Reviews

Mortal Engines, by Philip Reeve

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rhysleconte's review against another edition

5.0

Mortal Engines was just as good now as it was when I first found this brilliant, mesmerising and incredible book. Nostalgia is a powerful thing that can mask memories, with this it only revealed further the brilliance of this world.
What makes this novel so special, is that it is utterly unique through and through. From a world where cities move on caterpillar tracks with gnashing mechanical jaws, to a cyborg with a vendetta, a damaged and disfigured girl on her path of revenge, a father hiding deep secrets prepared to any length to cover his tracks, a daughter trying to uncover his tracks and at the centre of everything a boy thrown into this and wading through the fractured world. All of these tangents and how they develop throughout the book, but more excitingly how they all connect at the end creates one of the most cinematic and visceral climaxes I have ever read. It is an incredible young adult novel that is prepared to be dark, prepared to be epic in all senses and prepared to be everything you’re looking for in a good story.

galaxykat's review

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adventurous

4.0

This was very silly at times but it contained basically all of my favorite sci-fi worldbuilding tropes <3

lili_mls's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

melodierhae's review against another edition

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It only took me so long because I was working through the audiobook when I had a chance. I would have absolutely devoured this in print. Satisfying, exciting steampunk-light.

mattpfarr's review against another edition

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3.0

I decided to read this after seeing the trailer for the movie and it looked intriguing enough. I really liked the premise from an entertainment aspect; in the post-apocolyptic world survival is based on putting entire cities on wheels and consuming other resources. The idea is unique, fun, and well...completely unbelievable. The idea makes no sense whatsoever but it is fun and I can suspend belief enough to enjoy the ride. The writing is actually not that great though. I was trying to figure out if it was because that is just how YA books are or what. To get ahead of myself, I've read most the rest of this series and the writing does get better so it seems this was just an early start and the editor didn't quite hold feet to the fire. But with that aside the worldbuilding is awesome and it is a really fleshed out concept. Hungry cities are cool and cyborg zombies even more awesome.

The biggest issue with the book is the ending. I have to believe that they did not have any beta readers or something. The whole ending is a mess. I don't want to spoil but when everything ends without the protaganists actually doing anything it is just pointless. Like why tell the story then? If the protagonists did nothing it all would have turned out the same.

I would recommend though especially if you like the genre. While this is the weakest book in the series it is still good and the series itself is great.