devynreadsnovels's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
hopeful
informative
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Violence, Murder, Torture, and Gun violence
togdon's review
4.0
Interesting take on cyberpunk. It's a heist novel, taking place in a future borderline dystopia, where the object that's stolen ends up convincing the folks who stole it that maybe they were liberators instead, and that maybe they shouldn't complete the job the way that they were supposed to. Enjoyable if a bit long.
kieralesley's review against another edition
4.0
A queer, modern take on a classic cyberpunk heist novel telling a very human story in the late stage capitalist city of Neo Songdo.
An action-filled read (shout out to one of the greatest car chase scenes I've read in a while!) with memorable worldbuilding touches (Hacked police Boston-Dynamics style police dogs co-opted by a white saviour techno cult leader? Yes please.) with plenty of nods to the classics of the genre (the Voight-Kampff test made me laugh on the train). The highlight for me was the band of scrappy hackers and gamers trying to get by in a world that has been designed to leave very few cracks for them to exist in and still finding friendship and warmth. Repo Virtual's gang of characters provides a fiercely hopeful contribution to an often grim, quips-replace-personality cyberpunk landscape.
I found it a little slow going in the first third and Enda's introduction and plot thread never quite gelled for me, but if you're looking for a smart, vibrant modern cyberpunk read this should be on your list.
An action-filled read (shout out to one of the greatest car chase scenes I've read in a while!) with memorable worldbuilding touches (Hacked police Boston-Dynamics style police dogs co-opted by a white saviour techno cult leader? Yes please.) with plenty of nods to the classics of the genre (the Voight-Kampff test made me laugh on the train). The highlight for me was the band of scrappy hackers and gamers trying to get by in a world that has been designed to leave very few cracks for them to exist in and still finding friendship and warmth. Repo Virtual's gang of characters provides a fiercely hopeful contribution to an often grim, quips-replace-personality cyberpunk landscape.
I found it a little slow going in the first third and Enda's introduction and plot thread never quite gelled for me, but if you're looking for a smart, vibrant modern cyberpunk read this should be on your list.
ninj's review against another edition
4.0
Was rather mistaken about the premise of this one and was about a third of the way through when I started getting suspicious. Not necessarily a bad thing - you've got MMOs played out across the real world, a heist, some nascent AI, cults and a kick-arse operative with shady past thrown in the mix. I really liked the cityscape and AR elements, there were a lot of cool characters. But not so much the cult leader, who was ... lacking, and I'm not a big fan of real-world meets game-world, I think. A lot to like about the novel overall, but still felt like there was untapped potential.
davybaby's review against another edition
2.0
It was fine. Pretty pulpy and not very well-written, but a heist book is always fun, and there were interesting conversations about the personhood of AI.
It also felt a bit like diversity bingo, with just about every character checking at least one box. It was helpful in that I got more experience with they/them pronouns, but felt a bit forced.
I won't go rushing out to find more of the author's books, but I'm not mad I read it. It just didn't bring much to the table when it comes to worldbuilding, which is what I want out of my speculative fiction.
It also felt a bit like diversity bingo, with just about every character checking at least one box. It was helpful in that I got more experience with they/them pronouns, but felt a bit forced.
I won't go rushing out to find more of the author's books, but I'm not mad I read it. It just didn't bring much to the table when it comes to worldbuilding, which is what I want out of my speculative fiction.
g2pro's review against another edition
2.0
I would say this is a YA book. Disappointed in the lack of Virtual world was hoping for something along the lines of Neuromancer with a good heist, but fell far from that tree.
whiskeyvinylnbooks's review against another edition
5.0
A fantastic Sci-fi/Cyberpunk heist story filled with intrigue and fascinating cast of characters. Corey paints such a wonderfully dystopian future in which the world is augmented to be seen as the Zero Corporation wants you to see it....removing the refuse and homeless from the background and overlaying things to look bright.
I hadn't heard about this until I read a summary online before I bought it and as soon as I started I was immediately hooked and could not stop reading it. Makes me kind of excited for the upcoming Cyberpunk 2077.
I hadn't heard about this until I read a summary online before I bought it and as soon as I started I was immediately hooked and could not stop reading it. Makes me kind of excited for the upcoming Cyberpunk 2077.
gotoboston's review against another edition
4.0
Interesting. I would have loved this I think if I didn't find some issues with the dialogue at times. There were some stilted moments and the relationship development could have used work. I think this book could have used 50 more pages to develop relationships a bit deeper. But, I did like the concept.
itnotmackenzie's review against another edition
4.0
Actual rating: 3.5
First things first (I'm the realest). Sorry, whenever I say that phrase, that lyric from Fancy always pops into my head. Anyway!! My point was I first wanted to focus on the premise - a heist? An AI? Yes. Two of my favorite things. I went into this book being pretty sure I would love it. Sadly I didn't quite LOVE it, but I still did enjoy it a lot.
