simon326's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.75
Minor: Sexual content and Cursing
andrewhatesham's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
I put off reading this for a long time because I thought it was gonna be heavier on the sci-fi (I hadn't read much sci-fi at all until recently), but it ended up being the opposite of that. If you're a sci-fi newbie, you don't need to feel daunted by this, because things are put into simple terms and there aren't that many sci-fi elements anyway, most of it feels like a real life setting. Conversely, if you're a literary newbie, this may not be for you.
It's also a bit less emotional than I expected. But I'm sure some people would view it as much more emotional than I did, it's subjective. It just didn't hit a nerve that way for me.
In terms of this as the audiobook version, I think listening to it was a good choice since it's slow paced. I could just increase the speed when it felt a little too slow (I typically read faster paced books, just my preference). I liked the narrator for the most part. The only thing that was slightly grating, were the parts with the British accented characters because the accents did not sound realistic.
Minor: Cursing, Bullying, Child death, Grief, Sexual content, and Terminal illness
hhwanghyunjin's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Child death, Chronic illness, and Violence
Moderate: Alcoholism
Minor: Cursing
montsebens's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
The story has its moments when it completely captivates the reader; other times, if you don’t focus on what’s going on, you’ll be lost the rest of the chapter.
All of the characters are very questionable, which grew to be quite frustrating.
Spoiler
There’s a giant plot twist in part four that quite literally ripped the soul out of my body, and I’m pretty sure it’s still floating around my kitchen. The plot twist is honestly a very simple one that can be predicted if you’re really thinking about it since the beginning, but when you’re too focused on yelling at Klara to stop being so stupid the last thing you expect is a slaps in the face of information in 50 pages.Nevertheless, I’d recommend this book to a very specifically niche audience of science fiction fans that don’t mind reading a story mainly character based, even if the characters get on your nerves sometimes.
Graphic: Chronic illness and Grief
Minor: Cursing
jfield351's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Spoiler
getting lifted meant getting genetically alteredSpoiler
the mother wanted klara to replace josie when josie diedModerate: Chronic illness and Cursing
Minor: Injury/Injury detail and Child death
lily_kruse's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Moderate: Car accident, Child death, Cursing, and Terminal illness
Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Bullying
littlehibou7's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Moderate: Chronic illness, Classism, Cursing, Medical content, Child death, Terminal illness, and Ableism
Minor: Bullying and Abandonment
bexi's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Chronic illness
Moderate: Abandonment, Bullying, Child death, and Xenophobia
Minor: Cursing
betanine's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
The thing that I struggled with most was how certain thoughts of the protagonist were not revealed in developing the story. I was confused by the character’s reasoning and perspective when the story is being told from that character’s perspective. For that reason, I missed out on seeing the main point of the story as I was distracted by other details in trying to understand.
Ideas about discovering one’s self, the influences family and circumstances have on our views and choices, privilege (and lack of it), and how we see others are all themes that are visited in this story. What I like about this story and the way these ideas are visited is they are presented as observations from the protagonist without judgment or qualification.
Moderate: Cursing