Reviews with content warning for Injury/Injury detail - Mickey7

Figuring out the "twist" in the first 30 pages wasn't a bad thing, since Mickey7 has a lot of other stuff going on both in the present and in flashbacks. On the other hand, I feel like there was so much other neat worldbuilding and potential conflict that we could've explored more, like

the Natalist movement or the wider impacts of resource scarcity

.

Instead, we got Mickey8 spending what felt like 50 pages asleep or hungry interspersed with commentary on profound topics like genocide, cloning, and identity... but because Mickey is just a guy, his ideas didn't break any new ground for me. I heard Mickey compared to The Martian's Mark Watney, which is true except that Mickey is marginally more likeable while Mark is more interesting to read for a puzzler like me. Otherwise, they're definitely both guys who put "I love sarcasm and dark humor" in their Tinder bios...

On top of Mickey's narration leaning cringy/tryhard more often than not, the pacing of this book wasn't very consistent. Felt like the resolution blew in out of nowhere, to say nothing of

Marshall just... changing his mind overnight? It just felt jarring.

The premise was so good, but this is one of those books that feels like it would've been more compelling if it had a different point of view. It's not strictly bad—quick, light read with a few "ohh" moments and even a couple actually good jokes. But if you're looking for more of the hard science or psychological drama of The Martian, this may miss the mark.

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spaceteapot's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

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marareading's review against another edition

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lighthearted relaxing slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

It is okay... But not in a traditional sci-fi sense of things. It is sarcastic. But it is more character driven, which is different. It isn't super action based. Very different for me for sci-fi. It felt like it was trying to be Andy Weir in a way, and didn't hit the mark.

A guy who is an "expendable" is on his 7th iteration of himself and something goes wrong. The whole book is about that one mistake essentially. It didn't feel very high stakes. It wasn't bad at all, it just isn't high action or high intensity.

It felt like a long conversation in space. Even when things with action did happen, the writing made it feel lack luster.

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annaledbetter's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging funny informative mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

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prynne31's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted reflective medium-paced

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

3.5

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azrah786's review against another edition

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4.0

[This review can also be found on my BLOG]

**I received a proof copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review**

CW: violence, blood, injury detail, death, cancer, medical trauma, suicide/suicide ideation
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A fast-paced and highly enjoyable space adventure that is a great balance of science, humour and ethics.

In a distant future where advancements in scientific technology have helped or really forced humanity to colonise the stars we follow Mickey Barnes, the Expendable of the team on a colonisation mission to the ice planet Niflheim. An Expendable is an individual who has signed on to put themselves forward for any and every life threatening task that needs doing and when they expire their body is regenerated anew with all memories intact.

We first meet Mickey in his 7th iteration out on a scouting mission when he gets stuck and left behind, presumed dead. Except he doesn’t die and this oversight finds him coming face to face with Mickey8, the 8th iteration of himself when he returns to base, a big problem since duplicate Expendables are against the rules. They both agree to keep the double situation a secret – which is of course not an easy feat when part of a small population living in a confined dome on a hostile planet.

"There's a certain peace that comes from knowing without a doubt what's going to happen to you. The possibility that I might survive this morning is a source of anxiety as much as it is a source of hope."

The straightforward and easy flowing plot meant I flew right through this book.

Mickey is a such fun and likeable protagonist with an engaging voice, and a personality that will make you laugh and want to facepalm in equal measure. The chaos of having 2 of him around made it all the more enjoyable. However, despite the mostly light tone of the story there are still some very dark moments that unfold.

The narrative alternates between showing his current situation and him relaying the past events which led him there, including showing us the extents an Expendable has to go for the job as well as insights into the expansive wider universe within the story and its history.

I really loved was that while we were following the happenings of this live colonisation project, we were also drip fed accounts of past missions that had varying degrees of success. Though I do wish we could have gotten a little more than just snippets of these.

"The thing about disasters in interstellar space is that some of them are fast, and some of them are slow - but either kind can leave you really, really dead."

The science and technology was really interesting and despite getting a little technical at times it was never too overly complex as to unsettle the story. Furthermore, we also come across a handful of side characters and the relationships they each have with Mickey were really well written and brought to light some deep conversations on philosophy and morality.

Overall, this would be a fun read for sci-fi lovers and those looking to get into the genre alike.
Final Rating - 4/5 Stars

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thecandlelightlibrary's review against another edition

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adventurous dark reflective fast-paced

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

3.0

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for sending me an ARC of this title. I received this copy for free and this review contains my honest opinions.

Mickey7 is a quick sci-fi adventure that explores the concept of identity, primarily, what aspects of yourself make you you? When we enter the story, Mickey Barnes is in his seventh iteration as an Expendable: everything about him is identical to the original Mickey Barnes who signed up for this job (from how he looks to his memories), but is he actually the same now that he’s been remade six times?

Mickey’s troubles aside, I really enjoyed the concept of this story and the idea of a futuristic humanity that has colonized multiple other planets, but has struggled to do so and is still struggling when we’re introduced to the narrative. Few of the sci-fi books I read really explore humanity’s failures to get to the point they’re at for the story, so I was interested in all the failed colonies in Mickey’s world (even if it was a brief mention) and their drastic impacts on the worlds they colonized.

However, I found most of the characters unlikeable, which meant their relationships didn’t feel natural to me and I struggled to see their connections (or sometimes, why they were even interacting). I also had difficulty with the pacing: every other chapter jumps back in time to focus on Mickey’s backstory or world building. It was nice to know some of this additional detail, but it left me wanting to see more conflict and I would have rather spent more time interacting with the planet and its current issues.

Overall, I think this book either needed to be shorter (and the focus narrowed to building on the relationships and the final conflict) or slightly longer (with more time spent meshing the world building with the dangers the crew faces colonizing a new world). Thank you again to the publisher for sending me a free ARC of this title.

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