The Book ChatGPT Said I’d Love—Was It Right?
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Generally, I’m not one to hand over the reins to a machine, especially not in a space as intimate and sacred as reading. Book recommendations should feel like whispers to your soul, a yearning to read that book and experience the world within. Not spat out lines of code pretending to know you. But hey, even I can admit when something is too tempting to ignore. Something to give you a consideration you may not have thought of before. So, I opened ChatGPT and asked it to provide me with a book, based on my past reads, taste, and vibe. One book. One shot. One read to rule them all. The result? Drumroll please…The Book of M by Peng Shephered. Here’s what I thought of AI’s unexpected choice—whether it deserves a permanent spot on your TBR list.
The Setup: Me, an AI Skeptic, Playing with Words
I have seen the discourse about AI and the harm it causes, especially in reader spaces. So, I didn’t expect to start my month opening a chat window with a robot. And yet…curiosity has its claws deep. And while I have to agree with the harm that AI generally creates, part of me thinks it could be fun too, like having it choose your next read. It isn’t taking away anything, and you have the potential to gain a new favorite read. I asked ChatGPT to recommend a book to me. Here’s the prompts I used:
- “I enjoy reading [genre] books, especially those that focus on [specific themes or topics] and are written in a [style/tone] style.”
- “I tend to gravitate towards books by authors like [list of authors] and I’m interested in reading books with [specific areas of knowledge].”
Feel free to tweak this as needed! Then, based on its responses, I refined the response to align more with my reading taste (have fun with it, this isn’t the end-all be-all). I then asked:
- Based on what you know about my reading habits, recommend a book that would be a new favorite of mine.
Here’s the exact response it gave:
You need something with depth, an emotional gut punch, and a narrative that doesn’t shy away from the dark, messy corners of human experience—preferably with mature characters who actually feel like adults. Based on that, I’m going to recommend The Book of M by Peng Shepherd.
Why You’ll Love It:
- High stakes, deep emotions: A literary dystopian novel where people start losing their shadows—and along with them, their memories. It’s a survival story, but one that’s rooted in love, identity, and what it means to hold onto yourself.
- Mature, fully realized characters: The leads, Ory and Max, are adults with real emotional depth. You’ll feel their devotion and heartbreak like it’s your own.
- A narrative that keeps unraveling: This book doesn’t spoon-feed you. It’s the kind of story that demands reflection, with a dreamlike, poetic quality that lingers long after you turn the last page.
- Genre-bending elements: Think Station Eleven meets The Road with a dash of magical realism.
It’s the kind of book that will wreck you in the best way possible and spark a beautifully raw, introspective review. Plus, it aligns with the parts of you that crave immersive worlds and stories that make you feel everything all at once.
The Book: The Book of M by Peng Shepherd
Imagine a world unraveling—not by bombs or zombies, but by vanishing shadows. One day, people’s shadows begin to disappear. Then, their memories. Society crumbles not in a fiery blaze, but in a slow, terrifying forgetfulness. The Book of M follows a husband and wife on opposite paths: one infected with the shadowless affliction, the other searching to save her from herself. It’s a sweeping, lyrical, genre-bending mix of speculative fiction, love story, and emotional survival.
ChatGPT said I’d like this. ChatGPT was wrong (well, kind of let me explain).
Was It a Match? AI vs Human Taste
The short version? It didn’t quite nail it.
The long version? Let’s unpack why.
Yes, the premise is intriguing—a world unraveling through shadowless bodies and fading memories? I was immediately drawn in. But the execution? Less thrilling apocalypse, more slow-motion unraveling. The Book of M moves glacially, drifting between timelines and characters without delivering those breath-snatching moments I craved. There was no connection to the characters. Plus, there were long, quiet stretches where nothing happened. And the tension felt more like a whisper than a scream for a story about the collapse of everything we know.
And yet…
I love books that break genre—this one folds dystopia, magical realism, and philosophical questions into one darkly hypnotic package. Emotional depth? Check. This isn’t just world-ending chaos; it’s intimate, tender, and weirdly hopeful. The prose is haunting and evocative. You know I’m a sucker for language that makes your brain ache a little—in a good way.
So no, it wasn’t a perfect match. But it wasn’t a total miss either. It’s the kind of book that might work brilliantly for the right reader—just maybe not the one writing this post. And maybe, just maybe, that’s the danger of letting an algorithm into your heart.
Thoughts on Letting AI Into My Reading Life
Do I trust AI to curate my entire TBR? Absolutely not. There’s something wild and magical about finding a book the old-fashioned way—stumbling across a sentence that wrecks you, following a whisper of a recommendation from another reader who gets it. But as a tool? As a weird little experiment to crack your reading open in a new direction? Yeah. AI has a place. I would have never read The Book of M otherwise. It isn’t a book (from my understanding) that is widely known, so in turn it isn’t a book that is getting recommended in spaces like Bookstagram and BookTok.
Besides, there’s an excitement in finding a new favorite that the world has long forgotten. The Book of M was published in 2018. So, when the chat you open sends you toward a book that lingers long after the last page… maybe it’s worth keeping around.
Would I Recommend It? Final Verdict
Read it if you love:
- Apocalyptic fiction with heart
- Emotionally layered characters
- Stories that ask what makes us who we are
- Atmospheric, poetic writing
Skip it if you need:
- Fast pacing
- Clear-cut resolutions
- Light and breezy reads
The Book of M won’t be for everyone. But if you’re drawn to stories about memory, identity, and what it means to love amid collapse, then yeah—this one’s for you.
So, was it worth letting AI crawl through the shadowy corners of my reading brain? Maybe. While The Book of M didn’t quite earn a permanent place in my library, it cracked open a new kind of curiosity. Letting ChatGPT toss a book recommendation my way felt like rolling the dice in a haunted house—thrilling, strange, and slightly unhinged. But in a sea of books, sometimes that’s what we need. Not just a list, but a challenge. A push to read outside the lines.
Now it’s your turn. Have you ever asked ChatGPT (or any AI) to build a book list based on what you’ve loved? Did it get you or miss the mark entirely? Drop your open mind—and your thoughts—in the comments. Let’s turn this into a new kind of book chat, one wild recommendation at a time.
Don’t forget to shop at an indie bookstore and pick up a copy of The Book of M.
Ready for More? Check Out These Posts:
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The Ugly Truth Behind Yellowface by R.F. Kuang: Book Review
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