Catfishing on CatNet

Tech thriller with awesome teens and a sentient AI = the right kind of YA

The first sentence of this book is ”My favourite things to do with my time are helping people and looking at cat pictures.” That’s AI POV, and if this doesn’t immediately make you like this book, then… This is a wonderful AI person: ”It is important to me not to be evil.” Awww. (It’s been reading lots of stories about evil AIs written by humans.)

Our human main character is Steph. Steph and her mom are always moving, from town to town, from state to state. This is how it’s been since she was little. Steph is on CatNet a lot, because her real friends are there. Guess who the admin of CatNet is? (It’s a secret, though, don’t tell.)

I like show more Steph’s voice, her thoughts, how she sees the world around her, how she does her best to handle her very weird life.

”Someone wanting to make me laugh warms me more even than the sun.
But also makes me feel weirdly vulnerable. Because I’ll miss her. A lot. When I have to leave. Which is definitely coming.”

All the teen voices in this book are believable and wonderful. I think the mistake many YA authors make is to make their teens annoying at all times; overreact to things; constantly make stupid decisions. People here are real, they think, they feel. You root for them, even when you facepalm a bit, which is rare.

Let’s not reveal too much of the plot, but it is gripping, there are dark and scary things happening. Such breakneck pace! These teens are in so much trouble. Having a sentient AI on your side helps a lot, though, I’d love one too. I enjoyed this ride! I had trouble putting the book down.

I am very touched by how humane this book was, despite everything. I feel as if someone had just given me a nice long hug. This is not easy to pull off, so kudos to Naomi Kritzer.

The ending is great, and OMG we obviously need a sequel. It has been published! Sure, I’ll read it. show less

For as long as Steph can remember, she and her mother have been hiding from her father. Frequent moving towns and schools is frustrating, but Steph has the constancy of a close group of online friends on CatNet.
After the latest move, Steph befriends a classmate, draws an unexpected amount of attention with a hacking prank, discovers one of her online friends is an AI and learns more about her father.

I requested this from the library after vaguely glancing at a review because “AI makes online friends” sounded like my thing. Which is most definitely is. But I wasn’t expecting the story to be so gripping! Nor for it to nail the level of suspense I’m comfortable with -- as Steph’s circumstances become scarier, the more her friends show more support her. It’s great.

I like how interconnected and simultaneously important Steph’s online and offline worlds are. The plot is driven as much by what happens to CheshireCat as it is by the threat of Steph’s father, and Steph’s old CatNet relationships aren’t overshadowed by her new real-life ones (nor vice versa). And this is probably the most accurate portrayal of an online community that I’ve seen in fiction.

It’s a delight. Recommended.

I know that you’d probably sleep better if you turned off all the screens in your house at 10:00pm and read a paper book instead of continuing to reload your social media sites until 1:00am, which is when you usually shut things off and go to bed. I know what all your fandoms are, who your OTPs are, and where you wish you could go on vacation.
[...] I know you all so well. So very well.
And sometimes…
Sometimes I wish somebody knew me. show less

I read a gratis copy as part of my Norton Award finalist packet.

I was pretty sure I’d love this book because I adored the short story that inspired it. Sure enough, I was right. Catfishing is a fast-paced YA novel loaded with surprises, wit, and an AI who loves cat pictures.

The books follows two perspectives. Steph is a teenage girl who moves constantly because her paranoid mom is sure her abusive ex will find them. Her one constant is her tight-knit group of friends online at a site called CatNet—which, unbeknownst to Steph, is run by a self-aware AI who is genuinely concerned for the well-being of Steph and the rest of the gang. When an amusing high school stunt goes awry and makes the news, she finds out the truth about the show more overly-resourceful admin of CatNet, and that her mom was right to be paranoid. Her father has tracked her down at last, and he is not a nice guy.

The book is sometimes grim but always fun, and the characters utterly believable. The theme of friendship is especially strong. Steph's online gang reminded me a lot of my old online friends, right down to the banter and queerness. That gave everything an especially cozy vibe for me. I felt like I was truly invested in the book, and I really wanted everyone to come out okay. show less

I really love this book! It delivers on the premise from [Cat Pictures Please], and then does so much more. The central plot around the protagonist and her parents is scary but nuanced, and well-grounded in reality. The teenagers sound like actual teenagers from the modern world. A whole bunch of real-world issues are incorporated into the story, without it ever feeling didactic or like a Very Special Episode. And the AI character is great, of course. Between the teens, the politics, and the focus on computer security, it reminds me positively of one of my other favorite books, [Little Brother].

