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voxvenati's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
There isn’t exactly a specific content warning tag for this, but it’s going in spoilers for anyone who doesn’t want to know:
After all that, I did enjoy the rest of the book. The Netflix show deviated from the book in a lot of respects, but they’re both just as engaging, and I had a good time with both. The world building is phenomenal. I’m obsessed. I enjoyed the characters, especially Kovacs. The plot was solid. I found myself thinking about this book almost constantly when I wasn’t reading it. People hate on the sex scenes, but I found them better written than most of the romance and erotica I’ve read this year.
The most fascinating thing in the book is, of course, the altered carbon. The way Morgan discusses the implications of such a technology - how resleeving affects people psychologically, how the government takes advantage of it, what happens when you can’t afford to bring a loved one back, how organized religion would react to this, how class disparities become so great that the 1% virtually become gods. Really good shit. Chef kiss.
Even so, there were a few negatives for me. First, the above spoiler/content warning was really unexpected. It made its point but the amount of time spent on it hurt me. Second, I’m not sure how I feel about the treatment of sex work in this world. Takeshi seems neutral toward it, but Ortega makes several disparaging comments about the “whorehouses” and people working there. Last, the treatment of the Sharya culture and peoples was distasteful at times.
This book certainly has its issues, but the writing, characters, concepts, and plot really made up for it in my opinion. If none of the content warnings are a dealbreaker, it’s worth a read. Just don’t expect it to be the Netflix show.
Graphic: Death, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Violence, Excrement, and Colonisation
catsy2022's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Death, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Suicide and Police brutality
Minor: Child death, Abortion, and War
beejay5253's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Suicide
Moderate: Drug use, Sexual violence, and Trafficking
fahyhallowell's review against another edition
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Graphic: Drug use, Torture, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Death, Gore, Blood, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Sexual violence, and War
rocketdea's review against another edition
Graphic: Sexism, Sexual violence, and Violence
kstockill's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Murder
ajediprincess's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
This world is so dark and harsh, but Takeshi Kovacs is a good guy in a world of scum, yet he's not too good that he himself doesn't have flaws. Ortegas is also a fantastic supporting character and they make a great detective duo, being at first skeptical of one another and somewhat antagonistic, but eventually learning to trust each other and work together. It was a really intriguing tension and despite covering so many ugly, distasteful topics, this book manages to emphasize the depravity of its setting without rubbing the reader's face in it.
This being said, I actually think I prefer the changes they made to the story in the television series over the book. This review would be impossible to write without spoilers, so I apologize for spoiling things in advance, but I will keep them brief.
The difference between the hotel personified and colored as The Raven and manned by an AI of Edgar Allan Poe himself was so delightful in the show, and I was very disappointed to see that the hotel Kovacs stays at is not called The Raven, but rather The Hendrix and it doesn't even really have a characterized AI to befriend Kovacs. This was just not as fun in the book as it was in the show. Poe was one of the best supporting characters.
Another huge change the show made that is absent from the book is the relationship between Rei and Kovacs.
These small gripes aside, I thoroughly enjoyed this gritty sci-fi, cyberpunk novel set in the far future of our Earth and I hope that others will too.
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Child abuse, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, and Classism
Minor: Drug use, Eating disorder, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Stalking, and Murder
mar's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Misogyny, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, and Murder
Moderate: Drug use, Suicide, Torture, Kidnapping, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Child abuse
violence against sex workers in particular is a major recurring theme in the bookjamesbsmith's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, and Violence
abby_reads_books's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
4.25
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail