Wednesday, 6 May 2026

More Perfect by Temi Oh



More Perfect by Temi Oh

Tiny Overview

Orpheus lives on an off-shore island with his Dad, completely disconnected from the world. But why? Why does he live in fear, doing drills under his Father's command?

In a near future London, Moremi is a late bloomer - technologically speaking. Everyone has a Pulse implanted other than her, and she feels left out. Shortly after getting one, tragedy strikes London, and her life along with many others are ruined.



Themes:

  • Sci-fi 
  • Cli-fi
  • Loneliness
  • Dystopia 
  • Love
  • Loss
  • Trauma

Context

Oh has retold the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, where Orpheus goes into the underworld to get his wife, Eurydice back.
She stated in an interview with Paul Semel that she has been infatuated by the myth since childhood, and she wanted to use it in a novel. That, and by combining her background in neuroscience, Oh created More Perfect.

My Waffling

Another chunker

While doing research for my uni essay, I looked into the industrial revolution and that is when it clicked for the reasoning of people refusing a Pulse being called 'Neo-Luddites'. I loved that historical reference, and I love the fact that parts of this book have stuck with me. I think about a particular scene often - towards the end of the book, when Moremi is running through the field towards the warehouse and the big tractor combine harvester thing is following her. Not sure why it has stuck with me, but her job as an artificial pollinator does really strike a chord with me. I study environmental science and this along with London getting to 40C+ through climate change, global warming, and the urban heat island effect really makes me think about the future and how we are heading towards a state that is not too far off of this. 

When waddling around Bristol with a friend, I pointed out a sticker that had a triangle with a camera in the middle and the title 'Panopticon'  and spoke about this book. I was then informed the panopticon is that tower in the middle of a fictional prison set up, where it can watch all the prisoners at once. A lot of thought was put into this book, including Greek mythology references, panopticon, and another piece of cli-fi. I always find them somehow. 

3/5

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