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3.61 AVERAGE
3.61 AVERAGE
I was obsessed with the concept of this book as soon as I heard it. We've all consumed Chosen One narratives thousands of times already, isn't it time we get to see what happens after? Will Harry get PTSD? How will Susan move on from the tragic death of all her family? What comes next? This book promised to answer that and I was here for it.
And it did, kind of. Expect, it wasn't great.
I will get into some of the issues, but most of it comes down to this: This book felt very much like a first draft. The first draft of a discovery writer for that matter, not a detailed outliner. There were characters introduced in the beginning that felt like they would be important but ended up getting forgotten and could have easily been cut from the book. (More on that later.) There were seemingly random unrelated elements thrown in at every turn, only for them all to be explained in one huge info-dumping sequence right at the end. Even then some of the explanations were finicky at best Mox is all-powerful because a shard of the world's magical core is in his eyes? Except, the explosion happened years before he was born. Oh right, it was a time-travelling magical core shard. Also, the explosion linked two worlds together because, reasons. , but even if it were all ironclad logic, it wouldn't have satisfying to get it all in one pile like that instead of it all unravelling naturally through the book.
So this was the point when I expected the writer to go back and rewrite the book in a way that did just that. That's the wonderful thing about writing after all, you might not have any idea what any of the random stuff you throw in mean until the very end, but the process of writing the second draft, as Neil Gaiman puts it, is making it look like you knew what you were doing the first time.
Well, that's not the case here.
As a result, it's not just the structure that's off, it also feels like you're reading different books mashed together at some points. There are just too many plotlines introduced only to be fully abandoned or become insignificant later. There is Bert's, the Chosen Ones' death mentor, who apparently wasn't as warm and fuzzy as they thought. It seems like it's going to be important, at least a significant character moment, except it's not. There is the government building dangerous magical weapons. There is the mystery of Sloane's kidnapping. Which to be fair, is revealed, except it is so late in the novel, and so devoid of details that it loses any emotional impact it could have had. We don't even know if Albie knew she'd made that choice, if they ever talked about or how it felt at the time. The most significant point in the main character's backstory isn't exactly where I expected to get a one-sentence summary. There is just too much of the irrelevant stuff. The book could have, and probably should have been at least 100 pages shorter.
That is not to say the book is all bad. I love Chicago as the setting for the book, and it shines through. Mox's relationship with the zombies is the most convincing bond in the book. Sloane is a good character. However, she did not really feel like she was close to thirty. She could have easily fit into a YA mold without any change in her voice or her actions. I would have put her at her early twenties at most. That's not the big character problem though. The big character problem is everyone else. There is no other well-developed character in this book. The book is meant to be about 5 chosen ones. It's really not. Two of them get discarded pretty early on.
Albie's death has the potential to be heartbreaking. A hero overdoses because it's just too much? I want to read about it. But it's because of a random magical box that has no relevance to the plot and gets destroyed and forgotten about pretty immediately? Hmm. And the other characters get whisked away to the real story almost instantly afterwards? Hmmm. Poor Albie seems to get sacrificed for shock value. One of the discarded two, Lis (I think?) gets probably two lines in this book, no characterisation, is absent for almost all of it and has no role to play. She is in fact barely mentioned even in Sloan's thoughts and memories. At this point, I can see only two reasons for why she was included. One is that 5 chosen ones just sounded better than 4. Second is that the writer decided she should include some sexual and racial diversity without actually doing it. That's right. We get a brief mention of a lesbian Mexican chosen one, but don't get too excited because she is never to be heard from again, and will play no role in saving the world whatsoever.
Now, I don't think I'm alone in thinking neither of those is reason enough to include an extra character in the book, but the second one is much much worse. It's not just that the extra character adds unnecessary words to the book, it's actually insensitive at best and downright insulting at worst. This is not how you include diversity. As for the Black Matt and the Korean (?) Esther, who Sloane mentions get ignored in theif story of saving the world, well, isn't it ironic that the same thing happens to them in this books? Sure, they start off like they're going to be important characters but then they just...fade out. Turns out there is one Chosen one after all, and she is your friendly neighbourhood beautiful white straight able-bodied American.
