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A review by vexatiousbird
Subhuman by Michael McBride
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Pretty average thriller. POV divided between 6 or so characters and I didn’t really connect with any of them - they felt formulaic, like stock characters with backstories and distinctive quirks tacked on to avoid them being seen as cookie cutter. Lots of tell rather than show. Weird that it took until fully halfway through the book to tell the reader that one of the MCs prefers solitude and is socially awkward, with little to indicate this earlier.
The writing itself is decent. The plot is pretty interesting to see unravel, and there are some thrills but few twists. Feels like the author watches a lot of Ancient Aliens.
A couple awkwardly inserted conservative viewpoints detracted a bit from my enjoyment. Author makes a point of establishing climate change denialism as a valid and common viewpoint among supposedly top tier scientists.
The writing itself is decent. The plot is pretty interesting to see unravel, and there are some thrills but few twists. Feels like the author watches a lot of Ancient Aliens.
A couple awkwardly inserted conservative viewpoints detracted a bit from my enjoyment. Author makes a point of establishing climate change denialism as a valid and common viewpoint among supposedly top tier scientists.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, and Violence
Moderate: Animal death and Body horror