The design and UX isn't done, Rob and Abbie, okkurrrr! 😌
amul27's review against another edition
3.0
Is it possible to that a novel can have too much plot?
Apparently, yes.
Chosen Spirits is not for everyone. There’s too much going on all the time and I do not know where to look. My anxiety is acting up, I’m angry at the lost potential, as character growth is sacrificed at the altar of plot.
Apparently, yes.
Chosen Spirits is not for everyone. There’s too much going on all the time and I do not know where to look. My anxiety is acting up, I’m angry at the lost potential, as character growth is sacrificed at the altar of plot.
northernzephyr's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Police brutality, Racism, Religious bigotry, and Rape
pr1y4's review against another edition
2.0
it took me so long to read this book... the plot is great; a future dystopian authoritarian delhi? absolutely up my alley but i think there are so many subplots that it gets a bit convoluted. the end few chapters were really confusing though i am not sure if that was because i was getting impatient or because it just didn’t make sense.
i have a lot of questions about the fate of the characters. it’s quite an open ending so there’s a lot to think about, but it seems quite promising, in the most pessimistic way.
but yeah, i think it might take more than one read (at least for me) to fully immerse yourself in this world.
i have a lot of questions about the fate of the characters. it’s quite an open ending so there’s a lot to think about, but it seems quite promising, in the most pessimistic way.
but yeah, i think it might take more than one read (at least for me) to fully immerse yourself in this world.
strider's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
shai_fyi's review
4.0
An important book - and one that feels like it's being written as we speak. Illustrating our near future in precise detail, this one is an adventure right from page 1.
absorbedinbooks's review
4.0
This book was hard to read. After the first chapter, I just had to put it down and take a break. It was way too real. When I picked it up again, I finished it in a day.
This was my first book by Samit Basu and I am happy to report that he totally deserves all the praise he gets!
Set in the 2030s in Delhi, this book is about Joey, a super talented and popular Reality Controller and works for Indi, her ex-boyfriend and an influencer on Flow. Flows are basically livestreams where people are constantly sharing (flaunting) their lives. Joey's job is to manage Indi's Flows such that they cater to every type of viewer. When Joey goes to the funeral of her father's old friend, she hires his youngest son Rudra as their Reality Editor. A spur of the moment action taken to save Rudra from his shady family and shadier associates, soon pulls Joey into a whirlpool of troubles. Joey has to deal with takeovers, sex scandals, betrayals and the city's underbelly.
I loved the writing! The plot was interesting and kept me hooked. The technologies were terrifying and exciting at the same time. And the world was absolutely petrifying. I can totally see why this book made the longlist for the JCB prize.
This was my first book by Samit Basu and I am happy to report that he totally deserves all the praise he gets!
Set in the 2030s in Delhi, this book is about Joey, a super talented and popular Reality Controller and works for Indi, her ex-boyfriend and an influencer on Flow. Flows are basically livestreams where people are constantly sharing (flaunting) their lives. Joey's job is to manage Indi's Flows such that they cater to every type of viewer. When Joey goes to the funeral of her father's old friend, she hires his youngest son Rudra as their Reality Editor. A spur of the moment action taken to save Rudra from his shady family and shadier associates, soon pulls Joey into a whirlpool of troubles. Joey has to deal with takeovers, sex scandals, betrayals and the city's underbelly.
I loved the writing! The plot was interesting and kept me hooked. The technologies were terrifying and exciting at the same time. And the world was absolutely petrifying. I can totally see why this book made the longlist for the JCB prize.
siddyjain's review against another edition
5.0
Like all the Black Mirror episodes ever stacked on top of each other with their crises going off at the same time with a timely and strongly argued message on inclusivity and the question of who gets to tell which story.
joeesomething's review against another edition
4.0
This is such a beautiful dystopian book set in the near future, in India with a lot of elements that are relatable to the everyday Indian!
Dystopia is pornographic, Olamina. You see it and shiver but it's also kind of fun because it's happening somewhere else, to someone else, you know? It requires distance. Some of us are actually sitting in the fucking middle of it and we may never learn to care in time. This isn't dystopia. This is reality.
The world building is great, the plot is well paced and the happenings are too real. I would have loved to give the book 5 stars, but the end is a bit open ended which means......SEQUEL!
They say they've seen all this before-the fear of speaking out, the fear of people around you, the fear that you'd wake up one morning to find you'd lost everything- no bank account, no citizenship, no job, no rights. It's fear they live with, just like the fear, in their twenties, of a terrorist bomb in every market, every empty car, back when terrorists and the government were on different sides. Letting this fear get to you, letting it dictate your actions, isolate you, leech away your life... those were the things they have learnt to overcome.
If you are an Indian and love dystopian novels in general, this is the book for you!
A great initiative by Samit Basu as there are not many dystopian novels set in India.
In conclusion
When is the sequel coming out?
Dystopia is pornographic, Olamina. You see it and shiver but it's also kind of fun because it's happening somewhere else, to someone else, you know? It requires distance. Some of us are actually sitting in the fucking middle of it and we may never learn to care in time. This isn't dystopia. This is reality.
The world building is great, the plot is well paced and the happenings are too real. I would have loved to give the book 5 stars, but the end is a bit open ended which means......SEQUEL!
