thenextbookdilemma's review
- 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
Graphic: Classism, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, and Gore
Moderate: Racism
Minor: Addiction, Child death, Suicide, Lesbophobia, and Child abuse
schnaucl'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? It's complicated
4.0
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.
Graphic: Classism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Colonisation, Death, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Murder, Gore, Physical abuse, and Domestic abuse
anarmandameg's review
- 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
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
- 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
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.
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
5.0
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
- 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
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
- 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
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
- 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
Graphic: Domestic abuse and Physical abuse
oddityoverseer's review against another edition
- 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
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.
Moderate: Classism and Physical abuse
mackwilb's review
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.0
Moderate: Physical abuse and Emotional abuse