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perchoirdehiboumystique's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
A kin to American Gods by N.G. with an anything goes plot and unnecessary violence and gore.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, and Violence
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Suicide, and Blood
Minor: Infertility, Cannibalism, and Car accident
mr_engineer's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I liked the stories between the main plot, from the doctor, the servant, the wife. It's interesting seeing a character with as much history as B through their eyes and memories.
Ultimately, those flashbacks made this book worth reading to me. The main plot is so slow to really get started and there are so many mysteries left unanswered at the end.
Ultimately, those flashbacks made this book worth reading to me. The main plot is so slow to really get started and there are so many mysteries left unanswered at the end.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, and Violence
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Suicide, and Grief
Minor: Cannibalism
hkajer's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
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
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gore, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Miscarriage
Minor: Cannibalism, Car accident, and Death of parent
spentcello's review against another edition
challenging
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
"Come," he heard himself say.
What was coming came.
And now what's coming is an extremely negative review.
When I saw this book had come out I was very hesitant, but unfortunately for me, I finally caved. It was truly awful. There were no redeeming features. I hated all the characters - they were half-baked and dull. The switching between the two authors was constantly jarring and made me groan inwardly each time it was a certain author's turn (spoilers, not China Miéville). The plot was non-sensical, bitsy and generic, with twists that were more boring than what was there before the twist. The end was unsatisfying and what felt like it should have been the climax point had much lower energy than the rest of the book. Overall, very VERY bad.
If I had to isolate one part that I hated the most about this book, it would have to be the writing 'style' (if you can call it that). For example:
The dead's shadows crawled away from his light. Not even the posthumous recalcitrance, angular elbow or jutting knee, remained to this coagulation, softened in its outlines as it was by secondary flaccidity and gravity, its edges blurred by that corrosive disguiser of particularities.
I reckon this book is a pretty good approximation of secondary flaccidity. Although he tries somewhat to match the style of what comes before, as soon as Miéville's sections start you feel as if you're reading a normal book again instead of some crap someone wrote trying to be edgy for a school assignment immediately after discovering the thesaurus. Perhaps there are reasons why the two authors' voices are quite so separate (Miéville wanting to distance himself, simplification of the writing process, etc.), but it makes for a terrible book. It's all broken and you spend so much time focusing on how half of it makes no sense and trying to figure out what is actually happening, rather than being able to engage with the story.
About halfway through I did have a breakthrough when I realised that it felt a lot like someone was trying to do some half-assed version of American Gods. A lot of the plot and themes are along similar lines and sometimes the style (not so much Miéville's, his just mostly feels like his own) reads like an attempt of recreating Gaiman's particular flavour of horror. I think I came to terms with the book more at that point and started to understand more of the plot and the way the book was broken up. But I still hated it.
I'm not one for stifling creativity and I do think people should try things outside of their main field of expertise, but... I think it would be wise and prudent to get some more unbiased opinions before deciding that you can not only write a book, but also match a highly successful author paragraph for paragraph. I'm somewhat disappointed in Miéville too for putting his name to this rubbish, but I've played crappy pop covers at weddings, and can appreciate the remuneration without debasing my other artistic endeavours.
What was coming came.
And now what's coming is an extremely negative review.
When I saw this book had come out I was very hesitant, but unfortunately for me, I finally caved. It was truly awful. There were no redeeming features. I hated all the characters - they were half-baked and dull. The switching between the two authors was constantly jarring and made me groan inwardly each time it was a certain author's turn (spoilers, not China Miéville). The plot was non-sensical, bitsy and generic, with twists that were more boring than what was there before the twist. The end was unsatisfying and what felt like it should have been the climax point had much lower energy than the rest of the book. Overall, very VERY bad.
If I had to isolate one part that I hated the most about this book, it would have to be the writing 'style' (if you can call it that). For example:
The dead's shadows crawled away from his light. Not even the posthumous recalcitrance, angular elbow or jutting knee, remained to this coagulation, softened in its outlines as it was by secondary flaccidity and gravity, its edges blurred by that corrosive disguiser of particularities.
I reckon this book is a pretty good approximation of secondary flaccidity. Although he tries somewhat to match the style of what comes before, as soon as Miéville's sections start you feel as if you're reading a normal book again instead of some crap someone wrote trying to be edgy for a school assignment immediately after discovering the thesaurus. Perhaps there are reasons why the two authors' voices are quite so separate (Miéville wanting to distance himself, simplification of the writing process, etc.), but it makes for a terrible book. It's all broken and you spend so much time focusing on how half of it makes no sense and trying to figure out what is actually happening, rather than being able to engage with the story.