As for the villain, well. For a while, I wondered if the rather absent Dark One was some self-aware commentary on the genre, but no. Turns out all of the characterisation, back-story and motives were reserved to be a revealed in a single chapter right at the end. Guess I'll try to be retrospectively interested in the character for the past 400 pages now?
As for the awesome premise, there was some attempt at executing it in the first half of the book, before it decided to become a typical Chosen one narrative. Even in the first half though, the characters could have been any kind of celebrity. The magic, at that point, seemed barely like an afterthought and there wasn't any real effort at integrating how the reveal of its existence has affected people. What I wanted, was to see one of the chosen ones actually go into therapy, to see Albie's struggle with addictions and how people reacted to it, to see the unknown Mexican girls' paranoia, to see some tension between them that wasn't just relationship drama, and if the book was meant to turn into another fight, I wanted them to have to confront the choice to do it. To get asked to save the world again, when they'd done it once before and lost so much.
That wasn't what I got.
And it did, kind of. Expect, it wasn't great.
I will get into some of the issues, but most of it comes down to this: This book felt very much like a first draft. The first draft of a discovery writer for that matter, not a detailed outliner. There were characters introduced in the beginning that felt like they would be important but ended up getting forgotten and could have easily been cut from the book. (More on that later.) There were seemingly random unrelated elements thrown in at every turn, only for them all to be explained in one huge info-dumping sequence right at the end. Even then some of the explanations were finicky at best
So this was the point when I expected the writer to go back and rewrite the book in a way that did just that. That's the wonderful thing about writing after all, you might not have any idea what any of the random stuff you throw in mean until the very end, but the process of writing the second draft, as Neil Gaiman puts it, is making it look like you knew what you were doing the first time.
Well, that's not the case here.
As a result, it's not just the structure that's off, it also feels like you're reading different books mashed together at some points. There are just too many plotlines introduced only to be fully abandoned or become insignificant later. There is Bert's, the Chosen Ones' death mentor, who apparently wasn't as warm and fuzzy as they thought. It seems like it's going to be important, at least a significant character moment, except it's not.
Spoiler
and finding him in the alternate universe tells them exactly nothing and affects them barely at all.That is not to say the book is all bad. I love Chicago as the setting for the book, and it shines through.
Now, I don't think I'm alone in thinking neither of those is reason enough to include an extra character in the book, but the second one is much much worse. It's not just that the extra character adds unnecessary words to the book, it's actually insensitive at best and downright insulting at worst. This is not how you include diversity. As for the Black Matt and the Korean (?) Esther, who Sloane mentions get ignored in theif story of saving the world, well, isn't it ironic that the same thing happens to them in this books? Sure, they start off like they're going to be important characters but then they just...fade out. Turns out there is one Chosen one after all, and she is your friendly neighbourhood beautiful white straight able-bodied American.
As for the villain, well. For a while, I wondered if the rather absent Dark One was some self-aware commentary on the genre, but no. Turns out all of the characterisation, back-story and motives were reserved to be a revealed in a single chapter right at the end. Guess I'll try to be retrospectively interested in the character for the past 400 pages now?
As for the awesome premise, there was some attempt at executing it in the first half of the book, before it decided to become a typical Chosen one narrative. Even in the first half though, the characters could have been any kind of celebrity. The magic, at that point, seemed barely like an afterthought and there wasn't any real effort at integrating how the reveal of its existence has affected people. What I wanted, was to see one of the chosen ones actually go into therapy, to see Albie's struggle with addictions and how people reacted to it, to see the unknown Mexican girls' paranoia, to see some tension between them that wasn't just relationship drama, and if the book was meant to turn into another fight, I wanted them to have to confront the choice to do it. To get asked to save the world again, when they'd done it once before and lost so much.
Spoiler
Instead of them getting whisked away into another world and get forced to do it, destroying any emotional valence or significance the decision could have had.That wasn't what I got.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-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:
Complicated
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was a really good book and I thoroughly enjoyed all of the “secondary sources” (what I called the newspaper articles, documents, etc.) that provided back story and some outside views. The only thing that keeps this from being 5 stars for me is that it didn’t really get “unputdownable” until the last few chapters. I would still highly recommend it!
