essjay's review against another edition
I don't even know how to rate this bc I was in a hot and cranky mood the whole time I was reading. It was fine. Second book in a row that I was liking just fine until a painfully obvious twist in the last quarter.
mj_james_writes's review
3.0
The book blurb compares this book to Piranesi and Station Eleven and that is only the case on one point, a point I cannot share without spoiling the whole book. Beyond that, I would completely disagree with that assessment.
It is apparent very early that we have an unreliable narrator that has been through trauma. It leaves the narration fragmented and choppy with obvious areas that point to trauma. I wasn’t a fan. Disassociation and being a psychopath are two different things, but they almost seemed to be combined doing a disservice to everyone with PTSD.
I didn’t enjoy the rep, and the book blurb was very misleading about what you were picking up and I didn’t enjoy that. However, it isn’t a bad book. I can see so many people enjoying this book. And unlike me, I’m sure many will enjoy the ending. I would be willing to pick up more by this author, but this particular book wasn’t my favorite.
strangecandy's review against another edition
2.0
I picked this up from it's description of being a dystopian novel for fans of Station Eleven among other titles. I loved Station Eleven. I most certainly did not love this story. The characters are vague and pretty unlikeable, you don't really learn much about their backstory which really made them hard to relate to.
The writing for me was not what I enjoy reading, very prose like and dragged out to the point I was just skimming through the book. If you're a fan of that style of writing I would say give it a shot, otherwise, I would not recommend.
The writing for me was not what I enjoy reading, very prose like and dragged out to the point I was just skimming through the book. If you're a fan of that style of writing I would say give it a shot, otherwise, I would not recommend.
books_on_the_hill's review
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.0
merry_bryson's review
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
lydz221b's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
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? It's complicated
5.0
whatellisreadnext's review
funny
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I don't even know why I finished this. The twist ruins the only interesting part about the narrative. I was really intrigued at first, and even though I disliked Kit as a person, her inner monologue was so funny. Somewhere along the line, I got sick of the writing style. I felt exactly the same when I read Machines Like Me by Ian McEwan. It was full of pages and pages of useless information that just felt like the author showing off. This was my bed time read for a few weeks, and it sent me to sleep, without fail, every night... I wonder why👀 Nothing happens, and every time something interesting did happen, it ended up unsatisfying. I guess there might be an audience for this, but I'm not sure who that would be.
bookish_arcadia's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
read_byred's review against another edition
3.0
This book presents a very interesting dystopian world all through the eyes of our main character, Kit. I enjoyed the twist at the end, however it was a pretty slow going novel. The surreal atmosphere and stream of consciousness writing is hard to get into, especially if you haven't read much other surreal sci-fi. The writing did however flow very well and still gave you enough to create a mental image of the world. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who likes Jeff Vandermeer or other similar authors!