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graceheartsbooks's review against another edition
2.5
I don’t know if it was the mood I was in (from skimming the reviews, I don’t think it’s just me lol) but this book was so boring🙃
This is probably not a fair critique as this is all I’ve read but I don’t think Drew Karpyshyn is a good novelist. The books were very sterile with unnecessary details and flat characters. Kahlee could’ve been interesting but she comes across as boring. Also what’s with making a big deal about the age gaps? Kahlee and Grayson’s both dated someone younger. Who cares? If you don’t make a big deal about it, no one’s going to care (granted, these novels were written in the early 2010s…different times😅). I just couldn’t give a care about anyone in this book which is kind of a red flag as these are all characters we’ve been following. Also, no matter what medium you put him in, you can’t make Kei Lang interesting lol.
I just think the tie ins for Mass Effect in general just really miss the mark for me. I’m currently reading the comics as well and am pretty underwhelmed. I think BioWare did better with Dragon Age’s tie-in media.
Anyway, I guess this is alright to end the series. I’m still going to read the fourth book in the series to form my own opinions but I will probably hate that one as well. Everything I’ve heard about that is awful.
This is probably not a fair critique as this is all I’ve read but I don’t think Drew Karpyshyn is a good novelist. The books were very sterile with unnecessary details and flat characters. Kahlee could’ve been interesting but she comes across as boring. Also what’s with making a big deal about the age gaps? Kahlee and Grayson’s both dated someone younger. Who cares? If you don’t make a big deal about it, no one’s going to care (granted, these novels were written in the early 2010s…different times😅). I just couldn’t give a care about anyone in this book which is kind of a red flag as these are all characters we’ve been following. Also, no matter what medium you put him in, you can’t make Kei Lang interesting lol.
I just think the tie ins for Mass Effect in general just really miss the mark for me. I’m currently reading the comics as well and am pretty underwhelmed. I think BioWare did better with Dragon Age’s tie-in media.
Anyway, I guess this is alright to end the series. I’m still going to read the fourth book in the series to form my own opinions but I will probably hate that one as well. Everything I’ve heard about that is awful.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Violence, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Drug abuse, Blood, and Vomit
inamerata's review
2.5
Retribution is the weakest of the original trilogy and much closer to generic dude-writing-scifi than previous novels. However, it’s still more enjoyable than I expected when I started this series.
On the plus side, the world is still fun and the new lore is interesting. It was cool, if gruesome, to see indoctrination from the perspective of someone being actively husked. Honestly, the fact Grayson held onto his humanity for as long as he did was impressive. Poor guy.
Kai Leng also felt like a competent threat. I’ve always trounced him in Mass Effect 3, only to be forced to lose, so it was nice to see him as an actually dangerous opponent for Anderson.
Unfortunately, the writing was just weaker. It felt like Karpyshyn didn’t have the usual time/focus here, which is understandable given this was leading up to ME3, but here we are. The pacing is uneven, race is still handled awkwardly, and women are just not full people. The narrative brings up the sex appeal of pretty much every woman, and Kahlee in particular spends most of the book regulated to caregiver/love interest/plot device.
Overall, the main draw is that Karpyshyn knows and cares about Mass Effect, and so this fun to read as a long-time fan between replaying the games, even if its flaws make it harder to recommend.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Violence, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Drug abuse
Cerberus forcibly drugs Grayson to weaken his resistance to their experiment and the Reapers. This is explicitly because he was addicted to the substance and had since become sober.