Title: Off With Their Heads
Author: Mandira Shah
Publisher: Duckbill (an imprint of Penguin Random House India)
Genre: Dystopian thriller
Type: Paperback
Length: 366 pages
Ages 12 years+
What if your thoughts weren’t entirely your own?
At Anadi Academy, every student uses a ThoughtWeaver, an AI device that organises, optimises and quietly decides what a “good” student looks like. Ten days from now comes AI Day and the launch of Humanity 2.0. Elle, Sameer, Pariza and Neil are not convinced. They can feel their freedom to think slipping away, and they know what happens to anyone who stands out: recalibration. Then they’re invited into an old resistance movement, and murder arrives on campus.
But what really got me wasn’t just the plot, it was how the story is told. The book is full of timestamps, system requests and code-style entries, laid out like they’ve been typed straight into a notebook, with the timings and everything. AI interfaces, alerts and digital prompts are woven right into the story, so you feel like you’re reading the system itself. That makes the AI feel real and a little uncomfortable. I haven’t come across a story told quite like this before, and it made the whole book feel fresh.
What I really liked about the book is that it never lectures about technology. It leaves young readers asking whose thoughts are really their own and how to use AI wisely. In a time when AI has become an integral part of our lives, it is nice to read a non-preachy book.
Off With Their Heads is a thriller that leaves you with a question worth asking: how much of our thinking are we already handing over to technology? If you like dystopian fiction, fast-paced mysteries, or stories that play with format then this book is the perfect choice for you.
Pacy chapters… rebellious youngsters… dystopia + murder… Do I need to say more?
Mandira Shah is the author of the award winning book Children of the Hidden Land. Her second book Muniya’s Quest for middle graders is simply brilliant!
If you enjoyed my review (I’m sure you did!), then you simply need to get the book asap (you don’t need AI to do that for you!) ‘coz it’s super easy to do that from Amazon (kbc affiliate link),
CLICK & BUY NOW!Disclaimer: Deeksha is a part of the #kbcReviewerSquad and received this book as a review copy from the publisher via kbc.
