SF, but the kind of soft-around-the-edges SF that creates a world for you without really needing to get into the details of how it works. The viewpoint character Klara is a solar-powered AF, an artificial intelligence designed to be a dedicated friend to some child wealthy and lonely enough to need one; that lonely child is Josie, whose parents have made choices that now define their lives and hers. Klara’s combination of innocence and fiercely detailed observational skills allow her to make piercing insights about the human characters, while also remaining childishly naïve about the humans’ motives. I particularly loved Ishiguro’s rendering of her understanding of the world, which brought items to the foreground of her attention depending on their urgency, and categorized actions into shifting area boxes; when she is disturbed, the boxes and priorities devolve into a colorful, shifting mess of meaningless geometries. Very well done.