Hum took me on an absolute rollercoaster. I spent most of the book unnerved in a way that other books rarely make me feel, which sparked thoughtfulness in me in a way that only such feelings can. I'm not usually a speculative fiction fiend, but Hum had my attention from page one all the way through to the end.

One of my favorite things about this book is the way it portrays how oppressive systems take people's agency not only by taking away options but also by making them forget there ever were any other options. If you can control what people think, you can control them in every way. Hum is a subtle but powerful indictment of capitalism because of that.

May is absolutely suffocated by the system she lives under and has no sense of agency; she does not see a path forward other than to sell herself and her face because she cannot see the system for what it is. We see the way that works out from how she speaks to herself about spending money (reminiscient of some of the language we see around consumerism today that centers the consumer rather than the system that makes us feel like consumption is our only path to happiness) to her fruitless attempts to take a step back from it. May is not a hero in a teen dystopian novel; she is a person who has been lulled to sleep by the system. Her character arc is subtle as she never turns into that hero, but it was realistic in a way I loved. We don't turn into heroes overnight either, and heroes aren't what make revolutions anyway—revolutions require community. I liked that this book didn't try to turn in that direction.

I also really enjoyed the characters in this book—each of them is so human it hurts (literally). I could not stand the main characters for most of the book and that was exactly what I needed to feel. Not only do we see how someone who doesn't see systems takes on a biased view of the people around them via May's unreliable reading of her family, but we also see how living under oppression can turn us against each other even within families. Absolutely, the characters in this book are annoying, but they're also deeply human, which is exactly what makes them annoying. I loved that humanity.

My only issue with this book was the ending. I had some good discussion in the forum about it and so after sitting with it, I no longer dislike it as much as I initially did. However, I still wish Philips had written it differently and more in line with the impact that the rest of the book had on me. I cannot understate how disappointed I was initially, and it's only after some mental scrambling that I decided I'm not as let down as I initially felt. Some may like the ending more than me and I don't think it's a reason not to read this book, but it may be something to keep in mind.