After reading The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness, I felt like I wanted the other side of the story, while that book deals with the people who are just trying to survive in a world with super heroes I wanted what happened after they save the world and after they are supposed to live happily ever after. That is exactly what this book was, it seems fitting for it to be adult as teenages saving the world seems ti be more appropaite towards YA, while dealing with the afteraffects feels more adult.
All of these characters felt real, their struggle against The Dark One felt real, it also still seemed like a struggle after the fact where Sloane and Albie were dealing with a lot of PTSD even ten years after, both still being held within their own darkness was not lost on me.
The story took a different turn than what I was expecting when it went into parallel worlds and world with all the magic. I wasn't expecting that twist of events, but everything else from that point on was not a shock to me. After all for Sloane to be able to move with her life it makes sense she needs to comes face to face with her darkness again.
I loved the depictions of her internal struggle and her grappling with a guilt she has faced for ten years, Sloane's life felt real to me. I do wish we had multiple POVs though so I could see if everyone else was struggling because from the reader's perspective it did not seem like it.
All of these characters felt real, their struggle against The Dark One felt real, it also still seemed like a struggle after the fact where Sloane and Albie were dealing with a lot of PTSD even ten years after, both still being held within their own darkness was not lost on me.
The story took a different turn than what I was expecting when it went into parallel worlds and world with all the magic. I wasn't expecting that twist of events, but everything else from that point on was not a shock to me. After all for Sloane to be able to move with her life it makes sense she needs to comes face to face with her darkness again.
I loved the depictions of her internal struggle and her grappling with a guilt she has faced for ten years, Sloane's life felt real to me. I do wish we had multiple POVs though so I could see if everyone else was struggling because from the reader's perspective it did not seem like it.
Delightfully written, this story follows five people hand picked as teenagers to defeat a great evil: the Dark One. Ten years ago, they believed him defeated, although there was never a body for proof. Sloane, who the Dark One seemed to target specifically, has always doubted that the Dark One was truly dead. Then suddenly, three of the Chosen Ones are ripped our of their dimension and into an alternate dimension by magic. Immediately they realize that this dimension is being plagued by a being very like their Dark One, but with all the secrets and lies, how do they know who to trust? Sloane knows that something isn't right. She has always had a sense of the Dark One when near him in their own dimension. She has a feeling that the being here is the same one that plagued her dimension but to prove that she will have to risk everything, including her life, to find the truth.
The story is a fun read with several twists that keep the tale interesting and fresh. I love that we are not following the Chosen Ones as they fight their dark one, but instead we are seeing them 10 years later with all of the effects of the trauma they dealt with. Some have handled it well, others face demons every day. I really enjoyed reading it, though I did feel that the story was a little predictable. The bad guy was easy to spot, the lies were easy to spot, and the good guys were easy to spot. The story was intended to be a little more suspense filled that it provided, but it was still a thoroughly enjoyable read.
** Trigger Warnings ** This story does deal with PTSD, suicide, cancer, death, and abuse.
The story is a fun read with several twists that keep the tale interesting and fresh. I love that we are not following the Chosen Ones as they fight their dark one, but instead we are seeing them 10 years later with all of the effects of the trauma they dealt with. Some have handled it well, others face demons every day. I really enjoyed reading it, though I did feel that the story was a little predictable. The bad guy was easy to spot, the lies were easy to spot, and the good guys were easy to spot. The story was intended to be a little more suspense filled that it provided, but it was still a thoroughly enjoyable read.
** Trigger Warnings ** This story does deal with PTSD, suicide, cancer, death, and abuse.
25 years ago 5 teenagers were singled out as the chosen ones to save the world from the dark one. After they defeat him they return to normal life and start to rebuild emotionally. Sloane has the hardest time adjusting back to real life. They are the chosen ones, super stars in their own rights. The PTSD of what they went through just won’t go away.
On the 10th anniversary of the defeat one of the 5 chosen ones overdoses and the unthinkable happens, they are pulled into another dimension where they have to again defeat the dark one. Their worlds were divided by magic and years behind. They are give the task and being to study the new world when Sloane meets Mox.
Boy meets girl. Girl is intrigued. Boy kidnaps girl. Girl uncovers the truth. They fall in love. They defeat the dark one even if one world is destroyed in the process. They live happily ever after.
I’m on the fence with this one as it took me a long time to get into it. I think my expectations for this were a bit high. I was hanging in hoping it would be another divergent and it’s wasn’t.
