Reviews with content warning for Violence - The Mimicking of Known Successes

I can't believe how bad this book turned out to be! It was so disappointing. The prologue chapter was great, with a moody sci-fi setting and an interesting mystery. But the rest of the book was in first person perspective from a character who was insufferable. This read like a parody of what someone thinks an academic would think like, not like any real person I've ever met. The vocabulary was distractingly over-the-top in its use of obscure words. The POV character had no personality, and the other main character, Mossa, was infuriating and manipulative.

The worldbuilding was really flimsy, which was really surprising since the worldbuilding in Infomocracy by the same author had been so interesting and a big appeal of the book. It made no sense that humanity had settled on a gas giant instead of one of Jupiter's many moons. I felt like the author had an image and a vibe she started with of people on platforms in the misty gases of Jupiter, but it didn't pan out into worldbuilding that made any sense. We got no sense of the government, any justice system outside of these romantic but unrealistic lone wolf Investigators, or even the extent of the population. Were there different languages, cultures, etc? None of this was explored and left the world feeling like an empty stage for the two main characters to zoom around. The characters have to wear "atomscarfs" to protect them from the atmosphere even though they live in a mostly climate-controlled bubble. The extinction of all Earth animals and plants is a major plot point in the book, but there are pigeons and cats mentioned in passing, who aren't wearing atomscarfs, so the purpose of the atomspheric protection gear is rendered moot at the same time as one of the biggest plot points is casually undercut. The role of misogyny in the world was unclear, with some vague references to it still being a factor in this far-future world (for no clear reason) and cringeworthy repetition of internet-speak like "Why are men" as a response.

The plot also had a lot of problems. The

cat attack and the responses to it - Mossa's Tough Girl stoicism and a complete lack of action from the mauzooleum or any other authorities - were all absurd. We don't meet the main villain until the climax, before which he had never even been named.

Every side character is completely one-dimensional. As for the romance, we are told that Pleiti is attracted to Mossa

and that they were previously in a relationship

, but I never saw any evidence that there was any meaningful reason for these characters to get together. Mossa commits a nasty act of police brutality at one point,

kicking a man who's not been convicted of any crime while he's in chains on her floor

, and

the whole thing with hoping Pleiti would show up at the platform in the climax was downright manipulative.

All in all, a really disappointing showing from an author who I think is capable of much better. There is nothing to recommend about this book beyond the cool prologue. It felt like a sketch of ideas the author thought would be cool but didn't make any sense when put together.

Content Warnings

devynreadsnovels's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

3.0

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geekmom's review

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fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No

3.75

I liked the premise and the story but there were elements of the execution that felt off or unfinished to me. I also would have preferred less use of overly flowery language— or at least, less awkward use of it.

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erebus53's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

Read as a Mystery book recommendation, I found this a lot more sci-fi, queer romance, and I'm not upset about it. The thing that really amused me was that the language used is a strange commingling. It integrates words from Spanish, French and Hindi and things into common parlance. The name for the platforms for the mass transit system is andén (platform or terrace, from Spanish).

It is, for all that, a Holmesian mystery trope, with a gifted and socially inept savant investigator and her smart-but-not-too-smart counterpart being the conversation partner and someone to bounce ideas off of.

The relationship between the two is not without its flaws. Both women are focused on their own goals, while being more and more captivated by each other, but they aren't always great at communicating their plans or trusting each other enough to be forthright about.. ok.. anything.

The science fiction leans a bit hard on the fiction and is a little spare on the science. Some of the sciencey bits I have seen done better in other places (*cough* Neal Stephenson *cough*) and bits of it I find contrast with the approach of other stories that keep a genetic record of Terran biodiversity. It's cute though, and is some futuristic world-building which forms a comfy backdrop for the human story.

I think it's also got the right pace.. if it was longer, I probably wouldn't be as interested in finding a copy of the next one in the series.

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thereaderfriend's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious slow-paced

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

2.5

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