A review by rubybastille
The City Inside by Samit Basu
challenging
dark
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
For some readers the passivity of the main characters seemed to slow the book down. For me it felt all too relatable. The idea of a digital-driven world controlled by a distant, wealthy, and uncaring few, who dictate the day to day actions of the masses and violently quash any rebellion that manages to escape their apathetic, easily distracted minds and become tangible action? Depressed main characters struggling to find any sense of honesty, liberty, or compassion in their techno-authoritarian nation, let alone the resources to act on it on any measurable scale? Yeah that’s pretty damn believable.
I do wish we’d gotten more time with Rudra because his character arc changed pretty rapidly. Also, for as much time as we spend in Joey’s head, we didn’t really get her thoughts when they counted. Her solution to their shared feelings of powerlessness felt more believable than his though, both in context of the larger world and in terms of character development.
I do wish we’d gotten more time with Rudra because his character arc changed pretty rapidly. Also, for as much time as we spend in Joey’s head, we didn’t really get her thoughts when they counted. Her solution to their shared feelings of powerlessness felt more believable than his though, both in context of the larger world and in terms of character development.