Reviews with content warning for Death of parent - Firebreak

edit (2nd read): feel like i'm being flayed alive by this book. twice already
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you know that feeling when your back is really stiff but you don't know just how stiff until you get a massage and they crack your spine and it sounds like someone stepped on a bag of cornflakes. reading this book felt like that

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starccato's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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frantic_vampire's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

This book was brutal. It just kept hitting with everything that it had. There was hardly anytime to catch your breath. I had to put it down for a while because it just got way to intense and a little to real after watching the news coverage of Russia invading Ukraine.

I really liked Mal as a main character. She’s a kind of antisocial gamer/streamer who cusses a lot and I love that about her. Mal was just so real, I loved her ability to simultaneously be flipping out about everything that’s happening and not giving a single fuck about fucking shit up as much as possible for the corporation.

As brutal as this book was, it doesn’t even begin to compare to the ending. I understand why it had to happen that way, but damn if I didn’t want things to go another way. And as much as I wanted that ending to be different, it was still really satisfying and open ended enough that I could almost see what would happen next if this was a series. All in all this was a fantastic read and I’m giving this a four out of five stars.

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eegah's review

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adventurous dark sad fast-paced

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

4.5

This is the book I wish Ready Player One was. If you like the whole concept of VR in a dystopia, this is a much meatier look at hypercapitalism and exploitation. None of that wink-nudge nerd reference stuff here. Just world-building and plot at a breakneck pace. A much more digestible speculative fiction read in the vein of Cory Doctorow's "For the Win" I'd say.

Admittedly this isn't the perfect read. It's not a hard sci-fi book so details on tech and science are quite spotty. The prose also sometimes got in the way of my experience

Spoiler

(I really can't unsee "fuckedest", and how that was actually in this book)

. But it was extremely enjoyable, so much so that I couldn't put it down and read it in a day. Would recommend.

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lilifane's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense 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? Yes

5.0

OMG how do I even write this review.

Okay, so the story takes place in 2134 in a world where Americas coast are flooded, and the remaining states are ruled by two mega companies, Stellaxis Innovations which controls the water and Greanleaf which controls the food. Both companies are at constant war, especially in the one city that is divided between both fractions, New Liberty City.
The protagonist, Mal, is a 20-year-old living in Old Town, a refugee town outside of New Liberty City, in an old hotel room she shares with 7 other people. She has several part-time jobs and streams a popular VR game with her best friend Jessa in their free time. Food, water and power are rare, so they rely on small everyday rations as well as donations from subscribers of their small gaming channel.
When they manage to encounter one of the rare NPCs of the game in one of their stream, they are contacted by a new sponsor with an unusual request. And everything kind of escalates from there.

Don't get fooled by the synopsis, the gaming aspect is only 1/4 or 1/3 of the plot, there is much more to it, and you have no idea at the beginning where it will lead you. So if you prefer books where a plot is hinted at and then went through with... this might not be for you. What you will get though, is a super fast paced, f**cking intense story. It was so intense that I couldn't stop reading and when I reached the last two pages I just started crying.

Like with all Nicole Kornher-Stace books, I absolutely love the setting and world building. It's super immersive. (And considering it's a brutal dystopian world we're talking about I probably shouldn't count this as a positive aspect...) It's actually one of the best dystopian worlds I've ever read, just because it's so close to our world. You can clearly see how global warming, dwindling recourses and the privatization of ... basically everything ... might lead to this. But there are also some shiny technology and sci-fi elements which make the world intriguing.
I loved the character dynamics here. Mal's and Jessa's friendship is amazing, you don't get these kinds of female friendships very often. The found family aspect with the other people they are living with is so nice. I was also super happy when one of them had they/them pronouns. As usual for Nicole Kornher-Stace there is no romance plot in the book, but a lot of platonic love and a friendship crush. Although not written out specifically, it's heavily hinted at that Mal is aro/ace and this really means a lot to me. And her being an introvert and socially awkward didn't make her the most lovable character but definitely one I could relate to a lot.
Usually I don't like too many action/fighting scenes, but they didn't bother me here, they matched the atmosphere of the whole world (VR and RL) very well.
And then there are the topics and themes that are so important and relevant today. The negative aspects and dangers of capitalism, standing up for oneself and others, organizing protests as part of the fight for basic human rights and freedom, using social media as a weapon against oppression. There is also some commentary on social media fame, streaming and fandom culture. So I really enjoyed how thought-provoking this book was.
There is just one small critique I have. I wish Mal's feelings for 22 were explored a little bit more at the beginning of the book (a little bit more show than tell) to make the rest of it even more believable.

I knew that this was a stand-alone book with easter eggs for fans of Archivist Wasp and Latchkey. And I have to say, THOSE easter eggs.... I wish I had reread these 2 books before Firebreak to fully appreciate the easter eggs.

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allisonwonderlandreads's review against another edition

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adventurous dark hopeful tense medium-paced

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

3.0

Welcome back to the not-so-distant dystopian future, the genre that reliably offers the worst vacation destinations. In this one, corporations control everything from water and agriculture (it's terrorism to access either on your own) to the internet and healthcare. Yeah... I barely see a difference from the here and now, myself. In the supercity New Liberty, two corporations carry on an urban war between mechs and super soldiers with bystander customer-citizens suffering through all the collateral damage.

Mal is getting by on multiple jobs to afford enough water, but her dream is taking she and her best friend Jessa's streaming full time. They play BestLife in a war game that imitates reality, going so far as to include real world celebrity super soldiers as NPCs, a marketing coup for the corporation Styllaxis. Mal and Jessa are hired to gather information on these non-player characters in-game while streaming, and the whole corporate house of cards comes tumbling down (slower, but still).

Mal was a great protagonist. She's unsure of herself and antisocial but does her best to help people in need. She's aro/ace, and the book has no romantic plots to be seen. It's all about friendship and found family, those we choose to fight for and protect. The video game elements were awesome from a gamer's perspective. I'm not sure of the approachability if that's not your wheelhouse. I loved the distinction between video game and real action sequences because while the scenarios could be similar, Mal's reactions and the author's descriptions were noticeably different, as they should be.

I think this book has excellent commentary on the trajectory of capitalism and the importance of speaking up and using collective action to resist. For the first part of the book, the mystery of everything propelled me forward. At a certain point after most of the big reveals, the focus is on more of a protracted action sequence as Mal reacts to this new information and decides how to both use it and disperse it. This is when I started to drift a bit because things were more predictable once the full framework was in the open.

I also want to be upfront and say that I don't think I was in the right headspace for this book at the time I read it. Dystopian novels are rough for me in this regard because I appreciate the societal critiques even as I'm pushed under by the emotional burden of the overlaps with daily life. So basically, if you're similar to me, you're forewarned. If this is a genre that you love or the type of thinking you want to pursue more, this is a high quality read that I hope you'll enjoy.

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