On the 10th anniversary of the defeat one of the 5 chosen ones overdoses and the unthinkable happens, they are pulled into another dimension where they have to again defeat the dark one. Their worlds were divided by magic and years behind. They are give the task and being to study the new world when Sloane meets Mox.
Boy meets girl. Girl is intrigued. Boy kidnaps girl. Girl uncovers the truth. They fall in love. They defeat the dark one even if one world is destroyed in the process. They live happily ever after.
I’m on the fence with this one as it took me a long time to get into it. I think my expectations for this were a bit high. I was hanging in hoping it would be another divergent and it’s wasn’t.
A few minutes ago I finished Chosen Ones and my mind is spinning.
It took me a really long time to finish this book and not just because I lost my loan on it from the library when I was halfway through it (hehe) This book took some patience, but in the end, I really enjoyed it.
In this book, we follow Sloane, a former Chosen One who’s still trying to adapt to living a normal life even a decade after she and the other Chosen Ones defeated The Dark One. Sloane is a celebrity though she doesn’t want to be. The Dark One is long gone and the world seems to be moving on without her. But her experiences with this villain still linger in her dreams and haunt her reality. Forced to go to interviews and balls and everything in between, Sloane’s world is murky and dry.
The tone of the book takes on the same attributes. It’s interesting to see the world post-battle through the eyes of a Chosen One all grown up. It takes patience to read through the darker reality and mindset that Sloane is living in, but the plot starts to move once you get going.
This book was really interesting and thought-provoking for me. I think you have to be kind of patient with the plot- especially in the beginning- because I felt like it didn’t get going until we finally got to the part that is vaguely explained the synopsis. After that, the book goes in a different direction. Honestly, I wasn’t expecting it.
I think about 60% was when I was finally all in with this book and its characters.
I had a weird reading experience with this book. I got it as an ebook from the library back in June, had to put it back on hold when my loan ended (I was only halfway through it), and got it again this month. Soooo it’s hard to say whether my views on this book are the same as they would’ve been if I’d finished it without a month break in between, but I still really liked it.
The ending had me rattled and I’m super excited for a sequel!! If you’re interested in the premise of this book, I’d definitely pick it up!
Here are my spoilery thoughts:
I loved the magic system in Genetrix. That was super cool and interesting. I wasn't surprised that Sloane didn't pick up on the magic, but it was interesting to see how it worked. The idea that you had to really WANT something to happen for the magic to work was really compelling.
When I read books, the parts that I'm really invested in are the ships. So let's talk about ships. Obviously Matt and Sloane were not in a great relationship (when they were together) and I was kinda sad. The desperately romantic part of me latched onto the idea that Matt was super great and we needed to stay with him. And then Sloane met Mox at a bar and I KNEW that she was going to end up with him. That part of me that was still attached to Matt was like NO HOW COULD YOU MOVE ON SO QUICKLY. I really did not expect Mox to be The Resurrectionist, but that made him a lot more interesting. As their relationship developed, it became really clear that they were fit for each other. Matt left my brain completely. Sloane changed throughout and I think that being around someone who understood what she'd gone through and was still healing himself was really good for her. Matt was so oblivious that he didn't even see that their relationship wasn't working. He didn't understand that Sloane was not in a good place. He was definitely hurt by the breakup, but it was for the best.
My favorite characters, in the end, were Mox and Ziva. Matt and Esther were just... I'm not sure. I didn't really enjoy their characters that much. Maybe it was their lack of understanding of Sloane. The Mox and Sloane relationship really solidified my liking of Mox in my head. Ziva was just really great.
I also did NOT see Nero being The Dark One. Maybe I wasn't paying attention to the details, but I really was surprised. Honestly, the whole thing with him being immortal and wanting to die that was revealed at the end was kind of confusing. But also really cool. In fact, this whole book was really cool. I loved the different Earths and how we got to see their differences and where they split apart from each other in history. The different magical artifacts were also interesting. And the space between the two worlds. AHH. Super cool.
I'm really wondering where the sequel is going to go. The book ended so fast. It was going slow, slow, slow and then BOOM ITS OVER. WHAT. Sloane combined the two worlds and made one world with her magic- AKA her wants and intentions. What does that mean? Are a bunch of people erased from existence because she didn't want/know them??? What about in places she'd never been to? Is everyone going to learn magic? What's going on with The Needle inside of her? What are the consequences of that? Is there going to be a war between the Genetrix people and the other people? I have many questions. I'm excited for the next book.
