Adrian, a songwriter whose biggest hit stems from his own loneliness, turns to an elite AI therapy app, while Maquie, a skeptical venture capitalist, resists its influence as they navigate a complex relationship shaped by ambition, self-doubt, and the pursuit of fulfillment in modern London.
"A story of boy meets girl meets AI therapist, Sike explores our aching pursuit of love and self-control Adrian earns his living writing lyrics for rappers he never meets, and finds success with a hit song about his own fruitless search for love. After his last relationship ends in a spiral of angst, Adrian decides it's time to try Sike: the new lauded and elite AI psychotherapy app that tracks your every move and emotion, and guides you toward mental contentment. He soon falls for Maquie, a smart and pragmatic venture capitalist scouring London's tech scene for the next business boom. She can see no potential investments though, nothing sparkles. She wants to find a business as successful as Sike, and yet she is also one of the holdouts who refuse to use it. Shifting between Adrian and Maquie's perspectives as it tracks the fraught first year of their relationship, Sike is a story of two people wrestling with connection, identity, anxiety, success, and the limits of our obsession with self-analysis and awareness. For fans of Kazuo Ishiguro's Klara and the Sun and the modern love stories of Sally Rooney, Fred Lunzer's debut novel brings us an incisive and intimate deep dive into the reach"--
In a story of boy meets girl meets AI therapist, the author explores humans' aching pursuit of love and self-control.
A story of boy meets girl meets AI therapist, Sike explores our aching pursuit of love and self-control
Adrian earns his living writing lyrics for rappers he never meets, and finds success with a hit song about his own fruitless search for love. After his last relationship ends in a spiral of angst, Adrian decides its time to try Sike: the new lauded and elite AI psychotherapy app that tracks your every move and emotion, and guides you toward mental contentment.
He soon falls for Maquie, a smart and pragmatic venture capitalist scouring Londons tech scene for the next business boom. She can see no potential investments though, nothing sparkles. She wants to find a business as successful as Sike, and yet she is also one of the holdouts who refuse to use it.
Shifting between Adrian and Maquies perspectives as it tracks the fraught first year of their relationship, Sike is a story of two people wrestling with connection, identity, anxiety, success, and the limits of our obsession with self-analysis and awareness.
For fans of Kazuo Ishiguro's Klara and the Sun and the modern love stories of Sally Rooney, Fred Lunzers debut novel brings us an incisive and intimate deep dive into the reach for clarity by a curious and ambitious, anxious and irresolute generation.
