Scan barcode
eleonorehilbig's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
this was fine. i like the concept, though i felt detached throughout the whole book....maybe its the intention....
du to the format of this book i think it lends itself to audiobook form.
du to the format of this book i think it lends itself to audiobook form.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Medical content
jojo_'s review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Car accident, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Violence, Murder, and War
Minor: Ableism, Child death, Misogyny, Racism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Xenophobia
ticktock's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Torture, Violence, Medical content, War, and Injury/Injury detail
marareading's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
This didn't fully land for me. I normally love a book written in an interview style. This story felt character driven up front and plot driven at the end. I didn't connect the overall story, but the characters were interesting. The end definitely had some twisted story lines that grabbed me. Not enough for me to reach for book two.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Infidelity, Mental illness, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Deportation
thereadinghammock's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
This book had been on my TBR for ages and I decided to rec it for a book club to have folks to read it with. I was still lingering on a book hangover, but finally kicked myself into gear to get it read, and at just under 300 pages, I figured it wouldn't be too tough a read. The book ended up being a lot darker than I was expecting, and left me with a lot of questions I wasn't expecting to want answered at the end.
The format of the book was a bit strange at first. The interview format with the forever nameless interviewer was intriguing, and his complete anonymity was both frustrating and intriguing throughout the entire book. Kara was a hot head and a very relatable character from the very beginning. Rose was so loveable and sweet and I loved how excited she got for all the science. Vincent and Ryan were a bit more of wild cards for me, though I grew to like Vincent a bit more after "The Incident" and we got to see his resolve and effort to getting back into the machine.
What I was NOT expecting was Ryan slipping off the deep end and trying to kill Vincent, or the pulse weapon vaporizing the Denver facility and killing (or so we thought) Rose! Oh my gods I think I actually gasped!! Some things I was aghast at, but not really surprised by: the nameless interviewer forcing a radical surgical procedure to give Vincent reversible knees, given the unique anatomy of the robot; and Papantoniou resorting to forced IVF egg retrieval, given her insistence on having back up pilots. Once she was in control of the program, it was clear that everything was just going to hell in a handbasket. What I hadn't been sure of was whether it would be because of her need for control and success or because she wouldn't have the backbone to stand on her own two feet against The Board, but WOW was that a tough read toward the end. But I think I was the most impressed with Vincent's character development overall. He ended up being a character I enjoyed more than I thought I would.
The format of the book was a bit strange at first. The interview format with the forever nameless interviewer was intriguing, and his complete anonymity was both frustrating and intriguing throughout the entire book. Kara was a hot head and a very relatable character from the very beginning. Rose was so loveable and sweet and I loved how excited she got for all the science. Vincent and Ryan were a bit more of wild cards for me, though I grew to like Vincent a bit more after "The Incident" and we got to see his resolve and effort to getting back into the machine.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Sexual assault, Violence, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, and Car accident
mar's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
why is almost every character in this book a war criminal. this sucks but i cant put it down tf
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, and Car accident
Moderate: Body horror, Child death, Sexual content, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Ableism, Genocide, and Torture
cold_boy's review against another edition
It started as a very cool premise, with a writing style that lent itself well to an audiobook - and I've gotta say, the audiobook narrators were fairly good. It's written almost entirely as transcripts of recorded interviews, and the dialogue is mostly pretty well written.
Part of me wanted to stick with it just in case a cool twist happened, but I honestly can't trust the author to write anything innovative or interesting after getting halfway through. My issues:
1. It pretty rapidly becomes that very specific brand of military propaganda in which individual soldiers are glorified but the government is evil. Think Marvel movies, or Transformers.
2. The author seems to have a child's understanding of science. Which is a bit of a problem when you're writing a science fiction book where one of your main characters is a physicist. I don't think I ever see her discuss anything related to physics. I don't even think the author knows what a physicist is. This becomes even more obvious whenwe get the explanation of what is written on the alien tablets. I can't suspend my disbelief when people have been studying this language for a decade and only just now realized that they're just basic math equations. The author really thought he did something when he revealed in a massive shock that it's written right to left and in base 8. It feels like something I would have written when I was 14 and thought myself incredibly clever for doing so. Also the idea that they can magically produce enough argon-37 to spray *the entire world* was ridiculous.
