paulataua's review against another edition
3.0
I’m never quite sure why some books get nominated for awards, and I say that in a curious rather than a negative way. ‘A Calculated Life’ deals with the potentially fascinating area of what it means to be human, and is actually a fairly interesting read, but it doesn’t really follow through on its early promise and seems to run out of steam just at the point where you think it is going to pick up speed. I found the first epilogue a real disappointment, and although the second epilogue does something to recover the mystery, it is never really enough for me. There is, however, something in the story, something subtle that I can’t put my finger on, that makes me feel I will read this author again in the future, and, you never know, I may even read this book again.
dotvicky's review against another edition
4.0
Doesn't start well as the protagonist is poorly introduced but it improves and builds to a good page turner with some interesting questions about humanity and autonomy at least asked if not answered.
xeniafoe's review against another edition
4.0
I made a video about this available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Cvm1hwY-sU
Mainly I really enjoyed being sucked into a story through beautiful writing and intellectual character study rather than strong emotion. There is a sense of detachment when reading this book, and yet the more I think about it, the more that seems appropriate. To be read with a cup of tea, early in the morning or late at night, on a rooftop or in a public space, while taking frequent breaks to quietly muse our own existence.
Mainly I really enjoyed being sucked into a story through beautiful writing and intellectual character study rather than strong emotion. There is a sense of detachment when reading this book, and yet the more I think about it, the more that seems appropriate. To be read with a cup of tea, early in the morning or late at night, on a rooftop or in a public space, while taking frequent breaks to quietly muse our own existence.
thomcat's review against another edition
3.0
The author has built an interesting world, with the exact how mostly hidden. Utopia or dystopia? It's the former only for those with means - depressingly like our current world.
It seems the author intended Jayna's revelation to be an aspect of the novel, but the blurb (and most reviews) spoil that. I didn't read either, and thought at first of Jayna as somewhere on the autism spectrum. After the reveal, that idea wasn't far off. Her combination of naiveté and expertise is described well by the novel, mostly told in the first person. Shortly after the reveal, we find out that she lives with others of her kind. Her home life and those relationships are also well done.
The conflict that arises is more of a tipping point. Instabilities arise, and the cause is not especially clear to Jayna (or to us). The novel stepped away from first person at a few points; it would have been more interesting to let the reader know more instead of just moving a plot line forward. The novel has two epilogs, both also first person. One gives a hint of a solution.
For me this was somewhere between 2 and 3 stars. I started reading [b:Dreams Before the Start of Time|27780648|Dreams Before the Start of Time|Anne Charnock|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1484777556l/27780648._SY75_.jpg|47757637] in 2020, then abandoned it without noting anything specific. This book does not sufficiently drive me to try that one again. That said, I may try her novella [b:The Enclave|33877157|The Enclave|Anne Charnock|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1484911487l/33877157._SX50_.jpg|54838179], set in the same world built by this novel.
It seems the author intended Jayna's revelation to be an aspect of the novel, but the blurb (and most reviews) spoil that. I didn't read either, and thought at first of Jayna as somewhere on the autism spectrum. After the reveal, that idea wasn't far off. Her combination of naiveté and expertise is described well by the novel, mostly told in the first person. Shortly after the reveal, we find out that she lives with others of her kind. Her home life and those relationships are also well done.
The conflict that arises is more of a tipping point. Instabilities arise, and the cause is not especially clear to Jayna (or to us). The novel stepped away from first person at a few points; it would have been more interesting to let the reader know more instead of just moving a plot line forward. The novel has two epilogs, both also first person. One gives a hint of a solution.
For me this was somewhere between 2 and 3 stars. I started reading [b:Dreams Before the Start of Time|27780648|Dreams Before the Start of Time|Anne Charnock|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1484777556l/27780648._SY75_.jpg|47757637] in 2020, then abandoned it without noting anything specific. This book does not sufficiently drive me to try that one again. That said, I may try her novella [b:The Enclave|33877157|The Enclave|Anne Charnock|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1484911487l/33877157._SX50_.jpg|54838179], set in the same world built by this novel.
leftylauren's review against another edition
1.0
DNF at 43%. Stilted and forced plot. Doesn't develop well. Awkward. Technically well-written.
trike's review against another edition
4.0
This is a very studied book. As the saying goes, the British lead lives of quiet desperation, and A Calculated Life personifies that.
This is a future settled somewhere between the cartoonish over-the-topness of [b:1984|5470|1984|George Orwell|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348990566s/5470.jpg|153313] and the extreme exaggeration-to-make-a-point of [b:Brave New World|5129|Brave New World|Aldous Huxley|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327865608s/5129.jpg|3204877], and it is probably all the more frightening for that.
There's no real drama here. No histrionics, no action sequences, no fight scenes: this is just a future that's approaching where our humanity and freedoms are stripped away one by one until we look around one day and they're no longer there.
Normal humans are shunted to ghettos, while bionically-enhanced humans rise to middle management and cloned enhanced humans fill the roles of data analyst and accountant. It's a stratified, class-based society taken to its logical conclusion. Not the one imagined by Wells in [b:The Time Machine|2493|The Time Machine|H.G. Wells|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327942880s/2493.jpg|3234863], but one that's feeling a little too plausible these days as the super-rich convince ordinary people to vote away their rights. The rich engineered this world, the upper middle class don't want to rock the boat, the poor can't do anything about it and the slaves have no rights at all.
It's a quiet book, and that's why it's scary. We don't fight it; our freedom ends with a whimper, not a bang.
This is a future settled somewhere between the cartoonish over-the-topness of [b:1984|5470|1984|George Orwell|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348990566s/5470.jpg|153313] and the extreme exaggeration-to-make-a-point of [b:Brave New World|5129|Brave New World|Aldous Huxley|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327865608s/5129.jpg|3204877], and it is probably all the more frightening for that.
There's no real drama here. No histrionics, no action sequences, no fight scenes: this is just a future that's approaching where our humanity and freedoms are stripped away one by one until we look around one day and they're no longer there.
Normal humans are shunted to ghettos, while bionically-enhanced humans rise to middle management and cloned enhanced humans fill the roles of data analyst and accountant. It's a stratified, class-based society taken to its logical conclusion. Not the one imagined by Wells in [b:The Time Machine|2493|The Time Machine|H.G. Wells|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327942880s/2493.jpg|3234863], but one that's feeling a little too plausible these days as the super-rich convince ordinary people to vote away their rights. The rich engineered this world, the upper middle class don't want to rock the boat, the poor can't do anything about it and the slaves have no rights at all.
It's a quiet book, and that's why it's scary. We don't fight it; our freedom ends with a whimper, not a bang.
macaruchi's review against another edition
4.0
The first couple of chapters were a bit slow, but when it picked up I couldn't put it down. Very good story.