“I want to feel like I have a place in the world,” I said, my voice so low it was almost a whisper. I’d thought it so many times but had never said it out loud to another human being. It felt too intimate, too scary. “I want to belong.”
If You, Then Me follows Xia who’s stuck in a boring loop at home. Lonely because none of her friends understand her passion for coding, her only outlets are the anonymous coder friend she made online and the artificial intelligence Wiser that she coded to have someone to talk to. When Xia is accepted to the Foundry, an app incubator for tech prodigies in Silicon Valley, Xia couldn’t be happier. Finally, she’s surrounded by people who live and breathe programming. But challenges soon abound—her classmates are hellbent on winning the favour of tech moguls, the guy she’s crushing on may or may not be the anonymous friend she’s been divulging all her secrets to, and Xia finds herself torn between the real life and the virtual one as things take a turn. Suddenly enveloped in the glitz and glamour of the rich and famous, Xia will have to keep a cool head to make it to the top of her class—or watch her dreams go up in flames.
As someone who’s worked on and off in software development, I am always drawn to depictions of it in novels, especially ones geared toward younger readers and in that aspect If You, Then Me certainly took my breath away. This was such a unique novel and made for an unforgettable reading experience. Whether you’ve dabbled yourself in programming or The Social Network is your favourite movie (we all remember the lawyer up line, come on), chances are that this could be your new favourite novel about girls in STEM.
I loved how we got to see Xia’s AI Wiser and how she coded it just so she wouldn’t be so lonely anymore and then suddenly being surrounded by people who actually understand where she’s coming from when she discusses her ideas for Wiser. Seeing young, bright minds create is always fascinating to me and Xia certainly has the potential to go all the way in the tech world, even if that might not be the end goal. As she goes through her classes and starts to struggle with assignments, getting people to like her and fit in, the actual tech aspect gets slightly lost when Xia has trouble keeping her head above water which was super relatable.
Granted, I wish we would have had more insight into Xia’s AI Wiser and how she planned on improving the code but I do get why that couldn’t take priority in this novel. The same goes for the secondary characters— we get a glimpse at most of them and their motivations but due to the focus on Xia and her descent into the dark underbelly of success, fame and prestige once she finds an allegedly beneficiary sponsor, they never really take form, which I’m sure was a stylistic choice. That way, the reader feels like Xia—always on the outside looking in, even when she’s finally surrounded by people who understand her passion for programming and creating innovative tech that will make the future more inclusive and, well, for the lack of a better word, cooler. Still, at times I would have wished for more fleshed-out characters instead of the “roles” they’d been assigned to advance Xia’s arc.
That being said, there is a lot of social commentary on Silicon Valley that captivated me, on the ethics of science and AI as well as on the exploitation of innovative minds, especially in their formative years and Woon really dug her claws into these topics in the most fascinating ways. From the way Xia finally finds her “people” only to realise that competition may be what divides everyone to the depiction of the elite and how they prey on innocent adolescents and put enough pressure on them to flatten a mountain, each chapter is filled with new input that will keep your pulse racing.
Really, this story has it all—secrets, schemes, plot twists, a mystery aspect as we try to clue together who Xia’s anonymous online friend is, as well as a sweet romance that made my heart soar. The only downside for me was the pacing. Some parts dragged to establish the monotony Xia finds herself in and after an explosive climax once everything gets set into motion, the ending is pretty abrupt and rushed and that is really the only reason this wasn’t a perfect read for me. In the end, everything is tied up rather quickly and a bit too easily after a story that is primarily focused on the fact that struggles can’t just be washed away on a whim. In that way, this book reminded me a lot of movies where so much time is spent on the middle part and you kind of want more in terms of resolution. Still, in a book where everything else is pitch perfect, that’s not too big of a loss.
Offering a glimpse behind the impenetrable walls of Silicon Valley, If You, Then Me is an original and fast-paced story of loneliness and found family, exploitation of young minds and the power of such individuals, perfect for any reader who wants to see more women in tech!
If You, Then Me is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore, as of July 6th 2021.
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Synopsis | Goodreads
Warm and funny, this coming-of-age #ownvoices romcom from teen author Yvonne Woon is set in Silicon Valley and delves into the questions we all ask when making mistakes—in life and in love—perfect for fans of Emergency Contact and When Dimple Met Rishi.
What would you ask your future self? First question: What does it feel like to kiss someone?
Xia is stuck in a lonely, boring loop. Her only escapes are Wiser, an artificial intelligence app she designed to answer questions as her future self, and a mysterious online crush she knows only as ObjectPermanence.
Until one day Xia enrolls at the Foundry, an app incubator for tech prodigies in Silicon Valley, and suddenly anything is possible. Flirting with Mast, a classmate also working on AI, leads to a date. Speaking up generates a vindictive nemesis intent on publicly humiliating her. And running into Mitzy Erst, Foundry alumna and Xia’s idol, could give Xia all the answers.
And then Xia receives a shocking message from ObjectPermanence. He is at the Foundry, too. Xia is torn between Mast and ObjectPermanence—just as Mitzy pushes her towards a shiny new future. Xia doesn’t have to ask Wiser to know: The right choice could transform her into the future self of her dreams, but the wrong one could destroy her.
