Sam Tschida

Indie Next and Library Reads Pick One of Cosmopolitan’s “Best New Books Coming Out in 2021” One of POPSUGAR’s “Best New Books Coming Out in 2021” A Millennial with amnesia uses her Instagram account to piece together her identity in this hilarious and whip-smart comedy about the ups and downs of influencer culture. Mia might look like a Millennial but she was born yesterday. Emerging from a coma with short-term amnesia after an accident, Mia can’t remember her own name until the Siri assistant on her iPhone provides it. Based on her cool hairstyle (undercut with glamorous waves), dress (Prada), and signature lipstick (Chanel), she senses she’s wealthy, but the only way to know for sure is to retrace her steps once she leaves the hospital. Using Instagram and Uber, she arrives at the pink duplex she calls home in her posts but finds Max, a cute, off-duty postdoc supplementing his income with a house-sitting gig. He tells her the house belongs to JP, a billionaire with a chocolate empire. A few texts later, JP confirms her wildest dreams: they’re in love, Mia is living the good life, and he’ll be back that weekend. But as Mia and Max work backward through her Instagram and across Los Angeles to learn more about her, they discover an ugly truth behind her perfect Instagram feed, and evidence that her head wound was no accident. Did Mia have it coming? And if so, is it too late for her to rewrite her story?

A Novel

Siri, Who Am I?

When Mia wakes up in a Long Beach hospital with a head wound, she knows everything there is to know about the Kardashian-Jenner family but almost nothing about herself. The only items in her possession are her torn party dress--which immediately begs the question, what kind of girl parties on a Tuesday night?--a tube of Chanel lipstick, and an iPhone with a shattered screen. She might not remember where she lives but she can use her Instagram account to work backward to piece together the basic facts of her identity. Easy enough, right? Instagram tells her that she lives in a Millennial-pink duplex that would make Kylie Jenner jealous. But when she arrives, she discovers a cute housesitter named Max who tells her the house actually belongs to JP, a French billionaire--and he has no idea how she's connected to him. After some sleuthing, she discovers she's the owner of a high-end matchmaking service. Could JP be one of her investors? As Mia works backward through her Instagram to figure out who she really is--and find anyone who knows anything about her--she discovers an ugly truth buried within her perfect social media image. Is it too late to undo her lies online and become an IRL good person?

Bria

Elle May

I started reading this book thinking I wouldn't enjoy it but ended up wanting to know what happens next. Mia was slightly annoying at times but her head injury has caused her a lot of confusion. This book is a great short read about someone finding who they really are and facing the consequences of her past.

Aleena Korell

Once you're able to suspend disbelief, this one is an absolute blast. It gives me serious rom-com-film vibes with the levels of wild and ridiculous fun it reaches. Mia wakes up in the hospital with no memories of who she is, and must piece together her wild life from just her social media account. 

Tschida introduces some fun characters and uses clever story formatting as our main character is discovering who she is at the same time we are. While the dated text lingo is one of my biggest pet peeves in books, the footnotes were cleverly done and a definite win for me.

Jordan Heustis

I’m sorry to say but I just really didn’t like this book. The story felt like a mess. It was very unrealistic. Mia couldn’t remember anybody from her life. She couldn’t remember who her mom was (who wasn’t associated with the accident at all), but she could remember things from tv shows and magazines. If you can get past that, I feel like the ending was just a really lackluster way to wrap things up.

Dani Pesayco

Rating 1.5⭐️

The beginning was promising.
The ending was disappointing.
The story had potential but was ruined by tokenisms and unnecessary on-the-nose pot points.

I went in knowing I wanted a light read. This delivered but did so with no grace at all. Sigh.

the .5 is for effort lol

Sarah Williams

4/4 stars

When I laughed out loud on page two of SIRI, WHO AM I?, I knew I was going to enjoy myself. Siri, Who Am I? is fast-paced, ridiculous, and a total treat. I picked up this book, so unlike anything I’ve ever read before, and read it in one sitting because I couldn’t put it down. 

Mia wakes up from a coma to find herself in the hospital with nothing but her blood-stained capelet (which tells her she’s the type of fancy person who wears capelets), her yellow Prada dress (see, totally fancy, and able to pull off yellow), some keys, and a cracked iPhone. She has no idea who she is and how she got there. SIRI, WHO AM I? follows Mia as she, with the help of a handsome house-sitter, Max, pieces together her identity and the events of the past week using her Instagram posts and DMs as her only guide.

The key to enjoying this book is to basically go in as a blank slate. This is not your typical romance. I wouldn’t even classify it as a romance even though there is a romantic relationship that is central to the narrative. SIRI, WHO AM I? feels like it should be a category all its own. It’s an amalgamation of satire, romance, absurdism, and social commentary.

The pacing and style of this book was fantastic. And the whole premise was executed so well. Sam Tschida pokes fun at social media and pop culture (not in an “okay, boomer,” kind of way, but in an endearing and self-deprecating way) and the result is so entertaining. Mia’s voice was a perfect blend of snarky and out-of-touch. In one moment, she’d make a wry observation about pop culture and society, and in the next, she’d deliver an endearingly clueless one-liner.

One of the best scenes in the book occurs when Mia posts a photo of herself at the art museum where she was allegedly injured, asking for folks to DM her if they know anything about her. The exhibit’s intern mistakes her legitimate attempts to find out information about herself as her having an existential crisis:

“I’m serious. I just want information. I need someone to tell me who I am . . . [a]s soon as possible.”
“Don’t we all,” he says, totally missing my point.

If you’re going into SIRI, WHO AM I? expecting an earnest rom-com or romance, you’ll be disappointed. If you’re going into SIRI, WHO AM I? with any expectations or preconceived notions about what it is, actually, you’ll be disappointed. But if you just suspend some of your disbelief and roll with the punches of this book, you’ll love where it takes you.

Side note: I always come in with expectations. I am usually terrible at “rolling with the punches”—in fact, I’m one of the least flexible and adaptable people ever. Just ask my fiancé. So, I was pretty shocked that I was able to just go with this and enjoy it as much as I did, but I’m so glad I did because it left me with the biggest smile.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher and the author in exchange for my honest review. This has not impacted or influenced my review or my opinions.

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Siri, Who Am I? A Novel

Reviews