I gave this book 4 stars. It's slow and not something you can really read in one sitting. Lots of exposition and world-building happened. I think she was setting up for book 2. To be honest, the pace didn't bug me too much and I would be fine if book 2 is exactly like this one. If it has more action, that would be great.
It took me a really long time to finish this book and not just because I lost my loan on it from the library when I was halfway through it (hehe) This book took some patience, but in the end, I really enjoyed it.
In this book, we follow Sloane, a former Chosen One who’s still trying to adapt to living a normal life even a decade after she and the other Chosen Ones defeated The Dark One. Sloane is a celebrity though she doesn’t want to be. The Dark One is long gone and the world seems to be moving on without her. But her experiences with this villain still linger in her dreams and haunt her reality. Forced to go to interviews and balls and everything in between, Sloane’s world is murky and dry.
The tone of the book takes on the same attributes. It’s interesting to see the world post-battle through the eyes of a Chosen One all grown up. It takes patience to read through the darker reality and mindset that Sloane is living in, but the plot starts to move once you get going.
This book was really interesting and thought-provoking for me. I think you have to be kind of patient with the plot- especially in the beginning- because I felt like it didn’t get going until we finally got to the part that is vaguely explained the synopsis. After that, the book goes in a different direction. Honestly, I wasn’t expecting it.
I think about 60% was when I was finally all in with this book and its characters.
I had a weird reading experience with this book. I got it as an ebook from the library back in June, had to put it back on hold when my loan ended (I was only halfway through it), and got it again this month. Soooo it’s hard to say whether my views on this book are the same as they would’ve been if I’d finished it without a month break in between, but I still really liked it.
The ending had me rattled and I’m super excited for a sequel!! If you’re interested in the premise of this book, I’d definitely pick it up!
Here are my spoilery thoughts:
I loved the magic system in Genetrix. That was super cool and interesting. I wasn't surprised that Sloane didn't pick up on the magic, but it was interesting to see how it worked. The idea that you had to really WANT something to happen for the magic to work was really compelling.
When I read books, the parts that I'm really invested in are the ships. So let's talk about ships. Obviously Matt and Sloane were not in a great relationship (when they were together) and I was kinda sad. The desperately romantic part of me latched onto the idea that Matt was super great and we needed to stay with him. And then Sloane met Mox at a bar and I KNEW that she was going to end up with him. That part of me that was still attached to Matt was like NO HOW COULD YOU MOVE ON SO QUICKLY. I really did not expect Mox to be The Resurrectionist, but that made him a lot more interesting. As their relationship developed, it became really clear that they were fit for each other. Matt left my brain completely. Sloane changed throughout and I think that being around someone who understood what she'd gone through and was still healing himself was really good for her. Matt was so oblivious that he didn't even see that their relationship wasn't working. He didn't understand that Sloane was not in a good place. He was definitely hurt by the breakup, but it was for the best.
My favorite characters, in the end, were Mox and Ziva. Matt and Esther were just... I'm not sure. I didn't really enjoy their characters that much. Maybe it was their lack of understanding of Sloane. The Mox and Sloane relationship really solidified my liking of Mox in my head. Ziva was just really great.
I also did NOT see Nero being The Dark One. Maybe I wasn't paying attention to the details, but I really was surprised. Honestly, the whole thing with him being immortal and wanting to die that was revealed at the end was kind of confusing. But also really cool. In fact, this whole book was really cool. I loved the different Earths and how we got to see their differences and where they split apart from each other in history. The different magical artifacts were also interesting. And the space between the two worlds. AHH. Super cool.
I'm really wondering where the sequel is going to go. The book ended so fast. It was going slow, slow, slow and then BOOM ITS OVER. WHAT. Sloane combined the two worlds and made one world with her magic- AKA her wants and intentions. What does that mean? Are a bunch of people erased from existence because she didn't want/know them??? What about in places she'd never been to? Is everyone going to learn magic? What's going on with The Needle inside of her? What are the consequences of that? Is there going to be a war between the Genetrix people and the other people? I have many questions. I'm excited for the next book.
