Reviews

Firebreak, by Nicole Kornher-Stace

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snowbenton's review

4.0

Love that this is set in a future where online games are where people spend most of their free time, but it doesn't forget that real life is where the best story happens.

It's a battle cry.

shksprsis's review against another edition

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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? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

irasobrietate's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

prebeartobemoosified's review

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adventurous tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No

4.0

michelles_teaandreads's review against another edition

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dark tense medium-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? Yes

4.5

ash_dash's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny fast-paced

Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

daniorlo's review

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dark reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.0

I really appreciate what this book was trying to do, but I didn’t love the execution. The anti-capitalist dystopian feel was fantastic, and I really enjoyed the on-the-nose social commentary. The plot kept me engaged, and I liked the world building.

However, Mal is such a boring narrator. She is an introverted overthinker, and yeah, relatable, but being in her head was so frustrating at times. She would ruminate over absolutely everything, and her thoughts would go in circles. For instance, she spent most of the first chapter trying to decide whether to go for 1000 kills or find the NPC. She spent so long deciding that it was getting to the point where she almost couldn’t accomplish either.

Her overthinking also destroyed virtually all of the sense of suspense and mystery that this book could have had. I’m the type of reader who takes stories in as they come and I don’t try to predict things, and this book was so predictable for me. It got to the point where almost every plot point was so obvious, and I was waiting for Mal (and Jessa sometimes) to catch up. It made Mal feel overdramatic, and quite frankly, stupid. It also ruined the emotional impact these events could have had on the reader. I have so many examples of this, ranging from

Spoiler

Mal and Jessa’s disbelief of the SecOps being stolen kids when that’s literally in the synopsis, Mal wandering in circles around B’s missing coffee shop trying to convince herself it’s gone, Mal and Jessa not getting that there being 48 SecOps originally means that 36 died before they could be put into combat, Mal excessively worrying over the remembrance flare that was obviously for 08, etc…

I honestly think this book could have been so much better if at least 50 pages of Mal’s ruminating were cut (imagine my surprise when I read in the acknowledgements that the editor told the author to add 20,000+ words…).

Mal’s characterization in one sentence from the book: “I can’t rationalize why I hit that button, and my inability to make logical sense of my own motivations makes my brain itch.” Just STOP! Being in Mal’s head makes my brain itch.

I also think it would have been way better if either a. Mal got more characterization / back story / literally anything else to make her a more interesting character, or b. the book was narrated from the point of view of one or both of the operatives (06 and/or 22). That would have allowed for a more natural form of world building (a lot of the initial explanations were info dumps from characters telling other characters the history of the world they already know??), and would have been a lot more interesting. All of the people Mal knows have the same backstory (parents dead from the war), and their characterizations were all pretty flat. 06 was the most engaging and complicated character, and I would’ve loved to learn more about her.

I liked how it ended, though I wish there was a little more on the rebuilding of society, especially since it was suddenly revealed in the end

Spoiler

that Stellaxis and Greenleaf were working together. Makes complete sense, but it should have been expounded upon. How do you fight that?

The pacing also felt a little uneven, as it was kind of slow-going in the first half (due to Mal’s overthinking primarily), and then the second half passed by at a lightning-fast pace with a shitton of violence. I also wasn’t a fan of how Mal reacted to

Spoiler

the Director. Fuck following orders, she ruined 48 children’s lives?! She gave her way too much leeway, and basically lectured 22 on how he should respond to his trauma. It also bothered me how she has literally been obsessed with this man for years and yet never asked him his name?

Also her going “we must protest nonviolently!” like 🙄 There were also some plot conveniences in the second half that didn’t make sense to me.

Spoiler

Stellaxis should have just killed Mal—them torturing her made no sense. They killed 06 for god’s sake… Though them making the CGI avatar of Mal that told everyone she made a deal with them was BRILLIANT, loved it.

In short, we need more anti-capitalist books like this one, but this particular story could have been a lot better.

This is my favorite quote (spoilers):

Spoiler

This is my message in a bottle. Somebody, somewhere, please: use it. All of it. 06’s death. 22’s death. Mine. Politicize the shit out of us. What we did. What was done to us. To the operatives. To old town. To B’s family. To ours. Let us mark the line that others will go on to hold.

Dedicated to all the real-life people who say, “don’t politicize their deaths!!!”

artsymusings's review

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4.0

Yes, I teared the fuck up. The friendship feels being as important as romances in books >>>>

Probably will be a fave on reread, I hope

kiditkid's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional slow-paced

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

3.0

Cool concept, average execution.

I think what bothered me the most was how repetitive, dull and predictable the story was. Mal repeatedly realized obvious plot elements several chapters after what I believe would be most readers. For a girl who continuously rambled through every emotion of her inner monologue, Mal was extremely late in utilizing deductive skills. I really wish this story had been told from 06’s perspective who was by far one of the most interesting and engaging characters in the whole story. Good news is that we got one solid chapter (9) but that is where the story leaked for me.

anniereads221's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional reflective tense medium-paced

Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

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