Reviews

Kundo Wakes Up by Saad Z. Hossain

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frogggirl2's review against another edition

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mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

A slowly unfolding, mysterious post-apocalyptic with a nice found family but a rushed, unsatisfying ending.

tamara_joy's review against another edition

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adventurous dark sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

Content Warnings

storytimed's review against another edition

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5.0

I really liked this.......... set in a futuristic biopunk Dhaka post-climate apocalypse
Originally I was afraid that this would be a bro novel as Kundo is a dude trying to find his missing wife
But it ended up being way more chill and mellow and about him finding connections with the other people left behind
Image
My favorite character is DEAD GOLA, a genius hacker and addict and lesbian whose drug OD made her legally dead to the otherwise omniscient AI who rules the city
But all the other characters are v charming despite the relatively short length of the novel. There's a single mom with a kid from the slums and an aging, dying gangster and several djinn. It's fun!

nquinlan's review

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mysterious medium-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

4.0

katybug25's review against another edition

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4.0

This was a riveting read. I loved the setting and the characters. Found family is one of my favorite tropes, and Hossain executed this trope in a satisfying way. Kundo is a misfit, and has been left by his wife. He goes out to find her, collecting allies along the way (who end up becoming closer to him than he initially intended). The interactions between the characters was entertaining, and the dialogue was well written. My only wish was that it was longer.

ryanlee's review against another edition

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adventurous funny hopeful fast-paced

5.0

hnelson510's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional funny 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? It's complicated

4.0

jonknightknighthunterbooks's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Shorter review than intended since the app ate the first draft.

Loved the setting and the cast of supporting characters. The combination led to a distinct sensation of the characters crawling on the carapace of a city that is at best, benignly neglectful.

Personal growth of the protagonist is a major theme - and boy does he need it. At one point he ponders whether his wife had had a complex inner life.

bex_knighthunter's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny mysterious 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

4.5

This was a wild ride, featuring so many elements that I adored. The world building was fantastic with a futuristic Bangladesh struggling with a changed climate and encroaching seas. Their cities is run by an AI called Karma, which just works wonderfully for the storytelling, helping to explore themes of class and inequality and also what that might look like even when everyone's minimum needs are met. Oh, and also that gives wonderful wordplay opportunities (e.g. Karma's a B*tch), which got me every time. If it wasn't enough to have this cleverly created cyberpunk future world, it also contains djinn and fantastical elements. The plot has a mystery structure, with Kundo (our MC) on a search for his wife who left him under slightly suspicious circumstances. The story also heavily features video games, which I enjoyed. Kundo was not a likable protagonist for me at the start, being selfish, cowardly and by his own admission not seeing his wife as a person with a rich and complex inner life. I was ready to DNF the first time he was thinking about his wife's sexual interactions with other men, but thankfully this only happened a couple of times. However, he does grow as a person over the story, and at least he recognises these things about himself and the other side characters give him some grief too. Side characters were generally fantastic and formed a wonderful motley crew (as well as giving me confidence that the author can write women and it is a choice to have the wife have so little personality). The group featured: Kundo a well-off artist who is lacking purpose, a geriatric ex-crime boss with dementia, a gamer struggling single mum and her toddler, a 'dead to the system' hacker junkie. This novella really worked for me and I am really excited to try the author's other stories set in this universe.

Content Warnings

egmamaril's review against another edition

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dark funny hopeful mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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