About halfway through I did have a breakthrough when I realised that it felt a lot like someone was trying to do some half-assed version of American Gods. A lot of the plot and themes are along similar lines and sometimes the style (not so much Miéville's, his just mostly feels like his own) reads like an attempt of recreating Gaiman's particular flavour of horror. I think I came to terms with the book more at that point and started to understand more of the plot and the way the book was broken up. But I still hated it.
I'm not one for stifling creativity and I do think people should try things outside of their main field of expertise, but... I think it would be wise and prudent to get some more unbiased opinions before deciding that you can not only write a book, but also match a highly successful author paragraph for paragraph. I'm somewhat disappointed in Miéville too for putting his name to this rubbish, but I've played crappy pop covers at weddings, and can appreciate the remuneration without debasing my other artistic endeavours.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Gun violence, and Torture
Minor: Car accident and Fire/Fire injury
sarahb919's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-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? Yes
4.0
Very well written but didn’t really enjoy it. Couldn’t become invested in any of the characters. The one character I was really curious about, Vayn, barely featured. And then, in the end, everything was just a big misunderstanding, which felt unsatisfying and anticlimactic. The beginning, with its jumping around in the timeline, was difficult to understand. It took several chapters before I could get my footing and understand what was going on.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Stalking, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail
stephe's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
This is exactly what you want to get from a Keanu-China collab based on a graphic novel. Fun, brutal, brooding, out there, pretty well-written, and just generally cool. I enjoyed this much more than the comic books.
Also, don’t be dismayed by the first few pages—the writing gets much better!
Also, don’t be dismayed by the first few pages—the writing gets much better!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Gore, Suicide, Torture, Violence, War, and Injury/Injury detail
This is a book about an 80,000-year-old immortal John Wick. So a lot of death and violence.ixris's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
reflective
slow-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
3.25
Those sure were some words put in an order.
I love china mieville but the plot did not really show up until the last 100 pages. A thriller writer my guy is not.
Kind of a bear for me personally to get thru but always in love w mievilles EXTREMELY SPECIFIC diction omg. Some passages were absolutely killer.
I longed for a closer narrative voice in the third person sections to feel like these characters were people with hopes and goals. Loved all the first and second person sections. Art happened there.
I love china mieville but the plot did not really show up until the last 100 pages. A thriller writer my guy is not.
Kind of a bear for me personally to get thru but always in love w mievilles EXTREMELY SPECIFIC diction omg. Some passages were absolutely killer.
I longed for a closer narrative voice in the third person sections to feel like these characters were people with hopes and goals. Loved all the first and second person sections. Art happened there.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Genocide, Gore, Infertility, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Mass/school shootings, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Car accident
mlkao94697's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
This was one of the most confusing books I've ever read, and not in a good, make-you-think kind of way. Many times there were just random words jumbled together and the meaning was absolutely lost. I felt like I no longer knew the English language. For example, if you can translate these sentences, I don't believe you: "Channeling current through that cool hypercharged elixir. Sluicing into meticulously reconstituted veins harvested blood. Pushing the whole into a quantum-catalytic state by the cajoling of incompossible wave-particle interactions, according to the arcana of Unutology."
The MC is so edgy and is the stereotypical depressed badass - super boring to read. The mystery seemed at least interesting enough at first, but it devolved into a nonsensical discussion of life and death that had zero payoff in the end. I would definitely not read this book again. I've never read any other China Miéville books before, but this was not a good start for me.
The MC is so edgy and is the stereotypical depressed badass - super boring to read. The mystery seemed at least interesting enough at first, but it devolved into a nonsensical discussion of life and death that had zero payoff in the end. I would definitely not read this book again. I've never read any other China Miéville books before, but this was not a good start for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Sexual assault, Suicide, and War
Minor: Infertility and Miscarriage
lunarstrudel's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
I'm not sure what I just read honestly. I read the comics and enjoyed them, I've read a little bit of China Mieville and enjoyed that. If there wasn't such a long wait at the library I probably would have dnfed this at 15-20%, but I didn't want to go through the loooong hold line again so my curiousity about it won out. Anyways, I finished it and I think I followed most of the plot but I'm still not really sure wtf this book is trying to say. It was very confusing and sometimes felt deliberately so. I had a hard time listening to some of the more gorey scenes and kinda skimmed them; that may have hindered me more than I thought. Idk.
Audiobook version was good, I could speed up to 1.5, sometimes 1.75 depending on the narrator. Just an FYI for fellow speed freaks.
Audiobook version was good, I could speed up to 1.5, sometimes 1.75 depending on the narrator. Just an FYI for fellow speed freaks.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, and Suicide attempt
lucywood227's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Gore, Violence, and Medical trauma