The design and UX isn't done, Rob and Abbie, okkurrrr! đ
hopscotchreads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Alcoholism, Classism, Cultural appropriation, Cursing, Murder, Death, Torture, Violence, Racism, War, and Rape
Moderate: Colonisation, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, and Abandonment
Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Animal cruelty
bagxofxtricks'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
4.5
Graphic: Violence, War, Rape, Blood, Death, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Classism, Colonisation, Confinement, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, and Torture
space_corgi'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? It's complicated
4.75
As told in other reviews, the writing is VERBOSE. At some points, it is gratuitously verbose. But that is the voice of our narrator. An intellectual who is trying to dissect himself, but doesnât quite get there until he is confronted with his own sins. If that sounds cool to you, you would like this book. Otherwise, this is not a spy novel. I mean, it is, but itâs more a reflection on power, control and war.
Also, I would say calling this a thriller is a stretch. Youâll be thrilled by certain passages that you want to underline, frame and paste on the folds of your brain lobes. But the pacing is slow. Arduously slow. And that doesnât fall in line with a âthrillerâ.Â
Now letâs hop into what wasnât so great. The narratorâs view on women is complex and disgusting at points in the novel. The sexualization of war and disturbingly detached descriptions of womenâs bodies is frankly tough to read through. Itâs as if every male author who wants to be seen as intellectual subscribes to using sex/analogies to sex/sexual violence as a way to show the primitive nature of any action. Reverting to cavemen? What better way to illustrate than to bastardize all men through what (presumably) they all desire? Come on people. Letâs do better for all the women that have to read through this crap.Â
Graphic: War, Gun violence, Violence, Rape, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, Racism, and Torture
Moderate: Vomit and Murder
Minor: Blood, Confinement, Classism, and Infidelity