I gave this book 4 stars. It's slow and not something you can really read in one sitting. Lots of exposition and world-building happened. I think she was setting up for book 2. To be honest, the pace didn't bug me too much and I would be fine if book 2 is exactly like this one. If it has more action, that would be great.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
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:
Yes
I was unsure about this book off and on. It was a unique concept that I expected to feel very different from most superhero stories, but it fell into a lot of the familiar genre expectations.
In the end, this book bears a marked difference from the typical superhero story in that it is not, at heart, a superhero story.
This is a story about desire, not destiny. It’s about realizing that what you thought you wanted isn’t what you wanted at all - and the consequences of desires ignored, misplaced, and even those fully realized.
This was not an action or adventure story. No, it was much slower than that. But it brimmed with mystery and intrigue - enough to keep the fires of fascination alight as I read.
I enjoyed this book. I enjoyed the unique world. The unique time placement - that it would take place years after the supposed defeat of the Dark One archetype.
My only qualm is that - for a story centered around the supposed Chosen Ones - Ines, one of the original five, was left behind while the rest carried on. It seemed a careless decision to omit her from he story’s central plot.
Regardless, I thoroughly enjoyed Chosen Ones, and feel that, perhaps, Roth has found her calling in the world of fiction with expectation-breaking stories like this.
In the end, this book bears a marked difference from the typical superhero story in that it is not, at heart, a superhero story.
This is a story about desire, not destiny. It’s about realizing that what you thought you wanted isn’t what you wanted at all - and the consequences of desires ignored, misplaced, and even those fully realized.
This was not an action or adventure story. No, it was much slower than that. But it brimmed with mystery and intrigue - enough to keep the fires of fascination alight as I read.
I enjoyed this book. I enjoyed the unique world. The unique time placement - that it would take place years after the supposed defeat of the Dark One archetype.
My only qualm is that - for a story centered around the supposed Chosen Ones - Ines, one of the original five, was left behind while the rest carried on. It seemed a careless decision to omit her from he story’s central plot.
Regardless, I thoroughly enjoyed Chosen Ones, and feel that, perhaps, Roth has found her calling in the world of fiction with expectation-breaking stories like this.
Chosen Ones follows five people who were chosen to kill the Dark One. The book starts ten years later.
There is so much to say about this book. I've read every book that Veronica Roth has published and I found this one to be the weakest out of them all. If I didn't know better, I would have thought that this was her first book, not her most recent.
The characters seemed to not be consistent. Their desires didn't really seem to be their own and after 400 pages, I still only have a shallow understanding of them as people. There were major plot points at the end where it didn't make sense that these were their desires.
The plot was nonexistent. The structuring of going back in forth to different times and places made the book drag. This felt like a massive prologue. It would have been better if this got edited down to 100 pages and added to the next book. It took so long to build up to something that the major surprising points weren't that exciting and I honestly didn't care anymore. The way this book ended didn't leave much open for another book when it comes to a plot.
The worldbuilding stayed strictly to what was relevant to the what was going on in that moment. It was tough to see where pieces of information connected off screen for me. I couldn't see this world outside of what was happening. What was Thailand like on Genetrex? I have no clue.
Overall, this book wasn't bad but it wasn't one of Roth's best works.
3/5
There is so much to say about this book. I've read every book that Veronica Roth has published and I found this one to be the weakest out of them all. If I didn't know better, I would have thought that this was her first book, not her most recent.
The characters seemed to not be consistent. Their desires didn't really seem to be their own and after 400 pages, I still only have a shallow understanding of them as people. There were major plot points at the end where it didn't make sense that these were their desires.
The plot was nonexistent. The structuring of going back in forth to different times and places made the book drag. This felt like a massive prologue. It would have been better if this got edited down to 100 pages and added to the next book. It took so long to build up to something that the major surprising points weren't that exciting and I honestly didn't care anymore. The way this book ended didn't leave much open for another book when it comes to a plot.
The worldbuilding stayed strictly to what was relevant to the what was going on in that moment. It was tough to see where pieces of information connected off screen for me. I couldn't see this world outside of what was happening. What was Thailand like on Genetrex? I have no clue.
Overall, this book wasn't bad but it wasn't one of Roth's best works.
3/5