3. The author clearly wants to fuck one of his main characters. Kara the helicopter pilot is such a painfully cliche and borderline misogynistic caricature. Every time male characters talk about her, it comes back to their attraction towards her. It's really uncomfortable to read.
4. The point that I stopped at, a character is about to lose their legs after they're crushed by a car. The way the characters spoke about what life would be like for someone who has to rely on prostheses was nightmarishly ableist. He goes on a long tirade about how apparently people without legs can't take care of themselves and shit themselves constantly. It's really fucked up.
Part of me wanted to stick with it just in case a cool twist happened, but I honestly can't trust the author to write anything innovative or interesting after getting halfway through. My issues:
1. It pretty rapidly becomes that very specific brand of military propaganda in which individual soldiers are glorified but the government is evil. Think Marvel movies, or Transformers.
2. The author seems to have a child's understanding of science. Which is a bit of a problem when you're writing a science fiction book where one of your main characters is a physicist. I don't think I ever see her discuss anything related to physics. I don't even think the author knows what a physicist is. This becomes even more obvious when
3. The author clearly wants to fuck one of his main characters. Kara the helicopter pilot is such a painfully cliche and borderline misogynistic caricature. Every time male characters talk about her, it comes back to their attraction towards her. It's really uncomfortable to read.
4. The point that I stopped at,
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism and Violence
Minor: Misogyny
trips's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
informative
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Fast-paced epistolary novel, which I love.
Some of the content was a bit too dry, or glossed over for the sake of pushing the plot forward, I wish we had gotten a small taste of what was actually going on in the pivotal scenes, like better retellings or even like CCTV transcripts? But honestly its a great novel if you like giant robots and aliens!
Some of the content was a bit too dry, or glossed over for the sake of pushing the plot forward, I wish we had gotten a small taste of what was actually going on in the pivotal scenes, like better retellings or even like CCTV transcripts? But honestly its a great novel if you like giant robots and aliens!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Violence, Medical content, and Car accident
aviery's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Medical content, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Child abuse, Chronic illness, Rape, and Violence
Minor: Gun violence, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Sexual violence
josefinceh's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Intreguing and fast paced.
The characters were interesting and complex and I had a hard time deciding weather to like or dislike most of them. Partially in consequence to the story being told through interviews and files some relationships felt slightly underdeveloped. Some parts of the stories and characters do fall into some literary clichés.
At times the story lept forward a little faster than I personally prefer, adding to it's overall fast pace. It sets up a lot of points that don't get a complete conclusion (not necessarily a bad thing) building up to more further into the series.
I do have a few annoyances, none that I felt ruined the book but worth mentioning none the less. Firstly the relationship to the mystery man. It was at times comedic how much the characters were willing to share in the interviews, even Kara who was more drawn back. The development of the characters was interesting, however I felt some lack of consequence to some of their actions and behaviours.
Over all the story still had me flipping through the book at record speed and I'm excited to find a copy of the second book and see where the story goes. Recommend it to anyone that is new to the sci-fi genre (like me) as well as slow readers (also like me).
The characters were interesting and complex and I had a hard time deciding weather to like or dislike most of them. Partially in consequence to the story being told through interviews and files some relationships felt slightly underdeveloped. Some parts of the stories and characters do fall into some literary clichés.
At times the story lept forward a little faster than I personally prefer, adding to it's overall fast pace. It sets up a lot of points that don't get a complete conclusion (not necessarily a bad thing) building up to more further into the series.
I do have a few annoyances, none that I felt ruined the book but worth mentioning none the less. Firstly the relationship to the mystery man. It was at times comedic how much the characters were willing to share in the interviews, even Kara who was more drawn back. The development of the characters was interesting, however I felt some lack of consequence to some of their actions and behaviours.
Over all the story still had me flipping through the book at record speed and I'm excited to find a copy of the second book and see where the story goes. Recommend it to anyone that is new to the sci-fi genre (like me) as well as slow readers (also like me).
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content and Violence
Minor: Torture
More...