Scan barcode
lydiahephzibah's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Setting: Utah
Rep: n/a
This was a solid, intriguing dystopian thriller set in a near future USA and featuring a lot of virtual reality and crime obsession. It kept me engaged and entertained me on a road trip, what more need I say?
Rep: n/a
This was a solid, intriguing dystopian thriller set in a near future USA and featuring a lot of virtual reality and crime obsession. It kept me engaged and entertained me on a road trip, what more need I say?
kdsterling's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
Great setting, predictable plot, stupid people.
abeissel's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
teamparkin's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
maopie's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
justwanna2read's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
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
4.0
pagesplotsandpints's review against another edition
2.75
Read Completed 3/16/24 | 2.75 stars
When I saw the description for this book, I immediately jumped on it and wondered why I hadn't seen it talked about before now. Black Mirror meets Ready Player One!? How was this not buzzier? But eventually, I knew why.
Look, this wasn't a bad book. It was entertaining, but it lost some steam at the end for me. The synopsis did deliver, but it was the tone that I didn't connect with. Maybe it would have been better as a physical book and not with a higher-pitched female audiobook narrator because it just had this tone of being lighter and sillier than I thought it was going to be. It was still plenty dark (I mean, hello, murder Disneyland...) but it just felt a little campier and not as gritty and dark as I was hoping it would be.
I liked the characters and the found family they gathered from each other. There was a fun V.E. Schwab book/name drop that had absolutely nothing to do with this book whatsoever but I appreciated the author's taste 😅
Overall, I just really lost steam with this story. Things started to get weirder and even more campy, taking some weird turns where I think I just wanted the story to be more grounded and focusing more on some nitty gritty plot. It just never really got under my skin like I wanted it to, but it was fast, easy to read, and still entertained me. I checked out a little at the end so I didn't rate it as high as three stars, but I wouldn't discourage someone from reading it.
When I saw the description for this book, I immediately jumped on it and wondered why I hadn't seen it talked about before now. Black Mirror meets Ready Player One!? How was this not buzzier? But eventually, I knew why.
Look, this wasn't a bad book. It was entertaining, but it lost some steam at the end for me. The synopsis did deliver, but it was the tone that I didn't connect with. Maybe it would have been better as a physical book and not with a higher-pitched female audiobook narrator because it just had this tone of being lighter and sillier than I thought it was going to be. It was still plenty dark (I mean, hello, murder Disneyland...) but it just felt a little campier and not as gritty and dark as I was hoping it would be.
I liked the characters and the found family they gathered from each other. There was a fun V.E. Schwab book/name drop that had absolutely nothing to do with this book whatsoever but I appreciated the author's taste 😅
Overall, I just really lost steam with this story. Things started to get weirder and even more campy, taking some weird turns where I think I just wanted the story to be more grounded and focusing more on some nitty gritty plot. It just never really got under my skin like I wanted it to, but it was fast, easy to read, and still entertained me. I checked out a little at the end so I didn't rate it as high as three stars, but I wouldn't discourage someone from reading it.
abbuelita's review
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Likes: the world building, the main character, the detailed explanations into how all of the new technology works in this world, the underlying commentary on the morality of profiting off of a crime
Dislikes: some of the dialogue was cheesy and repetitive, some of the twists were kind of predictable, a few things were left unexplained, and there were several continuity errors related to timing towards the back half of the story that were irritating and hard to ignore
3.5 stars and extra points for the well-thought out details of how this world works. This book was different from what I was expecting it to be but I think it mostly does what it sets out to do. A bit scary because it feels like our world is not too far off from being a lot like how this world is portrayed in the book.
Dislikes: some of the dialogue was cheesy and repetitive, some of the twists were kind of predictable, a few things were left unexplained, and there were several continuity errors related to timing towards the back half of the story that were irritating and hard to ignore
3.5 stars and extra points for the well-thought out details of how this world works. This book was different from what I was expecting it to be but I think it mostly does what it sets out to do. A bit scary because it feels like our world is not too far off from being a lot like how this world is portrayed in the book.
encgolsen's review against another edition
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
The concept here was promising: a near future where most of life takes place in virtual reality, personal data is just another commodity, and true crime simulations are a profit-making machine. Unfortunately, clunky dialogue, unnecessary repetition and a few distracting continuity errors made it hard to enjoy the plot. A lot of the novel felt like exposition--a subtler approach might have made for a more engaging read.