Reviews with content warning for Sexual content - Mickey7

Figuring out the "twist" in the first 30 pages wasn't a bad thing, since Mickey7 has a lot of other stuff going on both in the present and in flashbacks. On the other hand, I feel like there was so much other neat worldbuilding and potential conflict that we could've explored more, like

the Natalist movement or the wider impacts of resource scarcity

.

Instead, we got Mickey8 spending what felt like 50 pages asleep or hungry interspersed with commentary on profound topics like genocide, cloning, and identity... but because Mickey is just a guy, his ideas didn't break any new ground for me. I heard Mickey compared to The Martian's Mark Watney, which is true except that Mickey is marginally more likeable while Mark is more interesting to read for a puzzler like me. Otherwise, they're definitely both guys who put "I love sarcasm and dark humor" in their Tinder bios...

On top of Mickey's narration leaning cringy/tryhard more often than not, the pacing of this book wasn't very consistent. Felt like the resolution blew in out of nowhere, to say nothing of

Marshall just... changing his mind overnight? It just felt jarring.

The premise was so good, but this is one of those books that feels like it would've been more compelling if it had a different point of view. It's not strictly bad—quick, light read with a few "ohh" moments and even a couple actually good jokes. But if you're looking for more of the hard science or psychological drama of The Martian, this may miss the mark.

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carissa230's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Mickey 7 should no longer exist. Mickey 8 should have replaced him, but Mickey 7 didn't die.

Mickey 7 is an expendable. He does really dangerous jobs, because his DNA can be used to create new versions of himself. He has in fact died 6 times. When 7 finds himself in trouble he lets them know he won't make it and they leave him to die and create Mickey 8. However, Mickey 7 decides he doesn't want to die, he wants to live, so he does. Problem is it is illegal to have more than one version of yourself so Mickey 7 has to not exist.

Mickey 7 and Mickey 8 come up with a plan to help them both survive. They make a lot of errors in the first 2 days and it doesn't go well. When their girlfriend finds out there are 2 of them she is very happy. There isn't much to do on a small ship...

This book was very funny. The situations that Mickey got himself into and out of were wild, yet plausible if you're not looking too close at the science.

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thecandlelightlibrary's review against another edition

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adventurous dark reflective fast-paced

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

3.0

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for sending me an ARC of this title. I received this copy for free and this review contains my honest opinions.

Mickey7 is a quick sci-fi adventure that explores the concept of identity, primarily, what aspects of yourself make you you? When we enter the story, Mickey Barnes is in his seventh iteration as an Expendable: everything about him is identical to the original Mickey Barnes who signed up for this job (from how he looks to his memories), but is he actually the same now that he’s been remade six times?

Mickey’s troubles aside, I really enjoyed the concept of this story and the idea of a futuristic humanity that has colonized multiple other planets, but has struggled to do so and is still struggling when we’re introduced to the narrative. Few of the sci-fi books I read really explore humanity’s failures to get to the point they’re at for the story, so I was interested in all the failed colonies in Mickey’s world (even if it was a brief mention) and their drastic impacts on the worlds they colonized.

However, I found most of the characters unlikeable, which meant their relationships didn’t feel natural to me and I struggled to see their connections (or sometimes, why they were even interacting). I also had difficulty with the pacing: every other chapter jumps back in time to focus on Mickey’s backstory or world building. It was nice to know some of this additional detail, but it left me wanting to see more conflict and I would have rather spent more time interacting with the planet and its current issues.

Overall, I think this book either needed to be shorter (and the focus narrowed to building on the relationships and the final conflict) or slightly longer (with more time spent meshing the world building with the dangers the crew faces colonizing a new world). Thank you again to the publisher for sending me a free ARC of this title.

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