intorilex's review
4.0
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Actual Rating 3.5
This was an entertaining and funny short read. The narrator Miles is a very simple minded and ignorant protagonist. This serves the narrative well because the 'aliens' want sustainability, harmony, and education for all. The book clearly pokes fun at our society, where a lot of America does not see the utility in learning and being healthy. Through the use of a dumb protagonist challenging rational peaceful others, the author is able to provide some funny but thoughtful commentary. It was good to explore what being complicit and unthinking could lead to in this book.
Miles and Becky are operating under the impression that the people around them are duplicate aliens they try to convince others this is true, but are unsuccessful. This leads to some violent confrontations while our main characters consciously try not to think, so they won't become like the aliens. I enjoyed the story for what it was and appreciated some of the adult humor thrown in. I was engaged while reading, despite some hasty character development, the world building was done well. The ending however didn't sit right with me because it could have challenged the absurdness of actively being ignorant in a big way, but it didn't. I would recommend this to adult readers who are fans of satire.
I received this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.
Actual Rating 3.5
This was an entertaining and funny short read. The narrator Miles is a very simple minded and ignorant protagonist. This serves the narrative well because the 'aliens' want sustainability, harmony, and education for all. The book clearly pokes fun at our society, where a lot of America does not see the utility in learning and being healthy. Through the use of a dumb protagonist challenging rational peaceful others, the author is able to provide some funny but thoughtful commentary. It was good to explore what being complicit and unthinking could lead to in this book.
"There are already enough paintings. Why make new ones? What's wrong with the old ones? And making music makes no sense, since you can pay other people to do it. Why bother expressing your creativity when other people will express creativity for you?"
Miles and Becky are operating under the impression that the people around them are duplicate aliens they try to convince others this is true, but are unsuccessful. This leads to some violent confrontations while our main characters consciously try not to think, so they won't become like the aliens. I enjoyed the story for what it was and appreciated some of the adult humor thrown in. I was engaged while reading, despite some hasty character development, the world building was done well. The ending however didn't sit right with me because it could have challenged the absurdness of actively being ignorant in a big way, but it didn't. I would recommend this to adult readers who are fans of satire.
"We finally got the school to ban those 'critical thinking' books . It wasn't hard, because the political leaders all agreed with us. They didn't want students that could think, because those student's would grow up to be voters."
I received this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.
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