mrfroggy's review against another edition
How am i 20% of the way through and theres still no plot..... none of the characters really stand out, especially w the main character who seems to not have any goals or aspirations, internal thinking, fears, or even loved ones she feels connected to in the story. The story doesnt seem to be going anywhere and while the idea of india going through some historically significant event of govt repression that has changed the trajectory of its youth, we arent even told what happened and the mc doesnt seen interested enough to tell us despite working in surveillance...
draklore51's review against another edition
The language is too difficult to read smoothly. It is not easy to picture what is happening. No connection
lizshayne's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
It's been a while since I got hit straight with a "WTF did I just read?" but Basu absolutely manages. Every scene in this book is gloriously drawn from the big analysis of how normal life would look on a overheated planet under constant surveillance to the ways that people just...peop.
It never quite came together for me the way I wished it would and I think some of that is that I want my stories to feel more like endings than beginnings and some of that is the absolute Snow Crash of an ending (I nearly called it a Diamond Age, but it's not THAT bad).
It never quite came together for me the way I wished it would and I think some of that is that I want my stories to feel more like endings than beginnings and some of that is the absolute Snow Crash of an ending (I nearly called it a Diamond Age, but it's not THAT bad).
lene_kretzsch's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.75
the_tea_collector22's review against another edition
I just couldn’t get into this book despite trying so many times- I just think it’s not for me and was too slow to pull my interest.
hopeful_reader_2020's review against another edition
The world is captivating, but the characters are dull, even worse when there’s so little dialogue to build a relationship with the reader.
cyndqls's review against another edition
3.5
the city inside is a difficult book to rate and talk about because i absolutely loved the concepts, ideas, themes, and quality of writing (some lines are true and genuine bangers) but it's so exposition heavy and i felt a certain distance from the characters that made it difficult for me to care about what was going on. i cared much more about joey's POV than rudra's and i'm not sure if i loved the dual POV thing. if anything, i think i wish that this was longer so that it could be a bit more fleshed out/given room to breathe. still, though, i'm definitely interested in reading more of basu's work and i think i could be easily convinced to re-read this one!
smurthy_8's review against another edition
1.0
DNF
I found this dull and quite complicated. There are a lot of references to social norms and mores that non-Indians won’t understand, which can detract from the story. There is not much of a story to speak of; by page 147, we are finally getting to some action at 2/3s of the way through. I’ve seen this genre done better so I’m giving this a pass.
I found this dull and quite complicated. There are a lot of references to social norms and mores that non-Indians won’t understand, which can detract from the story. There is not much of a story to speak of; by page 147, we are finally getting to some action at 2/3s of the way through. I’ve seen this genre done better so I’m giving this a pass.