nkmeyers's review
2.0
the author paints the majority of his female characters with such a coarse brush that even the bad guys glow by comparison .
the rest of the book moves along better than the way the female characters are brought to life or snuffed out but can't overcome such heavy handed treatment .
the rest of the book moves along better than the way the female characters are brought to life or snuffed out but can't overcome such heavy handed treatment .
betsychadwell's review
3.0
TW: Violence
This is an exciting and frightening dystopian about the second Civil War in America in the near future. Frightening because it is quite plausible, even more now than when it was published a few years ago. Exciting, with non-stop suspense that had me staying up all night to keep reading. Even after I made myself put it down and go to bed, I couldn't sleep for wanting to know how Henry and Suzanne got out of their latest pickle, so I turned the light back on and finished it.
However, there are some problems. I wanted a lot more analysis about how we got to the point of actual war. There were also some big plot holes. Or maybe not holes, exactly. They were plot threads that were not satisfactorily completed. They were resolved, but at two removes, being simply reported to the reader but not described or explained. Rather deus ex machina.
There is a lot of violence, but, interestingly, almost no profanity. Now I would expect that soldiers in the midst of battle and war would use language that was rather blue. But no. Strange.
Also, in the kindle version which I read, there were a number of rather glaring errors. Not just typos, but words half missing, sentences half missing, etc. Very obvious and annoying but not bad enough to impact the plot (that I could tell).
This is not my normal preference for fiction, but it was recommended multiple times by [a:David Brin|14078|David Brin|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1352956147p2/14078.jpg] so I decided to try it. I don't think I will ever re-read this book, but I don't mind recommending it to those who like a very suspenseful dystopian.
This is an exciting and frightening dystopian about the second Civil War in America in the near future. Frightening because it is quite plausible, even more now than when it was published a few years ago. Exciting, with non-stop suspense that had me staying up all night to keep reading. Even after I made myself put it down and go to bed, I couldn't sleep for wanting to know how Henry and Suzanne got out of their latest pickle, so I turned the light back on and finished it.
However, there are some problems. I wanted a lot more analysis about how we got to the point of actual war. There were also some big plot holes. Or maybe not holes, exactly. They were plot threads that were not satisfactorily completed. They were resolved, but at two removes, being simply reported to the reader but not described or explained. Rather deus ex machina.
There is a lot of violence, but, interestingly, almost no profanity. Now I would expect that soldiers in the midst of battle and war would use language that was rather blue. But no. Strange.
Also, in the kindle version which I read, there were a number of rather glaring errors. Not just typos, but words half missing, sentences half missing, etc. Very obvious and annoying but not bad enough to impact the plot (that I could tell).
This is not my normal preference for fiction, but it was recommended multiple times by [a:David Brin|14078|David Brin|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1352956147p2/14078.jpg] so I decided to try it. I don't think I will ever re-read this book, but I don't mind recommending it to those who like a very suspenseful dystopian.
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