paperbackmo's review against another edition
3.0
Read the blurb and it had me hooked. I love books of this genre. The prologue is really good and you can tell the story is going to be good/deep. This book certainly makes you think and isn't really a lighthearted read or something you can just read on a whim.
However, as the book progressed I found myself getting confused and thought that a lot of things weren't explained properly. It turned into more of a 'murder mystery' type book instead of a futuristic technological thing. The story started getting very interesting towards the end and got better and better. Until the ending was so boring it kind of ruined it for me and let me down. In hindsight, I'm not sure I should've spent any money on it.
It left a lot of questions unanswered..
However, as the book progressed I found myself getting confused and thought that a lot of things weren't explained properly. It turned into more of a 'murder mystery' type book instead of a futuristic technological thing. The story started getting very interesting towards the end and got better and better. Until the ending was so boring it kind of ruined it for me and let me down. In hindsight, I'm not sure I should've spent any money on it.
It left a lot of questions unanswered..
okenwillow's review against another edition
3.0
Plutôt bonne pioche pour moi avec After Party de Daryl Gregory, proposé par Babelio pour la dernière Masse Critique.
[Vous pouvez lire la suite sur mon blog, merci :)]
[Vous pouvez lire la suite sur mon blog, merci :)]
shinedown's review
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
annelienvan's review against another edition
3.0
An interesting premise: what if drugs could induce a belief in a god? I really enjoyed the first half of the story, the author clearly had built an entire world and the characters really showed all their aspects. Too bad the second half felt a bit rushed.
Still, i'd recommend it as an interesting book on religion and consequences.
Still, i'd recommend it as an interesting book on religion and consequences.
areadingpotato's review against another edition
5.0
What a strange idea. I'm really impressed with how this was done and very thankful I got my hands on a copy.
It's definitely a bit of an awkward topic, seeing how anything to do with God can be rather controversial, but I think the novel was done with respect to everyone. The amount of diversity in this novel was stunning, and I seriously loved that it was sort of centered in Canada. Yay for real representation, all across the board.
I'll probably be thinkig about this book for a long time to come.
It's definitely a bit of an awkward topic, seeing how anything to do with God can be rather controversial, but I think the novel was done with respect to everyone. The amount of diversity in this novel was stunning, and I seriously loved that it was sort of centered in Canada. Yay for real representation, all across the board.
I'll probably be thinkig about this book for a long time to come.
sonofthe's review against another edition
4.0
So much is going on here, I'm still not sure exactly what to write.
At the core there's a mystery. We follow Lyda Rose as she tries to find out if the death of her friend is tied to her own past. So we get detective bits and action bits, unknown enemies and their mysterious agents. All that's good and fun.
Then there's all the stuff about gods and mental illness and drugs and neuroscience. I don't think I've ever read a book that has so many main characters dealing with different types of mental illness. It's pretty cool in that respect, though I'm not an expert, so I don't know exactly how authentic it is.
With the gods and religious experience stuff, though, I can imagine it rubbing people the wrong way. There was a little of that for me, but mostly it just gave food for thought. What does it mean that we can map religious experience to parts of the brain? If we could—hypothetically—disprove god this way, would it invalidate the experience? &c. I could keep the questions coming, but they're better for a conversation than a review.
This makes me want to read more of Gregory's work. I've got [b:We Are All Completely Fine|20344877|We Are All Completely Fine|Daryl Gregory|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1407196510s/20344877.jpg|28350172] in my to-read list.
At the core there's a mystery. We follow Lyda Rose as she tries to find out if the death of her friend is tied to her own past. So we get detective bits and action bits, unknown enemies and their mysterious agents. All that's good and fun.
Then there's all the stuff about gods and mental illness and drugs and neuroscience. I don't think I've ever read a book that has so many main characters dealing with different types of mental illness. It's pretty cool in that respect, though I'm not an expert, so I don't know exactly how authentic it is.
With the gods and religious experience stuff, though, I can imagine it rubbing people the wrong way. There was a little of that for me, but mostly it just gave food for thought. What does it mean that we can map religious experience to parts of the brain? If we could—hypothetically—disprove god this way, would it invalidate the experience? &c. I could keep the questions coming, but they're better for a conversation than a review.
This makes me want to read more of Gregory's work. I've got [b:We Are All Completely Fine|20344877|We Are All Completely Fine|Daryl Gregory|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1407196510s/20344877.jpg|28350172] in my to-read list.
meredithw20's review against another edition
3.0
It's difficult to sustain a chase scene for a whole book, but there were some very gripping moments, and I liked getting to know the (gay! Female! Mom!) protagonist.
bluenicorn's review against another edition
3.0
Wow- this gave me alot to think about regarding God, the Divine, drugs and the role they play on consciousness, and faith, in general. I liked it more than I thought I would. I also like when there are LGBT relationships that just ARE, instead of the story being about them (if that makes sense).
quietdomino's review against another edition
2.0
What should be an interesting premise--designer drugs cause characters to hallucinate a constantly-present god supervising their lives--becomes in execution fairly generic. Side detail of vicious assassin who relaxes by ranching genetically engineered mini cattle in his apartment is the best.
lolajoan's review against another edition
4.0
From the blurb and the title I was expecting more of a druggy-party-ennui type book, but this is actually a really gripping psychological thriller whodunnit set in a somewhat plausible near future, with interesting musings on the nature of faith, free will and neuroscience. The characters are fun and interesting and well developed, and I may have even cried a bit (as well as laughed a few times). I really enjoyed it.