Reviews with content warning for Sexual content - Autonomous

Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

Autonomous by Annalee Newitz

12 reviews

samdalefox's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

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

3.25

Future dystopia, bisexual, pirate, social justice activist, hi-tech low-life(?) society. This is a tricky one to rate. I loved the premise and themes. I loved all the constituent parts individually, but they just never meshed together as a whole for me. The whole world felt jumbled, the individual storylines felt superficial, and even the characters themselves felt flat. I can't say for sure this was poorly written since I still enjoyed reading it, but I really feel that this book had more potential and somehow it let itself down. I wanted more!

There are HUGE topics introduced such as intellectual property rights and access to medicines, slavery/indenture, autonomy, robotic intelligence, corporate capitalism, and climate change and none are sufficiently explored. The novel simply needed to be longer with more depth to give us time to immerse ourselves in the jargon-overfilled world and actually get to know these characters and feel the lives they are living and the consequences of their actions. The whole thing came across more superficial that intended, especially considering the moral arguments around literally any one of the topics listed above. Even the goddamn romances were superficial. I found the ending pleasing in some areas, anticlimatic overall, and a bit confusing

Spoiler

why did the story end focussing upon Paladin and Eliasz instead of Jack?

.

Andystone's review sums it up:

"...The plot follows two different sets of characters, switching off every chapter until the climax where they meet… for all of one page. There was no discussion, no one learned anything and nothing was solved. By the time I got through 80% of the story, I worried that there wouldn’t be enough time to do something compelling to give a reason for the trials and tribulations of the previous couple hundred pages. Sadly, those worries were well founded...."

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electricshe's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

I ripped through this story.

I didn’t find the characters likeable—as in, I wouldn’t want to be friends with any of them—but I did find them interesting, varied, with clear motivation. I don’t think they developed much through the story (with the exception of Paladin, maaaaaybe) so that felt a bit lacking. I also thought that things fell in line very neatly for Eliasz and Paladin. They seemed to find just who/what they needed on the first try in every location they visited, which I thought pushed “fast-paced” into “somewhat unbelievable” territory.

Despite that, I really liked the story. I was interested in what it had to say about ownership, capitalism, AI, labour. It doesn’t try to solve this whole future world’s problems—or even wholly lay them out—which feels frustrating, but is simply not within the scope of the plot. I don’t think it shouldn’t examine them just because it can’t wrap them up neatly in a bow.

I liked the flashbacks to Jack’s younger years and how it fleshed out what was happening in the present. Even as I didn’t like the characters, I appreciated the glimpses we got of how they came to be who they were. I felt such intense dislike for Eliasz as the story progressed, but relished in their half of the story as we got to see his influence on Paladin. It’s all sort of messed up, and their ‘romance’ is meant to be uncomfortable. It reads like first love between teens—even in the dialogue—and it really makes me think of what will happen to them as Paladin comes into its autonomy.

Anyway, I could go on. I don’t think it’s perfect, but I did really enjoy it and think it leaves lots to think about. Worth the read, for sure.

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quihi's review

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adventurous tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

4.25

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studabomb's review against another edition

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Too much sex

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caseythereader's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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miniingrid's review against another edition

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dark informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

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m_petranoff's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

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

3.75

While the dystopian world building is grounded and level, I was disappointed by some of the (lack of) character development. Where the narrative does what good speculative fiction should do--exploring current trends played out to their potentially dystopian outcomes--it doesn't always hit the mark with treating each of its subjects fully. If you're only here for the plot, you'll have a good time (with lots of blood and gore), but if you're here for the thoughtful look into a potential future and characters who grapple with that future, look elsewhere.

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