Reviews with content warning for Suicide - The Mimicking of Known Successes

I can't believe how bad this book turned out to be! It was so disappointing. The prologue chapter was great, with a moody sci-fi setting and an interesting mystery. But the rest of the book was in first person perspective from a character who was insufferable. This read like a parody of what someone thinks an academic would think like, not like any real person I've ever met. The vocabulary was distractingly over-the-top in its use of obscure words. The POV character had no personality, and the other main character, Mossa, was infuriating and manipulative.

The worldbuilding was really flimsy, which was really surprising since the worldbuilding in Infomocracy by the same author had been so interesting and a big appeal of the book. It made no sense that humanity had settled on a gas giant instead of one of Jupiter's many moons. I felt like the author had an image and a vibe she started with of people on platforms in the misty gases of Jupiter, but it didn't pan out into worldbuilding that made any sense. We got no sense of the government, any justice system outside of these romantic but unrealistic lone wolf Investigators, or even the extent of the population. Were there different languages, cultures, etc? None of this was explored and left the world feeling like an empty stage for the two main characters to zoom around. The characters have to wear "atomscarfs" to protect them from the atmosphere even though they live in a mostly climate-controlled bubble. The extinction of all Earth animals and plants is a major plot point in the book, but there are pigeons and cats mentioned in passing, who aren't wearing atomscarfs, so the purpose of the atomspheric protection gear is rendered moot at the same time as one of the biggest plot points is casually undercut. The role of misogyny in the world was unclear, with some vague references to it still being a factor in this far-future world (for no clear reason) and cringeworthy repetition of internet-speak like "Why are men" as a response.

The plot also had a lot of problems. The

cat attack and the responses to it - Mossa's Tough Girl stoicism and a complete lack of action from the mauzooleum or any other authorities - were all absurd. We don't meet the main villain until the climax, before which he had never even been named.

Every side character is completely one-dimensional. As for the romance, we are told that Pleiti is attracted to Mossa

and that they were previously in a relationship

, but I never saw any evidence that there was any meaningful reason for these characters to get together. Mossa commits a nasty act of police brutality at one point,

kicking a man who's not been convicted of any crime while he's in chains on her floor

, and

the whole thing with hoping Pleiti would show up at the platform in the climax was downright manipulative.

All in all, a really disappointing showing from an author who I think is capable of much better. There is nothing to recommend about this book beyond the cool prologue. It felt like a sketch of ideas the author thought would be cool but didn't make any sense when put together.

Content Warnings

beccaand's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious fast-paced

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

4.5

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count_zero's review against another edition

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lighthearted mysterious relaxing medium-paced

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

3.75

Content Warnings

city_girl_writer's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious fast-paced

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

3.5

Definitely better for me via audio. I grew to like the sapphic romance and the cosy gaslamp sci-fi setting was nice and unique was well. Looking forward to reading the sequel.

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dodgeremerson's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

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schnaucl's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

I really liked the world building but found I couldn't connect to the characters.

Setting the story on Jupiter was an interesting choice, and I liked the Classical studies and the mauzooleum.

I even had some sympathy for the villains of the story because they're right, if they only get one shot, it's going to be very difficult to ever actually take the chance to reset Earth to something similar to what it was before.

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alexalily's review

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adventurous hopeful lighthearted mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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megj23's review against another edition

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fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? Yes

3.75

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