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3.92 AVERAGE
3.92 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
medium-paced
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-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
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
adventurous
challenging
dark
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
challenging
dark
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Not as polished as The Power, with probably one too many complete changes of direction (you think the plot is going one way, then it goes a completely different one) to totally hold together. But man did it make me think, and I'll continue to think on it for weeks to come. For that alone it probably deserves more hype. I guarantee this will make my best books read this year. Also, would make an excellent Christopher Nolan film.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Suicide, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Sexual content
adventurous
challenging
dark
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
4.5 stars
There is so much in this book, so, so much. There was a stretch where I hated reading it because it echoed what's happening in current events so much that it terrified me and sent me reeling through my sense of existential dread.
This book has a lot to say about the big tech companies and the effect they're having on the world, and that's a subject that deserves a lot of debate. The people in power of these giant corporations might as well live on a different planet, they're so out of touch with what's going on here on Earth. Given this, can we ever expect that they devote even a fraction of a second to thinking about what's good for society? (Also, I have to say that I found the irony of the fact that one of the companies in this book is basically Amazon, and that Alderman's book, The Power, was adapted into a TV show by Amazon was all kinds of stellar. This, my friends, is a perfect example of the expression "stranger than fiction".)
I also think there's something to the explanations this book posits as to why human being love to hate each other rather than banding together to find common cause. I am skeptical that hunter-gatherer societies are as full of sunshine and rainbows as this book sometimes makes them out to be, but I do think the arguments here about the effects technology has had on humanity are compelling. It's very mind-boggling to think of how much technology has evolved in such a short around of time. A hundred years ago, things that seem mundane to me and that I take for granted would have astonished and awed people. The problem is, humans don't evolve as quickly as technology, and when I read about how microplastics are showing up in human blood and in the guts of humans, it's obvious to me that we're playing with forces without having a modicum of understanding as to how those forces are going to effect us.
Ah, there's that existential angst!
My biggest critiques of the book are that I think it meanders at times, and I didn't always like it structure. It has a tendency to drive the narrative toward a climax, but then the next chapter throws the reader back in time to flesh out some of the backstory. I appreciated the backstory and how everything ultimately comes together, but it did pull me out of the narrative to be jolted around like that.
One this is for certain: Naomi Alderman has an uncanny knack for writings books I find extremely compelling and also extremely unsettling. I appreciate that skill, even as I'm walking away from this book feeling more than a little terrified.
There is so much in this book, so, so much. There was a stretch where I hated reading it because it echoed what's happening in current events so much that it terrified me and sent me reeling through my sense of existential dread.
This book has a lot to say about the big tech companies and the effect they're having on the world, and that's a subject that deserves a lot of debate. The people in power of these giant corporations might as well live on a different planet, they're so out of touch with what's going on here on Earth. Given this, can we ever expect that they devote even a fraction of a second to thinking about what's good for society? (Also, I have to say that I found the irony of the fact that one of the companies in this book is basically Amazon, and that Alderman's book, The Power, was adapted into a TV show by Amazon was all kinds of stellar. This, my friends, is a perfect example of the expression "stranger than fiction".)
I also think there's something to the explanations this book posits as to why human being love to hate each other rather than banding together to find common cause. I am skeptical that hunter-gatherer societies are as full of sunshine and rainbows as this book sometimes makes them out to be, but I do think the arguments here about the effects technology has had on humanity are compelling. It's very mind-boggling to think of how much technology has evolved in such a short around of time. A hundred years ago, things that seem mundane to me and that I take for granted would have astonished and awed people. The problem is, humans don't evolve as quickly as technology, and when I read about how microplastics are showing up in human blood and in the guts of humans, it's obvious to me that we're playing with forces without having a modicum of understanding as to how those forces are going to effect us.
Ah, there's that existential angst!
My biggest critiques of the book are that I think it meanders at times, and I didn't always like it structure. It has a tendency to drive the narrative toward a climax, but then the next chapter throws the reader back in time to flesh out some of the backstory. I appreciated the backstory and how everything ultimately comes together, but it did pull me out of the narrative to be jolted around like that.
One this is for certain: Naomi Alderman has an uncanny knack for writings books I find extremely compelling and also extremely unsettling. I appreciate that skill, even as I'm walking away from this book feeling more than a little terrified.