Scan barcode
A review by antigonus
The City of Mirrors by Justin Cronin
5.0
This trilogy left me completely drained. I read the 3 books pretty much back-to-back and went through a rollercoaster ride containing the full gamut of emotions.
The finale revolves around 2 pillars essentially: the story of what drives Zero and the final epic battle. While Zero’s story was very touching on the surface level, I just couldn’t muster much sympathy for his predicament. One of the author’s real strengths is the depth of the characters. There is enough ambivalence in Zero’s life that I could react to his situation differently depending on my mood.
The other standout character in this book (as well as the trilogy) is Alicia. Her character arc is amazing. I must admit that I didn’t really understand some of her emotions though. The impact of events in Iowa (in book 2) play a major role in her decision making. Safe to say that I will be reading the trilogy again just to understand her better at the very least.
The main set pieces or epic battles are managed so beautifully. Multiple POVs happening simultaneously are handled in a deft manner which makes visualizing various events very easy. The constant timeline jumps felt weird in book 1. But I got the hang of it very quickly. So any jumps in book 3 felt natural. This trilogy is really meant to be read back-to-back or at least with a minimal break between each part.
Thoroughly recommend this trilogy if you are looking a character-centric post-apocalyptic setting. One of the finest I have read so far.
The finale revolves around 2 pillars essentially: the story of what drives Zero and the final epic battle. While Zero’s story was very touching on the surface level, I just couldn’t muster much sympathy for his predicament. One of the author’s real strengths is the depth of the characters. There is enough ambivalence in Zero’s life that I could react to his situation differently depending on my mood.
The other standout character in this book (as well as the trilogy) is Alicia. Her character arc is amazing. I must admit that I didn’t really understand some of her emotions though. The impact of events in Iowa (in book 2) play a major role in her decision making. Safe to say that I will be reading the trilogy again just to understand her better at the very least.
The main set pieces or epic battles are managed so beautifully. Multiple POVs happening simultaneously are handled in a deft manner which makes visualizing various events very easy. The constant timeline jumps felt weird in book 1. But I got the hang of it very quickly. So any jumps in book 3 felt natural. This trilogy is really meant to be read back-to-back or at least with a minimal break between each part.
Thoroughly recommend this trilogy if you are looking a character-centric post-apocalyptic setting. One of the finest I have read so far.