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kell_xavi's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
4.0
Lafferty introduces exciting and unique science fiction concepts to a future Earth and space mission, building tension right from the start with a thriller mystery plot. A skeleton crew with no memories, hidden crimes (even from themselves!), surrounded by blood, bodies, malfunctioning technology, and no way out. It gets somewhat dark in there even before the inevitable lights out scene, but the plot is tight and intricate, creating intrigue even where I had some hint of how things would play out. I was bothered by some scenes where the dialogue came across as contrived, and a couple of continuity errors—a character stands to make breakfast and a moment later stands to make dessert, for example, or where the action begins and ends in different rooms without transition. There were also a few loose ends that didn’t seem intentional, these nagging oversights less forgivable in a mystery plot where it’s not clear until later whether they’re flaws or clues. That said, I like the writing style, plot, pacing, layered histories, and enough of the character development (given that many are assholes).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Murder, Blood, and Suicide
Moderate: Torture, Vomit, Slavery, and Religious bigotry
Minor: Ableism
pathyatt's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Self harm, Alcohol, Violence, War, Vomit, Blood, Death, Genocide, Suicide, Torture, Kidnapping, Medical content, and Murder
bbbarttt's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Blood, and Death
Moderate: Murder and Suicide
Minor: Medical content and Vomit
hillbilly_heroine's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
mysterious
reflective
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? Yes
4.5
A perfectly-paced murder mystery on a spaceship full of clones. I was in the mood for a page-turner and this delivered. It’s the kind of mystery that’s technically possible for the reader to figure out on their own, but challenging enough that I didn’t get it entirely right. It’s also solid sci-fi, thoughtfully exploring themes around ethics and morality in a future where real death is no longer an issue for many people. Lafferty does a great job reimagining what character development might look like when the characters in question are more or less immortal. Finished it in 2 days and enjoyed every second.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Violence, Torture, Suicide, Medical content, Murder, Gore, and Death
Moderate: Kidnapping, Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Religious bigotry, and Vomit
emallovesreading's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, Murder, and Kidnapping
3frenchtoast's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Suicide
Moderate: Gore, Kidnapping, Murder, Torture, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Minor: Religious bigotry and Blood
jselliot's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
- A one-sentence summary of this book: Six Wakes is a closed circle scifi murder mystery with clones in deep space.
I started reading this book around 11:30am, and finished at around 11pm after breaks for food/chores/etc. It's very compelling, bingeable, even in spite of all the dark concepts that get rained down on you in what is essentially a biopunk future. While I wouldn't have minded just a little more length to the story, it was still ultimately pretty satisfying. Would have liked more information on Sallie, though, and just what she was doing that she felt the need to expel all of the people that she had successfully used for hundreds of years from the atmosphere. That was one question that just never got answered.
That being said, the world building in this book - for being told in flashbacks - is solid. It presents some excellent thoughts regarding moral/political issues in regards to cloning, and how that might be further refined. And once the twists start unfolding halfway in, they just keep coming and the momentum of the story picks up considerably.
5/5, would read again.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Medical content, Murder, Violence, Medical trauma, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Moderate: Torture, Kidnapping, and Alcohol
rachelunabridged's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I had a really great time with this book! I loved the combination of sci-fi and mystery. I had no idea that combo was something I needed in my life until I read this.
I felt that the plot was well thought-out and well executed, and I really liked the majority of the characters. Each character had their own distinct personality and flaws. They felt very believable and human to me. I really enjoyed the parts of the book that dug into the backstory of each character too. Often when I'm reading a book that jumps between past and present, I find one timeline more interesting than the other, but I really enjoyed both the past and present sections of this read.
I also really liked the ethical and moral dilemmas brought up throughout the story. I enjoy being able to mull over the contents of my recent read, and I felt like this book gave me a lot to think about. I also felt like it fleshed out the universe of the book a lot; it helped it to feel more lived in.
I'd definitely recommend this to anyone who enjoys a good murder mystery and would like a strong dose of sci-fi to go with it.
I felt that the plot was well thought-out and well executed, and I really liked the majority of the characters. Each character had their own distinct personality and flaws. They felt very believable and human to me. I really enjoyed the parts of the book that dug into the backstory of each character too. Often when I'm reading a book that jumps between past and present, I find one timeline more interesting than the other, but I really enjoyed both the past and present sections of this read.
I also really liked the ethical and moral dilemmas brought up throughout the story. I enjoy being able to mull over the contents of my recent read, and I felt like this book gave me a lot to think about. I also felt like it fleshed out the universe of the book a lot; it helped it to feel more lived in.
I'd definitely recommend this to anyone who enjoys a good murder mystery and would like a strong dose of sci-fi to go with it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Hate crime, Medical content, Murder, Religious bigotry, Violence, Blood, Death, Kidnapping, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Suicide
Moderate: Alcohol and Torture
avishajain's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
An amazing murder mystery with a little science fiction (?) It was more like fantasy than science fiction but yeah still an amazing book. Would recommend.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Gore, Murder, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Vomit and Genocide
tinyy's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Death, Medical content, Religious bigotry, and Suicide