The book is split into three parts, but I would say the split is more like two main arcs. The first is the heist part, which lasts about the first third of the novel. The second is the post-heist, the investigation of the heist and exploration of the AI.
I thought for sure I'd be hooked by the beginning - I mean, it's a heist! I love heists. But it draaagged and I wasn't that invested!! I had a hard time connecting and feeling anything for the characters. The world was also super interesting, but confusing! As the book went on I kind of got more of a feel for it, but at the beginning I was confused and couldn't picture it well.
However, the second part felt TOTALLY different. I LOVED it. The main difference was that there was the introduction of two characters - Enda and the AI - who really made the difference for me. I love them both. Enda is a badass bitch and takes no shit and is totally awesome - and flawed in a way that is realistic and makes her interesting to read about. The AI character is also great. For one, because I just love AIs. But two, because since you get to read from its perspective, you get to literally watch it develop a personality. That was honestly so interesting and cool to read.
Also, the pacing in the latter 2/3 felt much more even, and I wanted to keep reading to know what happened. There were more pieces and it was more complex than the simple beginning heist, and I think that made a big difference in it just being more interesting. As I said, the world also became clearer, probably just because of having been immersed and reading about it for longer.
I think my main issue with this book that prevented me from loving it was really the characters. As I said, I only really connected with Enda and the AI, and they don't show up until at least a third of the way through the book! That makes a large part of the book hard to enjoy.
I also want to talk about one particular character, Soo-hyun, who is nonbinary. Having that sort of diversity and representation on page is great, however what isn't great is that I felt like this character didn't have much agency of their own. They seemed to exist to only be used by other characters, namely one of the antagonists. This isn't a good thing for any sort of character, but it makes me especially uncomfortable when it's the one nonbinary person.
I think many people will be able to love this book, and I'm sad I'm not one of them! But as I said, I still did enjoy reading it and I do want to try more from this author!
First things first (I'm the realest). Sorry, whenever I say that phrase, that lyric from Fancy always pops into my head. Anyway!! My point was I first wanted to focus on the premise - a heist? An AI? Yes. Two of my favorite things. I went into this book being pretty sure I would love it. Sadly I didn't quite LOVE it, but I still did enjoy it a lot.
The book is split into three parts, but I would say the split is more like two main arcs. The first is the heist part, which lasts about the first third of the novel. The second is the post-heist, the investigation of the heist and exploration of the AI.
I thought for sure I'd be hooked by the beginning - I mean, it's a heist! I love heists. But it draaagged and I wasn't that invested!! I had a hard time connecting and feeling anything for the characters. The world was also super interesting, but confusing! As the book went on I kind of got more of a feel for it, but at the beginning I was confused and couldn't picture it well.
However, the second part felt TOTALLY different. I LOVED it. The main difference was that there was the introduction of two characters - Enda and the AI - who really made the difference for me. I love them both. Enda is a badass bitch and takes no shit and is totally awesome - and flawed in a way that is realistic and makes her interesting to read about. The AI character is also great. For one, because I just love AIs. But two, because since you get to read from its perspective, you get to literally watch it develop a personality. That was honestly so interesting and cool to read.
Also, the pacing in the latter 2/3 felt much more even, and I wanted to keep reading to know what happened. There were more pieces and it was more complex than the simple beginning heist, and I think that made a big difference in it just being more interesting. As I said, the world also became clearer, probably just because of having been immersed and reading about it for longer.
I think my main issue with this book that prevented me from loving it was really the characters. As I said, I only really connected with Enda and the AI, and they don't show up until at least a third of the way through the book! That makes a large part of the book hard to enjoy.
I also want to talk about one particular character, Soo-hyun, who is nonbinary. Having that sort of diversity and representation on page is great, however what isn't great is that I felt like this character didn't have much agency of their own. They seemed to exist to only be used by other characters, namely one of the antagonists. This isn't a good thing for any sort of character, but it makes me especially uncomfortable when it's the one nonbinary person.
I think many people will be able to love this book, and I'm sad I'm not one of them! But as I said, I still did enjoy reading it and I do want to try more from this author!
williamlowe11's review against another edition
4.0
Enjoyable read, the first part lagged for me since I wasn't that interested virtual game stuff. Became more interesting with the introduction of the character Enda.