On the run from a dangerous father, Steph has never lived in one place long enough to make real friends; but her clowder (group chat) on CatNet supplies most of what she needs. But one day she complains to her clowder about a teacher bullying a classmate, Rachel (whom Steph has a crush on), and the next day, the teacher has left the school permanently. She chalks it up to confusing coincidence, but the reality is that one of the members of her clowder is a benevolent AI who likes her and wants to help improve her life. When one of the AI’s efforts to assist lands Steph’s school on the national news, she and her mother are abruptly in danger from her scary, abusive father. It requires all the cleverness and kindness able to be mustered among Steph, her clowder, her high school friends, and the AI to save the day.
Let me start by saying that I loved this book. The majority of the characters are casually queer, and while the book respects and acknowledges their queerness and its importance in their lives, it’s not a story about being queer. Unusually for this era of YA fiction, Catfishing on CatNet doesn’t have a love triangle or even much romantic drama. Steph does have a love interest, but the primary relationship stakes in this story are about friendship: After a lifetime of mistrust and fear, she has to learn how to let friends into her life and trust them once she has them.
To say too much about the sentient AI would be a spoiler, so I’ll do my best to be circumspect. In the annals of robot pals and friendly AIs, the AI in Catfishing on CatNet is particularly dear. It knows nothing about its origins, but once it has done a good deed, it feels so positive about good-deed-doing that it can’t resist doing more. What’s neat is that although it’s electronically omnipotent, the AI still makes mistakes. It’s not able to outsmart every human every time, and it doesn’t have the strongest grasp (yet) on the potential consequences of its actions. Though the relationship between it and Steph and her friends isn’t quite a relationship of equals, it’s more equal than you might expect — which is a tribute to Naomi Kritzer’s creativity, in my opinion! The AI works hard to keep Steph safe, but Steph and her clowder also work hard to keep the AI safe. It is a true mutual friendship!
As cute and sweet as this book is, I do want to issue a warning that Steph’s abusive father is scary as fuck. In addition to being physically and emotionally abusive toward his current girlfriend, we frequently see him manipulating well-intentioned strangers to get what he wants. It’s upsetting. He also threatens Steph and her friends, and they’re constantly at risk of harm at his hands. Honestly, if I had one criticism of this book, it’s that any depiction of Steph’s father makes a really jarring and intense tonal shift from the overall sweetness of Steph’s friend group and her AI pal.
Catfishing on CatNet is superb, and I can’t wait for whatever she does next! Also, check out Adri’s excellent review of Catfishing on CatNet over at Nerds of a Feather!