Reviews

Germline, by T.C. McCarthy

opifex's review

4.0

A very immersive story. Oscar is a richly flawed, but still very empathetic character, and the setting is interesting. I did find myself rereading passages in the early parts of the book because I was having trouble figuring out if they were flashbacks or not, but the narration always felt authentic to the character, so this isn't really a complaint.

My only real complaint is that the one conflict that takes place between Oscar and Sophie seemed to resolve itself too quickly and neatly. Truthfully their relationship seemed a little charmed, which occasionally seemed out of place in a story that so frequently was rough on it's characters. It was good though to have one element of the story that wasn't depressing and stress laden.

paultamborino's review

2.0

I decided that if you accept the narrator as unreliable in his telling of the story (at least the sequence of events), it's fairly readable. The chances of running into the same friends and acquaintances over and over, the "love" relationships with the women, and his ability to survive so well despite his utter lack of military training seemed so unrealistic it made me often cringe and wonder why the author chose this protagonist. If I thought of Oscar as a reporter just trying to tell a good story, I could accept it for the most part. The portrayal of drug addiction and the horrors of war were the only things saving this book from being completely horrible.

michelle_e_goldsmith's review

cultureulterior's review

3.0

Not bad- reminded me somewhat of the War against the Chtorr, but the Author needs to understand that books are not better the more gonzo they are- the worldbuilding has to make sense too.