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vj_thompson's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Graphic: Death, Infidelity, Violence, and Car accident
Moderate: Child death, Cursing, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Racism, Suicide, Torture, Grief, Murder, and Pregnancy
Minor: Cancer, Miscarriage, Vomit, Trafficking, War, and Deportation
ellaticonstellation's review against another edition
- 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
The "hacker" was so interesting. The dark themes such as pedophilia, suicide, etc. made my skin crawl. I was so mad at Sofia's husband, Patrick. He dared to threaten her about his dark side. Disgusting was an understatement.
Oh, Sofia thinking that she joined a reality TV show was hilarious until it didn't.
Heide blackmailing his cheating husband was awesome in a way that he had a taste of his own medicine. The squirming and mine games made it all worth it.
The ending was interesting as well. And the triple life of Jude. Hey Jude✨
Thank you, John❤️
Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Kidnapping, Car accident, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and War
quetzel90's review against another edition
- 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? No
3.5
Graphic: Infidelity, Kidnapping, Car accident, and Murder
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Suicide, and Stalking
Minor: Child death
chireadsandchill's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Graphic: Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Self harm, Suicide, Blood, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
madanxiety's review against another edition
5.0
Aside from pace, I am also always a huge fan of ensembles, which is part of what initially sustained my attention. I was like damn, how many hostages are there? Lol.
More to the content of the novel, I liked how each character was flawed in a very human way, and yet the protagonist (who, despite all the other characters, I'd say is Libby) was still always someone you could route for. This was a skillful balance to maintain.
I also have a soft spot for anti-establishment narratives lol. As one of the characters states at some point, the real villains turn out to be people, not AI.
My only critique of the book is how characters of color are treated. I will say more under the cut, but ofc it will include major spoilers.
I might've written this off as simply revealing Alex's own biases and flaws, but POC in this book are pretty much all murdered or painted as villains. It seems like the narrative of the book leans sympathetic toward POC, with only unlikeable characters being outright racist, the POC still die unjust deaths. It's like, I get that the novel is meant to be representative of the ugly parts of reality, including the disproportionate victimization of POC, but idk if that's enough justification for using characters of color as mere plot devices or backstory, not when that's the plight of ALL of them.
Anyway, I think the book is an interesting exploration of how AI could be weaponized by both powerful people and vigilantes. It's a cautionary tale about being too trusting of technology with regard to the collection and sharing of private data.
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Suicide, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, and Murder
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders and Pregnancy
Minor: Cancer and Infertility
littlelibraryonsunset's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
5.0
Graphic: Death, Gore, Hate crime, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Xenophobia, Islamophobia, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
mel_s_bookshelf's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Graphic: Death, Violence, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Racism and Suicide
alliyyamo's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Death, Car accident, Murder, and Classism
Minor: Pedophilia and Suicide
tysbooks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Minor: Pedophilia and Suicide
chicitytyty's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
If Black Mirror were a book that kind of reads like a play….you’d have ‘The Passengers’.
From the get go we had an interesting premise that continued to unfold in later upon layer of social commentary making the reader face many of the issues that we are already starting to see arise in our use of AI.
Character names were difficult at times as there was a large cast who some were not frequently returned to. Had to keep going back to find the differences in some Passengers but that’s more of a me issue as John did a great job of giving them all distinct issues and backgrounds.
All in all an amazing read and now wanting to pick up more John Marrs.
It did at times take on a preachy tone but clearly the author has an opinion and this book was an opportunity to explore that theme. Only reason for the not perfect 5.
Moderate: Pedophilia, Suicide, Xenophobia, Trafficking, and Murder