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biobeetle's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Violence, Xenophobia, Islamophobia, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Colonisation and Classism
Minor: Body shaming
cosmicpanda's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Moderate: Body shaming, Child abuse, Death, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Islamophobia, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Deportation
Minor: Drug use, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Medical content, Abortion, and Alcohol
t_higgsreviews's review
5.0
CAWPILE = 9.11
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Islamophobia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, and Gaslighting
Minor: Deportation
bookbird's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Violence, Blood, Islamophobia, Mass/school shootings, Death of parent, and Murder
nannahnannah's review
2.0
Representation:
- the main protagonist is Muslim and an immigrant from Iran
- the other PoV character is a first-generation Indian-British citizen
In a near-future “dystopian” UK, Idir Jalil takes the British Citizenship Test. But he’s barely begun when a shooter bursts in and takes him and the other test takers hostage. And when Idir draws attention to himself, he finds himself forced to choose which people die when the shooter decides to take lives.
I love the beginning. The first few chapters have such a compelling and distinct voice. But then the shooter comes into play -- and worse, the “twist” happens (I’m not sure if I can really call it a twist, because it comes so early in the story! I didn’t actually know it was supposed to be one, either, until I went back to the book’s goodreads page). In the end, another goodreads review sums it up best:
The author also bashes me over the head with one lesson in morality (and psychology) after another. It’s exhausting, even if I mostly agree with what he says (how did reverse racism and pro-cop sentiments get in there, though? No, please!). The shooter is obnoxiously childish, too, his dialogue almost laughable at times. And at one point, the prose was filled with so much telling, I forgot this was an actual published piece of work (the typo was there in the text, too):
“Deep is upset. He’s not thinking about himself at this point. [...] What Deep is experiencing is just narcissistic identification and a very strong case of narrative transportation. At this point, Deep is incapable of separating Idir’s success of failure from his own. He’s so caught up in the simulation that his feelings and opinions are filtered through the rules of the game.”
I’m being extremely critical, I’m sorry. I just didn’t see the mind-bending, mind-blowing critique of immigration I was hoping for.
Moderate: Child abuse, Homophobia, Transphobia, and Islamophobia
Minor: Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, and Sexism
also: being druggedmarareading'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
4.0
This book is about a man who goes in to take his citizenship test and he gets more than he planned for. I could never have imagined the twists in this book. So much packed into a short book. I loved it.
Graphic: Bullying, Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Islamophobia, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
kstericker's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Fatphobia, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Grief, Mass/school shootings, and Death of parent
Minor: Hate crime, Racism, and Islamophobia
dealingwithdragons's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Child death, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Dementia, and Abortion
runwithkander's review
- 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
Graphic: Child death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Torture, Islamophobia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, and Gaslighting
dalmavatai'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? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
As social commentary, I believe this book is extremely successful. The way that it explores the dangers of the intersection between scientific technology and xenophobia in Britain, all while the country purports to be against prejudice and discrimination, was radical in the best way possible. The dystopian future Neuvel imagines in this short story is a radical critique of our own time and the ways in which 'Western' countries in particular think that they are liberal and accepting, all while perpetuating a status quo that's still very xenophobic, racist, and Islamophobic.
However, this book wasn't for me in other ways. The explanations of science definitely went way over my head, especially because I listened to the audiobook and couldn't go back if I didn't grasp something fully. I also thought that the plot point towards the end, while I understand its function as commentary, was a bit random and I could not fully appreciate its inclusion in the story, especially as so much was going on already that I found it a bit hard to follow.
Short stories are not terribly likely to get a very high rating from me because I can't connect to the characters in such a short period of time, but this is a short story that I believe is definitely worth the read even for those not into science fiction. Maybe read the physical book (perhaps along with the audio because Neal Shah's performance is superb) if you want to stay on top of everything that's going on, though!
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Islamophobia, Grief, Mass/school shootings, and Murder
Minor: Fatphobia