Reviews with content warning for Cancer - Leviathan Wakes

This is definitely going on the re-read list. Probably on a list of books to buy, which is meaningful considering I’m broke.

I read the book after watching the first episode of the show and fell in love so hard I don’t think I can be impartial about evaluating the books good-ness.

Deep characters, realistic dialogue, deep lore and world building.

A note on the writing of relationships …

Spoiler

It’s the one and only sci fi book I have ever read, written by a man (men?) that had a sex scene WITHOUT bodily objectifying women. Without bodily objectifying anyone. Such a minor plot point, less than two pages, but for me it reframed my expectations of the book. No weird porny misogyny. Just an earnest description of what it means to share intimacy

One aggravating, potential plot hole (hence the half star deduction)

Spoiler

Why the fuck wouldn’t they just crash Eros into the sun as planned? It’s great for the plot to have it land on Venus but it was so out of character and out of dynamic

I’m not mad though, because I would have hated for this to only be one book. But I hope they get their shit together on the next one tbh

Content Warnings

mazomazli's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

The premise was super interesting and I enjoyed the mystery aspects. It could’ve been a 4.5 star rating if it weren’t for the constant gross man writing. I was so exhausted from being constantly pulled away from the story to hear about underaged or unlicensed ‘whores’ who were constantly brought up by the detective main character the entire book despite never meeting one of these characters. Both of the main perspective characters were not very likable to me mostly because of how they interacted with women. It was extremely weird. When Holden starts describing how ‘exotic’ Naomi was and breaking down her ethnic background I legit sat there listening to this book going ‘don’t do it don’t do it oh my god stop don’t do that’.

Also

Spoiler

did the authors REALLY have to have cosmic horror coming out of a dead woman’s VULVA?! What was the reason? WHAT WAS IT?

I still really enjoyed the mystery but I will not read any more of these books. I do not want one more chapter in the head of these authors. I will however check out the TV show and maybe it will be less blatant without the narrator going off on unnecessary horny and weird tangents.

Content Warnings

idksamiguess's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Content Warnings

katastrophi's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

Didn't think I would be as invested in this as I became, after space cop was introduced. But I became completely engrossed in the book quickly, already have a request in for the second at my library. if you like space opera and haven't read this I would be shocked and tell you to bump it up your list. Looking forward to continuing on this saga down the Expanse rabbit hole, despite the fact that several places dragged pretty hard.

Content Warnings

blakethebookeater's review

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adventurous fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

https://youtu.be/5qZ6UKSyTqw

This is a reread for me! And it was just as good the second time around. Read this because I'm hosting an Expanse readalong this year in prep for the final book coming this fall! The live show discussion for this book is linked above and you can follow the Twitter account @ReadTheExpanse for more information/announcements!

So this book follows two main plots: Joseph Miller is searching for the missing Julie Mao, and James Holden and the crew of the Rocinante are...just constantly on the run. Eventually their two narrative intersect and then this book finishes off with quite an explosive finale!

Now I do think I was inclined to like this book more because I do already have a knowledge of where these characters go from here and seeing how their arcs started out was just a joy. I will have to say that this novel doesn't quite focus on character, and moreso focuses on plot, but that is a-ok because the plot really needs to be focused on. A LOT happens.

The Expanse takes place in a future where we have three main factions: Earth, Mars (technologically superior), and the Belt (basically everyone else living on various space stations). An event at the beginning of the novel sparks a solar-system-wide war and Holden and his crew race to discover the cause/stop it and Miller's mystery might have something to do with it as well.

I highly recommend this book is you're a fan of science fiction, and recommend the series as a whole. Because as crazy as this one is, it only gets crazier and more epic.

Content Warnings

futureofmydays's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Content Warnings

featherbrain's review against another edition

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adventurous dark fast-paced

1.0

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