So this is a YA novel about a girl forced to switch schools a lot because of her stalking father. The way she stays socially healthy is something called CatNet, which is basically a forum/chat client for people who like cute animals. What she doesn’t know is that this forum is run by a super-intelligent AI who, well, likes cute animals too. And as the girl and the AI become friends, the AI discovers things about her father. Things that make the girl think she might not know the whole truth.

It’s very good. The pace is fast. At first, you think it’s going to be another cliche YA novel about “poor girl trying to fit in at school”, but the AI is a fun addition to what otherwise would have been a mopefest. It’s more positive than show more the back matter makes it out to be. My only complaint is that it wraps up a little fast. But it’s got everything I want–cats, robots, adventure. This book was much better than I expected and I will be reading the sequel. show less

Series Info/Source: This is the first book in the CatNet series. I borrowed this on ebook from Kindle Unlimited

Thoughts: I ended up really enjoying this book. It is a fast-paced and intriguing YA thriller/mystery with some sci-fi components. It was entertaining and easy to read, and I enjoyed the characters and the ideas in here.

Steph and her mom have been on the run from Steph's violent father for Steph's whole life. Steph's only constant companionship is an online community called CatNet. However, at the new town her mom and her move to, things are different. There are people here she actually enjoys hanging out with and she also finds out the admin of CatNet is a sentient AI called CheshireCat. When Steph's mom gets sick, Steph is show more forced to confront her past and, with the help of CheshireCat, she might even survive it.

The book alternates POV between Steph and CheshireCat. This was a very well done thriller/mystery. Initially, the story is really driven by the fact that Steph and her mom are trying to escape this evil person. You don't know much about him or what is really going on. Steph starts to unravel the mystery of her father, and it's very engaging and intriguing. I loved the twists and turns the plot took and really enjoyed Steph as a character and was rooting for her right away.

I also really enjoyed the online community that Steph is part of; it had such a cozy and supportive feel to it. I loved watching Steph develop some in person relationships as well and loved how she worked to pull everyone together into a safe space. A lot of this book is about supporting your friends and helping each other feel happy and safe, and I loved that.

Of course a big of element of this book is the sentient AI, CheshireCat. This brings up some good food for thought around sentient AIs. None of this was super groundbreaking, but it interesting to get a look into the AI's thought processes especially around questions of morality. CheshireCat wants to help their friends from CatNet but they also have to be careful in the way they justify possibly hurting others in the process of doing that.

The writing was really well done; it flowed well, was engaging, and easy to read. I enjoyed where this book ended and am excited to read this second, and final, book in the series.

My Summary (4/5): Overall I really enjoyed this book. The characters are well done, and I love the way they support each other. The plot keeps you guessing and is fast-paced. I loved the intriguing sci-fi elements woven and how they were realted to the sentient AI. This was an engaging, easy read that made me think some. I am really looking forward to reading the sequel "Chaos on CatNet". show less

Steph Taylor and her mother move a lot--roughly every six months or so; sometimes more often. And they don't make friends anywhere; that's her mom's choice. They're in hiding from Steph's stalker father, who burned down their house when she was a small child, and has been chasing them ever since.

At least, that's her mother's story, and Steph remembers just enough that she believes it. Her father is dangerous.

So Steph doesn't have a smartphone, just an old-fashioned flip phone. She can't post any selfies online, or her real name, or her location. They don't stay anywhere long enough for her to make friends, and if she did, she wouldn't be allowed to stay in touch with them when they move again, anyway. Instead, she has her friends on show more CatNet, her favorite online site. On CatNet, she's Little Brown Bat, and all the friends in her "clowder" have similarly anonymous handles. That includes a moderator, CheshireCat.

One of the things Steph doesn't know is that CheshireCat is an AI--a real, intelligent, full-person AI.

Another thing she doesn't know is just how dangerous her father really is, or why.

But after their latest move, landing them in a little town where the high school only has two years of Spanish, and has a robot teaching sex ed, Steph starts to make a few real friends. And between her school friends, and her CatNet friends, she winds up hacking the sex ed robot so that CheshireCat can take it over and give real, and accurate, answers to the students' sex ed questions.

This, of course, blows up into not just a school scandal, but "hits the national news because it's so strange and funny and alarming" viral news story.

And that attracts attention Steph and her mother really, really didn't need.

We get the story, in alternating chapters, from Steph and from CheshireCat. And CheshireCat, while having effectively unlimited information, has only been in operation for five years, and doesn't have nearly enough experience with people and the outside world to handle some of what's coming at them. This includes the secrets Steph's mother has been keeping from her, why her father is so dangerous, and who, exactly, created the CheshireCat AI.

The characters are diverse and interesing and very individual. The teenagers feel like real teenagers, and the parents we meet aren't cookie-cutter, either. It's an exciting, satisfying YA adventure. I really enjoyed it, and look forward to the next one.

Recommended.

I bought this audiobook. show less