Love Minus Eighty

Here is my review.

I'm one of the few people who weren't drawn in by the cover. But some dear internet friends kept pushing the book until I gave in.
This was a wonderful story with so many layers. I loved every aspect of it, the characters, the world-building, the plot. McIntosh has some damn insight into the human mind and how we work (or don't work) when we're in love.
Can't wait to read his other books.

Image death not being the end. If you're rich enough and/or fortunate enough to have good insurance you can pay to be frozen and have yourself revived after death. While dead is still inevitable, you can prolong life for a very long time. If you don't have the money and is a woman who meets a certain level of attractiveness you can be a part of an expensive dating service. Only your face and mind awoken when someone payed the right amount to talk to you “Date” you in the hope you may wake up fully one day but with a new spouse.
This world is based on our internet, social-media culture today. The author doesn't burden the reader with over-explanations of the new technology but weaves it seamlessly into the story. People are shallow, lost, lonely, and self obsessed but don't worry the reader will find likable characters and as the story goes on ideas of characters constantly change through the novel as situations present themselves.
I thought writing was strong, and polished. The story ended abruptly and I wished for a little more at the end.

Pros: creepy premise, realistic characters, fantastic world-building

Cons: little action, all but one plot revolves around interpersonal relationships

When Rob kills Winter West in a car accident after a bad break-up with his girlfriend Lorelei, she's sent to Cryomed's ‘bridesicle' facility, where she has the chance to attract a rich man willing to pay for her revival.

The book is built around the award winning novella, “Bridesicle”. Scenes dealing with Mira, the oldest woman in the bridesicle program, are interspersed with the actions of the other characters. It never feels out of place, and as the story progresses, the novella is actively pulled into the larger narrative.

This is a book about the complexity of relationships - between friends, family and lovers. It's a book about people and how they act and react to different situations. It's about death and bringing someone back to life - how that act changes them, changes you.

McIntosh has created a cast of characters that feel like people you know in real life. From the attention hog Lorelei, to the utterly depressed and despondent Rob, doing all he can to keep a promise. Veronika, who knows she's not glamourous enough for the guy she loves, and Lycan, a super shy genius, who has trouble talking to women. And the bridesicles, Mira and Winter, trapped in a living death, desperate to get out, not knowing when or if they'll be revived again. These are all people, unhappy with life and unsure of how to make things better. As their stories weave together they grow, change and learn. And their stories touch you.

The world-building is top notch, taking into account all of the little things that are there but we don't always notice. For example, there's no current day slang, it all pertains to recent tech in the Minus Eighty world. Similarly, one of Lorelei's boyfriends takes on her speech patterns in an effort to impress her. The tech itself is dependant on your status/wealth, with the characters occasionally passing through areas of the city (futuristic NY) that are poorer than others so you get a real feel for the entirety of the world of this future. Even the cryogenics facility is class based, with the rich getting in and only the most beautiful of those uninsured women making the bridesicle program.

This is a brilliant, heart-wrenching story set into one of the most realistically portrayed futuristic worlds I've read. If you want a lot of action and adventure this isn't for you. If you want a book about how humans treat each other, and why, then I highly recommend this.