A review by missdragon
Make Room! Make Room! by Harry Harrison

dark reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

1.5

I will be honest, this book wasn't for me. 
  • Some of the writing of the main female character (Shirl) was badly done, it was hard to get through in this day and age. One line that stands out is
    "Devastating female logic"
    . Harry Harrison cannot write women. 
  • It took a while for the book to find its plot,
    which was a cop murder story, though there wasn't a who dunnit aspect at all, and I found the main character quite annoying
  • I felt like this book ended up exploring the implications of poverty, rather than the implications of overpopulation. Some things also felt grim for the sake of being grim.
    such as the mention of a baby being tethered to a dead man pretty early on.
    . It surprises me how hopeless the view of the future was even back then. 
  • I found a large plot hole in the second half of the book.
    There is constant rain during a water shortage, and the city is described lot as being wet, while people are thirsty. I don't understand why the rainwater couldn't be used as a water source, and this is never addressed.
    . This took me out of the story significantly and I struggled a lot with immersion.
  • The reason I have rated this book one star is because of Sol. He is by far the best character and
    I actually was surprised but kind of impressed with his monologue about birth control, it mirrored a lot of pro-choice sentiment today, although it did feel a little bit like the author using a character as a speaking piece. He also ends up passing away, so I feel I have to deduct points away from the book because of that.
  • I also found the plot generally a bit all over the place. 
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