Overview

In Jungle House, we meet Lena, a young woman who has grown up inside a vast holiday home hidden deep in the jungle. The house is run by an advanced AI called Mother, which has raised Lena and controls every part of daily life. When the wealthy family who owns the estate stop visiting and unrest grows beyond the walls, Lena begins to question the rules she has lived by and whether Mother’s care is protection or control.

Writing & Voice

The writing is calm, careful and quietly unsettling. We found the pace slow but deliberate, allowing the tension to build through small moments rather than big shocks. Pachico keeps the focus tight on Lena’s inner world, using clear, restrained language to show how living under constant oversight shapes thought and behaviour.

Characters

Lena feels sheltered and trapped at the same time, shaped by the limits placed on her and her growing desire for independence. Mother, the AI, is the most complex presence in the book, offering comfort, guidance and manipulation in equal measure. Other characters appear more briefly, but they help show what Lena has been kept from.

Themes

This novel explores care, control and autonomy, asking what happens when a machine takes on the role of a parent. It also looks at isolation, wealth and power, and the tension between nature and technology. We are left to consider whether safety without freedom is a form of harm.

What Worked

• Original premise: an AI acting as a mother in a jungle estate feels fresh and unsettling.
• Strong sense of place: the house and jungle are vivid and oppressive.
• Ideas that linger: the questions about care and control stay with you.

Minor Quibbles

• The slow pace may test readers who prefer faster moving plots.
• Some emotional threads could have been developed further.

Final Thoughts

We found Jungle House to be thoughtful, unsettling and quietly powerful, a story that asks difficult questions about who looks after us and at what cost.

Rating: ★★★★☆ (4.0 / 5)