Fetal Position by Carolyn Huynh
Brief synopsis: In a near future plagued by plummeting birthrates and a male loneliness epidemic, a mysterious start-up called Hatch recruits “high-value” women with a seductive promise: trade your grueling work life for subsidized security, a beautiful home, and a robotic butler to handle every domestic burden.
Review: 4.0, I was both intrigued and horrified and wildly invested!
I flew through this dystopian, feminist read. Our main character, Lena, grapples with so many of the choices of the modern woman - work life, children, connection, loneliness. Men are not factored into daily life - women do it all. Lena is DONE with her day in and day out and LURED by the promise of rest and rejuvenation - all she has to do is sign away her body and the 18 years following and agree to marry a man.
Bots are there to help - domestic bots, begging us to question the sentience of robots and AI, one of my favorite topics to read about. There are some deep explorations of loneliness as well as commentary on motherhood and mother daughter relationships.
Definitely want to read this author’s backlist!
Order Fetal Position by Carolyn Huyhn here. Please note: Links are affiliate.
Read if you like: Annie Bot by Sierra Greer , Yesteryear by Caro Clare Burke,, or Fallow by Sarah Anderson, or Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro.
Special thanks you to Atria Books for sending me an advanced copy of this book. Publication date is early December 2026.
