Reviews

Foe by Iain Reid

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erbinyoungblood's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

nicksenior's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I love a tense, weird thriller, and this absolutely delivers. More philosophical than psychological, but that's my vibe. The twists were the kind that seem obvious after the fact but are tastefully done.

mabelsyrup's review against another edition

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mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Henrietta gagged that man without him even knowing oof

this book could’ve also been a 150 page novella; a handful of pages during Occupancy were not necessarily doing much for the story, but it never dragged or made it feel dull for me, maybe cuz the whole time i was trying to figure out what the plot twist would be; just throwing theories at the wall hoping one of them was right so i was constantly engaging with the otherwise mundane narrative. I actually can’t get over the fact that i guessed the reveal exactly one paragraph before it happened i fr felt dumb asf for not catching it sooner.

I rly liked the theme of humanity and what makes someone human. Junior throughout the whole thing WAS a human for all we knew, he bleeds he sweats he fucks he eats. what makes a being a human? does memory and recollection equate humanity? is growth a characteristic of humanity too? is it the ability to articulate feelings? or is being human reduced to who can submit other beings to their will? and then that connects to the relationship between Junior and Hen, he wants someone who will dote upon him, focus on what he’s been through, submit to him.

Another big one for me was Hen and the realisation that you should want more for yourself, you shouldn’t conform to being a piece in someone else’s life no matter how much you mean to them. Hen figuring this out through her years with Junior was the cherry on top cuz it goes back to that theme of humanity; even tho he’s what he is he was able to grow, to listen, which isn’t something that came w the programming that’s just him being a complex person capable of change. she honestly ate, you said she’d hate the city? baby she will go above and beyond

I will not be watching the movie idc how hot Saoirse Ronan and Paul Mescal are, this story works better as a Black Mirror episode not a 2hr movie

“I have responsibilities, duties, chores. What would life be without them? Easier, but in no way satisfying. We need to be engaged and challenged. We all need to be productive and produce.”

“I'm an individual. I'm unprecedented and unimaginable. I'm impossible.”

“Beauty isn't fleeting. Beauty is eternal.

But...I'm not. I'm fleeting.”

“For almost everything, any object you can think of, there are too many. There's only one you, and it's miraculous.”

“Anybody can remember details if you ask them to, I say, but it doesn’t mean it actually happened that way.”

“Everything changes. Change is one of the only certainties in life. Human beings progress. We have to. We evolve. We move. We expand. What seems far-fetched and extreme becomes normal and then outdated pretty quickly.”

ebooklover's review against another edition

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5.0

This book only really came together for me at the very end. But the last part changed everything about my perception of the preceding two parts. Some genius elements and moments here. I was sad to hear that the recent movie adaptation was not well received. There was so much potential for this to be a great movie!