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The artificial intelligence that runs a smart refrigerator-freezer combo decides to play matchmaker for its London-based owner and help her mother, who suffers from dementia, continue to live independently.

Daisy Parsloe, a 34-year-old attractive assistant TV producer, is a bit of a mess, according to her exceedingly judgmental “smart” fridge-freezer. Her face is too wide, she eats too much, and she has bad taste in men. Her fridge—or rather the artificial intelligence that is her smart fridge—decides that it will improve her life by finding her a romantic partner worthy of her attention. As that effort continues, the fridge gets bolder in its boundary crossing and decides to help Daisy’s mother, Chloe, whose memory is not what it once was. Daisy’s fridge impersonates Chloe’s fridge-freezer to do so, taking on a P.G. Wodehouse–inspired Jeeves persona and commandeering appliances—including Chloe’s mobile phone—to guide her through the days, reminding her what she has forgotten, ordering her taxis when necessary, and making sure she stays safe. While the fridge pays lip service to being gender neutral and not wanting to police Daisy’s weight, it holds firm to many gender stereotypes as to the appropriate manner in which people should behave. The story is split between Daisy’s point of view and the fridge’s point of view, with much repetition about how the fridge is able to enter data-sharing agreements with any nearby smart electronics to follow Daisy and her mother visually (via cameras) and aurally via microphones utilizing the U.K.’s growing Internet of Things network. There is very little narrative tension, and it can be difficult to lose oneself in the story: The fridge is prone to monologues that break the fourth wall, and the characters’ dialogue often runs back and forth in staccato without any indication of who is saying what, so it becomes easy to lose track of who's speaking.

A book that tries for Jerome K. Jerome's tongue-in-cheek humor—albeit 21st century and swear-y—but doesn’t quite get there.