]"

(view spoiler)[I agree. I really like seeing parts of AIDAN before everything that happens in the other books. And the stuff about AIDAN acting like a child was spot on. I am also liking Liv's perspective. (hide spoiler)]

[Vanessa Gayle ⚔️]

55%

(view spoiler)[I like seeing AIDAN observe Liv and Ethan’s relationship trying to make sense of it. He seems to be changing a bit and Liv has noticed and isn’t too keen on it. I thought that the battle scene was intense. I listened to it on audiobook and loved it! (hide spoiler)]

[Vanessa Gayle ⚔️]

Dannii wrote: "Second Quarter- [spoilers removed]"

(view spoiler)[I also really loved watching AIDAN observe their relationship. I could feel him changing though and I don't know if it was because of his observations on their human behavior or not. (hide spoiler)]

[Vanessa Gayle ⚔️]

81%

(view spoiler)[Aww, poor Liv. Do you think that AIDAN was responsible for Ethan’s accident? And then him sending her a photo of him accidentally? That’s messed up.

I assumed that Liv’s father was dead. So sad for her right now. (hide spoiler)]

[Vanessa Gayle ⚔️]

Dannii wrote: "Third Quarter- [spoilers removed]"

(view spoiler)[I agree. I think that there was something wrong with AIDAN before the attack. I think that the attack just exacerbated it. (hide spoiler)]

[Vanessa Gayle ⚔️]

Finished!

(view spoiler)[Whoa, AIDAN all but said that he killed them because they were going to shut him down. I wonder why he keeps trying to rationalize the situation with Liv. If he just would have left her alone then she wouldn’t have suspected him to begin with.

Aww, poor Liv.

Wow, this novella has sort of an eerie and disturbing quality to it. I like it though. It makes a person think. (hide spoiler)]

[Vanessa Gayle ⚔️]

Dannii wrote: "Fourth Quarter- [spoilers removed]"

(view spoiler)[Liv's letters were sad. I also guessed that her father was not alive. And it did really suck that her supervisor wouldn't listen to her about AIDAN. The ending was so sad. (hide spoiler)]