athnyx230's review against another edition
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Child death, Death of parent, War, and Blood
Minor: Miscarriage
thenextbookdilemma's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
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
5.0
Where do I even start with this book?
First it stretches your mind, as I think is always the case when parallel universes are explored. This idea challenges our very existences and always throws me for a loop
I, like many of you (probably…maybe?) have considered on multiple occasions the question of, how might my life have been different if X had gone differently, or if I hadn’t met Y, or if Z had happened ? Well, Cara knows the answer to that question in 372 different worlds.
A very brief summary: This book is about multiverse travel. A woman has died on 372 different parallel universes and thus is able to visit them and gather data for her home earth. But soon she discovers that she is involved in something far more nefarious than expected.
I LOVED this book. The characters and all their iterations were so interesting and human. The worlds were well-developed and captivating. There were multiple plot twists and a romance subplot that I adored. The writing was beautiful and impressive especially for a debut!
But this book also makes you think about who you are, and who you could have been.
Would I be the same person if my circumstances had been different? Johnson says no, and I agree. We are not our circumstances, but we are not unaffected by them. Who might you become if your means of survival are not provided to you? How can we judge somebody who has to fight to survive, who lacks the same amount of security as we do? Who doesn’t know where their next meal or a roof over their head is coming from? It’s a reminder that the family you are born into, the class, the race, the place, is all just luck. And that very truth can be humbling or infuriating or devastating. I loved the way Johnson wove these questions of equity and classism into a gorgeous multiverse novel and I will long think about all the Emmas I could have been or perhaps, all the different Emmas I am parallel to this one.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Classism, Gore, Physical abuse, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Racism
Minor: Child death, Suicide, Addiction, Child abuse, and Lesbophobia
schnaucl's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
This wasn't quite what I expected. I was expecting it to be set on contemporary earth or maybe the near future. That was probably my fault for making an assumption and this misalignment of expectations may have influenced how I felt about the book.
There's also some romance to it, the notion that the same people come together across multiple worlds. Of course, those relationships aren't always healthy sometimes they're quite toxic.
But mostly, of course, it's about exploiting other worlds. Obtaining resources the prime world can't (or won't) extract on its own. And letting things play out on other worlds so they can decide what to do (or not) on their own. It's not quite clear how the data the travelers retrieve is gathered, but I suppose that's a minor detail.
Spoiler
The idea that travel is limited to a few hundred worlds because otherwise they're too dissimilar to the traveler's world (and that they can start closely aligned enough for travel but become misaligned enough to make it impossible) is interesting. And it doesn't seem tied to the particular traveler, the present circumstances of the Earth as a whole has to be pretty similar. Consequently, most people's circumstances are pretty similar from world to world. It's certainly different from most alternate reality books where someone tries on various lives completely different from their own (only to realize the life they'd been living was the best one all along). It does mean that big historical moments and conditions have to be somewhat similar. For example, just as a world with nuclear war would take itself out of alignment, so would one with much greater equality, where some of the biggest problems have been solved.There's also some romance to it, the notion that the same people come together across multiple worlds. Of course, those relationships aren't always healthy sometimes they're quite toxic.
But mostly, of course, it's about exploiting other worlds. Obtaining resources the prime world can't (or won't) extract on its own. And letting things play out on other worlds so they can decide what to do (or not) on their own. It's not quite clear how the data the travelers retrieve is gathered, but I suppose that's a minor detail.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Colonisation, Death, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Murder, Gore, Physical abuse, and Domestic abuse
anarmandameg's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Death, Classism, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Blood, Sexual violence, Murder, Body horror, and Emotional abuse
roxanned's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
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
4.0
I had a good time reading this book.
The concept of the different worlds and that some realities are closer to Earth Zero's reality and some are very different from it is a concept I like a lot. To learn about different realities and what could have been is very interesting in my opinion. The world building in this book is not as pronounced as I would have hoped though. So there are some things I don't fully understand or wish I had more info on. Nevertheless the story is interesting and I enjoyed it.
Another thing I like is that in every world some characteristics are more ingrained than others. And when taking the alternate selves of a character into account, every character is not entirely good or bad.
This is mainly a sci-fi with a dash of sapphic romance.
The concept of the different worlds and that some realities are closer to Earth Zero's reality and some are very different from it is a concept I like a lot. To learn about different realities and what could have been is very interesting in my opinion. The world building in this book is not as pronounced as I would have hoped though. So there are some things I don't fully understand or wish I had more info on
Spoiler
(e.g. what exactly are runners? how does a world go dark? do new worlds come up? The whole downloading data from other worlds to use it)Another thing I like is that in every world some characteristics are more ingrained than others. And when taking the alternate selves of a character into account, every character is not entirely good or bad.
This is mainly a sci-fi with a dash of sapphic romance.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, and Violence
Moderate: Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Toxic relationship, Classism, and Death of parent
Minor: Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, and Blood
lbelow's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
5.0
This book packs a wallop. The constant tension of the plot kept me turning the pages, watching as Caralee grappled with her emotions and learned to see people as multifaceted, as deserving of love and empathy. In so doing, she learns to see herself in the same way, to stop thinking of herself as nothing and trying to prove she is something by way of a script other people have written. The settings come alive like characters themselves, but it's the people in the book and the choices they make in different realities that gripped my heart and squeezed. I cannot wait to read more from this author because this book was next level!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Murder, Racism, Torture, Violence, Physical abuse, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Xenophobia, and Grief
yourbookishbff's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-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? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Violence, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Lesbophobia, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Murder, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Deportation, Panic attacks/disorders, Drug abuse, Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, and Drug use
Minor: Sexual content
raptorq's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Physical abuse, Violence, Death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Classism, Domestic abuse, and Grief
Moderate: Body horror
Minor: Gun violence, Cultural appropriation, Medical content, and Suicidal thoughts
leia_lynn's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse and Physical abuse
oddityoverseer's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
The pacing was a bit odd to me though. It felt like the big climax was halfway through the book, then the smaller climax came later, which is the opposite of most stories.
But the story was interesting for sure. I really liked the world-building, with the technology, and the politics and personal relationships. I could've done with a few less characters (it was hard to keep track of everyone).
I also liked the social commentary throughout, and the explorations of "upper class" Wiley City and "lower class" Ashtown.
But the story was interesting for sure. I really liked the world-building, with the technology, and the politics and personal relationships. I could've done with a few less characters (it was hard to keep track of everyone).
I also liked the social commentary throughout, and the explorations of "upper class" Wiley City and "lower class" Ashtown.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Classism and Physical abuse