They say they've seen all this before-the fear of speaking out, the fear of people around you, the fear that you'd wake up one morning to find you'd lost everything- no bank account, no citizenship, no job, no rights. It's fear they live with, just like the fear, in their twenties, of a terrorist bomb in every market, every empty car, back when terrorists and the government were on different sides. Letting this fear get to you, letting it dictate your actions, isolate you, leech away your life... those were the things they have learnt to overcome.
If you are an Indian and love dystopian novels in general, this is the book for you!
A great initiative by Samit Basu as there are not many dystopian novels set in India.
In conclusion
When is the sequel coming out?
starryeyedenigma's review
4.0
My third read from the JCB Prize 2020 Longlist titles and I really enjoyed reading this dystopian plot set in Delhi. Samit Basu has conjured up a futuristic world where social media rules with Flows (similar to vlogs I think), but each Flow has a star and like social media today, these are influenced or managed by politicians to further their agenda or political power. There are things like smartatts and Narad that monitor where you are and keep providing you constant prompts on how to live your life.
All of this amidst the ever growing wealth disparity between the rich and privileged and the poor and discriminated. Amidst this, we have our protagonist Zoey, who comes into contact with a few interesting characters such as Uma, Zaria and Raja, and one surprise character Rudra - and how one act sets a series of incidents rolling.
I liked the world building a lot and the writing is very fast paced. However, I felt let down by the character arcs of most of the characters except for Zoey and felt that a lot of questions were left unanswered in this book. I think it has been a unanimous push from the readers now to the author, to release a sequel in Zaria's voice, to help us get closure on all those questions. I hope you're reading this Samit Basu :) ;)
All of this amidst the ever growing wealth disparity between the rich and privileged and the poor and discriminated. Amidst this, we have our protagonist Zoey, who comes into contact with a few interesting characters such as Uma, Zaria and Raja, and one surprise character Rudra - and how one act sets a series of incidents rolling.
I liked the world building a lot and the writing is very fast paced. However, I felt let down by the character arcs of most of the characters except for Zoey and felt that a lot of questions were left unanswered in this book. I think it has been a unanimous push from the readers now to the author, to release a sequel in Zaria's voice, to help us get closure on all those questions. I hope you're reading this Samit Basu :) ;)
santreads's review
4.0
Let me just start off by saying this book was a fucking ride and I LOVED IT.
This was my first Samit Basu book and given that I had heard so many good things about him and his writing, I was excited. I was not disappointed.
The book follows a few characters - Joey and Rudra being the main ones. Joey is a ‘Reality Controller’ of a famous ‘Flow-er’ who is also her ex - she’s basically the producer for this influencer who is livestreaming his life - but it’s this concept on crack. For example, they have different feeds for people with different interests so Indi (the ex and famous Flow-er) could either be super into yoga for someone or super into books for another. WILD RIGHT? But also not too far from reality.
I know this book will be labeled as a ‘dystopian novel’, but I got thoughts on that - dystopia for me is “The Handmaid’s Tale” with Gilead or even 1984 where they take a few elements of the ‘fucked up-ness’ of today and give you this dystopian world. But what Samit Basu did was that he just leveled up (by a few notches) the world we live in now. Through the book, there were moments where I just had to compulsively highlight sections because it felt so real to me - this supposed ‘dystopia’.
There’s a lot that happens in the book from sex scandals to dealing with douche takeovers to exploring this new world’s underbelly. Even though a lot was discussed, I felt that the subject matters were dealt with wonderfully. The characters were interesting and feminist (I loved Joey) and I was here for it all!
It’s a crazy ride (as I said in the beginning) and I loved it. I would love to discuss the ending with someone though? Because I almost feel like I am missing out on something? So please go read this book asap and let’s discuss this.
This was my first Samit Basu book and given that I had heard so many good things about him and his writing, I was excited. I was not disappointed.
The book follows a few characters - Joey and Rudra being the main ones. Joey is a ‘Reality Controller’ of a famous ‘Flow-er’ who is also her ex - she’s basically the producer for this influencer who is livestreaming his life - but it’s this concept on crack. For example, they have different feeds for people with different interests so Indi (the ex and famous Flow-er) could either be super into yoga for someone or super into books for another. WILD RIGHT? But also not too far from reality.
I know this book will be labeled as a ‘dystopian novel’, but I got thoughts on that - dystopia for me is “The Handmaid’s Tale” with Gilead or even 1984 where they take a few elements of the ‘fucked up-ness’ of today and give you this dystopian world. But what Samit Basu did was that he just leveled up (by a few notches) the world we live in now. Through the book, there were moments where I just had to compulsively highlight sections because it felt so real to me - this supposed ‘dystopia’.
There’s a lot that happens in the book from sex scandals to dealing with douche takeovers to exploring this new world’s underbelly. Even though a lot was discussed, I felt that the subject matters were dealt with wonderfully. The characters were interesting and feminist (I loved Joey) and I was here for it all!
It’s a crazy ride (as I said in the beginning) and I loved it. I would love to discuss the ending with someone though? Because I almost feel like I am missing out on something? So please go read this book asap and let’s discuss this.