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A review by asterope
The Outside by Ada Hoffmann
Did not finish book. Stopped at 49%.
I really tried my best with this, but I can’t get past 49% no matter how hard I try! There’s just better books that capture my interest right now.
The concept of AI god-machines is cool, but the book just didn’t deliver on it from what I read. It has probably one of the slowest plots I’ve ever read. I wouldn’t mind if the main character was interesting, but she’s super bland I’m afraid. I got bored of her internal monologue very quickly.
The worldbuilding should have been more thorough too. We’re told a bunch of lore at the start, but it wasn’t depicted well. I don't understand what The Outside is, or why it's heretical. Or what is classed as heretical. I know it isn't supposed to be simple, but the book could have done more to illustrate this clearly. So when the drama escalates, I was struggling to grasp why. Therefore, I lost interest completely.
The concept of AI god-machines is cool, but the book just didn’t deliver on it from what I read. It has probably one of the slowest plots I’ve ever read. I wouldn’t mind if the main character was interesting, but she’s super bland I’m afraid. I got bored of her internal monologue very quickly.
The worldbuilding should have been more thorough too. We’re told a bunch of lore at the start, but it wasn’t depicted well. I don't understand what The Outside is, or why it's heretical. Or what is classed as heretical. I know it isn't supposed to be simple, but the book could have done more to illustrate this clearly. So when the drama escalates, I was struggling to grasp why. Therefore, I lost interest completely.