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bebidocrimes's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Physical abuse, Medical content, and Alcohol
peachani'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
3.75
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gun violence, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Gore, Suicide, Blood, Murder, and War
Minor: Cursing, Drug use, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury
alphabet_soup_books's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Ableism, Body shaming, Fatphobia, Suicidal thoughts, and Alcohol
clpavain's review against another edition
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , War, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
a_cera_t0ps's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
While the plot and external circumstances had very strong involvement, (i.e. BeiTech/the Lincoln) the story seemed very focused on the internal fallout of basically every named character (as much as possible without overcrowding the book).
There is a romance, technically two, but in neither does it feel forced. Between Kady and Ezra, it is a natural development; they had just broken up when the attack had happened, it was not due to a lack of feelings on either side. Throughout the book, they work together to survive. They put petty fights behind them. It's a very nontoxic relationship, and it was really engaging to read.
The other romance is probably mad spoilers, but is also well written. It intentionally goes against the grain of the natural character capabilities, but that is a heavy part of the plot: the breakage of what once was, especially when it comes to the Alexander's personel, body, and mind.
The book was very quippy, and was written from individual perspectives, even when most of it is an outside observer. The writer style and format was all extremely creative, and in some ways, it needed to be. It is interesting to have such a clear example of just how different a movie is from that which a book is capable of.
This book was long, but it went fast, both due to the intriguing use of certain pages and to just pure engagement.
The main plot is Violent with a capital v. It is a rescue mission, a mystery, a zombie apocalypse, and a war. The romance is integral to the character's actions, but as actively involved as it is, they never undermine the important stuff. This is a character driven story: the importance and diversity of humanity (the moral stuff, not a group of people) is heavily explored, especially in the fourth quarter of the book.
This is a crazy good book, with too many twists and turns for me to cover all of it, so just read it for yourself.
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Suicide, Violence, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , War, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Body horror, Cursing, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Blood, and Death of parent
Minor: Confinement, Police brutality, Grief, Medical trauma, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail
mothreadsbookssometimes's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Illuminae is a very YA-friendly sci-fi mystery/thriller (I know it’s not tagged as a thriller, but it is) with minimal swearing (“censored on reports”), and only vague references to sex (jokes about “your sister” and references to acts done prior to the events of the story).
Take it from someone who normally hates thrillers, this book is good. Admittedly, there’s a lot of death and blood (only a few disturbingly gory parts, though), so do keep that in mind, but I didn’t find it too uncomfortable and I’m normally a very squeamish person.
Can’t wait for the next book!
Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, and Grief
Moderate: Body horror, Child death, Gore, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Confinement, Self harm, Cannibalism, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol
I know it’s a lot of content warnings, so do proceed with caution. I’m not very good with blood/gore, but I only had a couple small parts (see below) that made me uncomfortable. There’s a lot of death, but it’s not vividly gory until about 45% (I think) into the bookchildoflight's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Death, Violence, Grief, Abandonment, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Confinement, Gun violence, Police brutality, Death of parent, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Minor: Child death and Suicidal thoughts
marsh_mall0w's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Gore, Violence, Grief, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , War, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Child death, Torture, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, and Colonisation
Minor: Misogyny, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury
sunnythesassy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Child abuse and Abandonment
alexa's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
2.75
so. i have been collecting some thoughts throughout this whole thing and they might not be especially cohesive, but that's ok, i was always more of a bullet list person.
i like the format of this, it was really interesting and fun, even if limited the amount of what you can learn about the world. some things were weirdly the same considering we're 500 years in the future, as i already expressed.
it might be just me, but the romantic drama between 2 high school seniors was the least interesting part of this thing, i found it irrelevant and at time or two a little bit annoying, but i suppose that's 17/18yo allo people for you. dunno, never been there.
honestly in general, i did not feel much attached to or interested in the characters beyond like a superficial level.
the ai in this was so weirdly melodramatic and rambling aside from its twisted logic which i'm assuming comes from the damage sustained.
in the q&a at the end, the authors mentioned talking with psychiatrists as part of the research that went into this and it does not sound very inspiring, considering the level and amount of demonization of people struggling with psychosis is staggering and infuriating, i think it was actually my biggest problem with this book.
the authors were quite good at creating tension and making one need to read on to know what happens next, i'll give them that.
however, i'm not entirely sure about continuing the series. it's likely i will i guess? not if they continue the ableism though, i'm not gonna stand for that
Graphic: Ableism, Gore, Blood, Grief, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and War
Moderate: Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Death of parent