In a quiet but significant update to its ecosystem, Amazon has rolled out Ask This Book, a generative AI-powered feature designed to enhance the reading experience on Kindle. Launched initially on the Kindle iOS app in the United States in December 2025, this tool acts as an in-book reading assistant, allowing users to ask questions about the content they’re reading and receive instant, contextual answers—crucially, without spoilers.
How Ask This Book Works
- Highlight a specific passage or sentence.
- Access “Ask This Book” from the in-book menu.
- Choose from suggested questions or type their own, such as “Who is this character?” or “What is the significance of this scene?”
- Receive short, factual responses based on the book’s content up to the reader’s current position.
Amazon emphasizes that all answers are spoiler-free, revealing only information from what the user has already read. Follow-up questions are supported, turning it into a conversational tool. It’s currently available for thousands of popular English-language bestsellers and works only on books purchased or borrowed through Kindle.
This builds on other recent AI enhancements, like “Recaps” for series books (providing “Previously on…” style summaries) and upcoming features like “Story So Far” for quick catch-ups on long reads.
Availability and plans for growth in the future
As of December 2025, Ask This Book is live on the Kindle app for iOS in the US. Amazon has confirmed it will expand to Android apps and physical Kindle e-readers (including the latest 2025 models like the Kindle Scribe and Colorsoft) in 2026.
The Benefits for Readers
For many, this is a game-changer. Long novels with complex plots or large casts of characters often lead to moments of confusion—”Wait, who is Bob again?”—without wanting to risk spoilers by searching online. Ask This Book fixes this by keeping everything in the app and keeping track of your progress. It’s particularly useful for:
- Returning to a book after a break.
- Clarifying character relationships or thematic elements.
- Deepening engagement without interrupting immersion.
Amazon positions it as preserving “the magic of reading” while adding modern convenience.
Controversy and Concerns
However, the launch hasn’t been without backlash. Publishing industry voices, including authors and rights holders, have raised alarms because the feature is “always on” with no opt-out option for creators or publishers. Amazon has stated this ensures a “consistent reading experience,” but critics argue it could infringe on copyrights by creating derivative analyses of protected works.
There are still questions about:
- How the AI processes book text (though Amazon claims answers are non-shareable and based solely on purchased content).
- Potential for hallucinations or misinterpretations.
- Broader implications for author permissions in the AI era.
As AI integrates deeper into creative tools, this feature highlights ongoing tensions between innovation and intellectual property rights.
Final Thoughts
Ask This Book represents Amazon’s ambitious push to make Kindle not just a device, but an intelligent companion. For avid readers wary of spoilers but hungry for clarity, it’s a welcome addition. As it rolls out wider in 2026, it’ll be fascinating to see if it reshapes how we interact with stories—or sparks further debate in the publishing world.
If you’re on iOS in the US with an updated Kindle app, try it on a supported title and see for yourself. The future of reading is getting smarter—one spoiler-free question at a time.
