Sike, Fred Lunzer
Sike, Fred Lunzer
List: $26.99 | Sale: $18.89
Club: $13.49

Sike
A Novel

Author: Fred Lunzer

Narrator: Ilan Goodman

Unabridged: 10 hr 8 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 05/20/2025


Synopsis

A story of boy meets girl meets AI therapist, Sike explores our aching pursuit of love and self-control

Adrian earns his living writing lyrics for rappers he never meets, and finds success with a hit song about his own fruitless search for love. After his last relationship ends in a spiral of angst, Adrian decides it’s time to try Sike: the new lauded and elite AI psychotherapy app that tracks your every move and emotion, and guides you toward mental contentment.

He soon falls for Maquie, a smart and pragmatic venture capitalist scouring London’s tech scene for the next business boom. She can see no potential investments though, nothing sparkles. She wants to find a business as successful as Sike, and yet she is also one of the holdouts who refuse to use it.

Shifting between Adrian and Maquie’s perspectives as it tracks the fraught first year of their relationship, Sike is a story of two people wrestling with connection, identity, anxiety, success, and the limits of our obsession with self-analysis and awareness.

For fans of Kazuo Ishiguro's Klara and the Sun and the modern love stories of Sally Rooney, Fred Lunzer’s debut novel brings us an incisive and intimate deep dive into the reach for clarity by a curious and ambitious, anxious and irresolute generation.

A Macmillan Audio production from Celadon Books.

About Fred Lunzer

Fred Lunzer was born in London in 1988. He moved to Tokyo at age six, and lived there on and off as a child and adult. His work in business and AI strategy crossed fields that include life sciences, music, ethics, and gastronomy, and he completed an MBA in Barcelona in 2019. Throughout, he wrote journalism, short stories, poetry, and novels. He holds British and German citizenship, and lives in London.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Ryn on April 13, 2025

1.5 bumped up to 2 Yeah I don’t think this was for me. At all. I don’t think the writing style is for me, the story is not at all what I thought it was going to be (judging from the synopsis), and it was honestly quite boring. If I hadn’t gotten an ARC for this I think I would’ve DNF’d it pretty early......more

Goodreads review by Emily on April 13, 2025

Really unique book, and notably amazing writing from a debut author! It feels like an extended episode of "Black Mirror" in the best way. Super interesting characters with depth and humanity, really fascinating sci-fi (ish) exploration of a future immersed in AI tech, and a truly compelling love sto......more

Goodreads review by Sam on June 01, 2025

My Selling Pitch: Glorified SoundCloud sad boy meets burnt-out tech prodigy and thinks he can use an AI psychology app to get the girl, but instead of dating shenanigans, it’s mostly cross-faded half-baked philosophy musings. Still weirdly enjoyed my time, but don’t particularly like the book. Pre-re......more

Goodreads review by Yvonne on March 19, 2025

I really hate giving low ratings, especially when I was so excited for a book. I received this advance reader copy from Celadon Books, and the synopsis sounded so good—I was sure I’d love it. Unfortunately, this one just didn’t work for me. The writing style wasn’t my cup of tea, and I found myself s......more

Goodreads review by G.M. on February 26, 2025

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Celadon Books for providing me with a copy of this book for free in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own! This debut novel by Fred Lunzer is a 288-page psychological thrill ride! Adrian is a ghostwriter for rappers he never meets who has just signe......more