A review by gladiolus17
Middlegame by Seanan McGuire

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.0

I thought Middlegame had great characters and such an interesting premise. Dodger and Roger were very fleshed out and I was invested in their relationship. My favorite character was Erin, though! 

The other thing the book did well was metaphors. Sometimes you see books that throw in a metaphor just to be beautiful, but these ones extended the meaning of what they were comparing AND were unique and beautiful.

I was also blown away by how the timeline fit everything together. First I was confused, but then everything fell into place and I was very satisfied.

I did feel certain things were repetitive on a sentence and scene level. I’m not sure if it was necessary to have Roger and Dodger part so many times, as it dragged the narrative down a bit. As well, I felt that the metaphors around math and language were overused sometimes, since Roger and Dodger were often described as not being good at each other’s disciplines.

All in all, an enjoyable read!
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