Interesting Idea Thin Story LineNot my taste but an interesting perspective on this subject area. The author unsuccessfully tried to present several times and places without a seamless transition for the reader to follow and be able to arrive at the desired ending which in itself was vague. There multiple "shock" items inserted that only seemed to serve the purpose of adding bulk to a thin story line.

All I remember was that this was really weird.

Disturbing but entirely plausible and creepily familiar. Don't read it before bed, it may not give you nightmares but you'll probably be feeling too unsettled to sleep well.

3.5 starsIts gritty, ugly and very bizarre.This book is part of the Discord collection and although I am not planning to read all of them 3 are from authors whose books l really enjoyed.Lauren Beukes may have become famous for The Shining Girls but my first encounter with her was Zoo City. This short is definitely more like her earlier work.The story is set in a futuristic world where lab grown sex dolls, also known as growgirls are all the rage. The narrator of the story Nats, basically breathe...

Icky IncelsReview of the Amazon Original Kindle eBook edition (July 2019)If sexbots weren't enough of a turnoff already this futuristic tale of growbots with organically grown parts will definitely do the trick. This seems like a sketch for a future novel as there are so many subplots and side characters that the material is spread very thin. There are sex workers sidelining as growbot voice artists, sex crazed incels on a reddit thread, an incel motivational speaker/grifter, doxxers, innocent f...

Continuing with the Disorder collection of Kindle shorts. This one had very underwhelming reviews, so my expectations were set pretty low, but actually I ended up quite liking it. Been meaning to check out the author and this story of futuristic sex workers in South Africa was a pretty good introduction. I liked the social commentary, the way MeToo and co. have spiraled into the world where men now have the option of organically grown women, essentially flesh clones created for sex and organ har...

'Ungirls' more closely fits my expectations of what the Disorder collection would be. It's set in the near future and has a large cast of characters: a group of sex workers in Cape Town; an online community of men who own genetically engineered sex dolls, known as 'growjobs'; and a motivational speaker clearly modelled on Jordan Peterson. The backbone of the plot is that Nats, one of the sex workers, takes on a job as voiceover artist for the growjobs, and is then doxxed. But 'Ungirls' feels lik...

This short story is better than most of the novels I've read this year. I know there are many authors who are said to have picked up where PKD left off but Lauren Beukes really has. I can't wait for another full length novel from her.5 Stars *****

A disturbing shortie.I would be interested in seeing what Beukes can do with a full length.

The third installment of this collection, Ungirls, is set in a world where AI and electronics have advanced enough to allow companies to grow organs in laboratories (hmmmm.....) to use for medical necessities.  As this would naturally progress, some man has decided that these headless bodies can be grown and made into flesh and bone sex dolls that look and feel just like real humans, even with muscle memory movements.  Of course, laws have been bypassed because since this torsos do not have head...

Interesting but very odd. Especially the ending.

*read for free with kindle Unlimited *DNF at 32% .. guess I picked all the good ones first.This one isn't bad just not my thing.. was bored.

Interesting story about artificial sex dolls and the girl getting exposed. What I didn't understand was the ending and the murders (?). I think her voice was manipulated and possibly it was telling people to do things like kill? I wish that part had been a little more clear.

There have been plenty of books that look at the ways AI simulated women roil the already fraught waters of sexual politics, but this little 57 pager is one of the best, in my opinion. (Also, shout out to the movie Ex Machina and the episode of Black Mirror about a widow who buys an AI-simulation of her dead husband.) Lauren Beukes is one of my favorite authors, although I've been too much of a wuss to try her horror novels, The Shining Girls and Broken Monsters. I have bought them and they are

My first Lauren Beukes. Ugly but fascinating imagination...3.5 StarsListened to the audio book.

What a strange read. Best advice If your doing the audio make sure no one will walk in and over hear. So much sex. It's basically the topic. What if we could grown "live" sex dolls.

Disturbing but clever short story

This was a really strange read, but I did enjoy it overall. At first, I was confused about what was happening. After I realized how the story was structured and that it wasn’t just following one character, I became much more engaged. For this story, I’d say the setting and atmosphere are stronger than the actual plot. There really isn’t much of a plot. Things do happen, but that’s not really the main point of this story. I’d recommend this to fans of odd stories that have more to say than is obv...

Being South African I've always been a big fan of Lauren's very unique and original stories. I have to admit that I almost gave up on this novella in the first chapter or so, as I thought the opening was just too in your face and written to shock. I'm glad that I stuck with this though, as in the end everything comes together to form a horrible look at how vile people can be, and also a warning about the possible spin-offs of any new technologies created.I really liked the audible version and th...

A well balanced short story that runs with the idea that in the future the desire for a more human interactive sex toy will potentially lead to the same entrenched values but with more scope to dehumanise the role of sex workers.Set wonderfully in South Africa it throws colour and gender politics into the mix and has fun with humour bubbling beneath this challenging subject.The story is multilayered set around a group of friends whose lives are disadvantaged in a society that still calibrates on...