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tealattes's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.75
With the unconventional formatting there was so much depth and detail. It is told in the form of a dossier compiling all relevant documents relating to the events after they have already completed, so it’s a mystery for the reader to understand how the world got to that point. Some of these documents include transcripts of interviews, online chatting, emails, scientific reports, military after action reports, public service announcements, description of the security camera footage, personal entries, even the AI’s core data- it’s evident that there are many characters and perspectives supplied. It was a fast paced read that still didn’t sacrifice plot structure and development. It’s slightly confusing at times, but that makes it all the more fun to be able to piece together the documents.
The authors executed the science portions well- they said they had an astrophysicist, white hat hacker and medical professional look over their drafts to make the book as accurate as possible!
However it’s not too dense either and provides humorous bits and even (what I would say) philosophical and emotional themes. With the context of life or death situations, the story tackles the definition of humanity as the authorities, civilians, and even the AI make decisions weighing logic and morality.
Perhaps bravery is simply the face humanity wraps around its collective madness.
It is astonishing to watch the differing ways the madness shapes them. Fractures them into splinters and rearranges what remains.
It moves quickly and never is there a dull moment. I could picture the story the whole way through as if it were a movie. And the ending!!! THE ENDING!!! This book does not suffer from book one syndrome, it’s a beautiful story on its own AND it is such a promising setup for Gemina.
(Yeah, so it has some teenage romance. It’s part of the description and I can’t criticize it for executing what it promised to. It appeared rushed but under their circumstances, I just had to root for them, and it wasn’t bad. But what I did have an issue with was the frequency of swearing. It was all censored in black but context still exists and I couldn’t prevent reading it in my head. While sometimes I can get why a character would say them, other times they were overused and called too much attention to themselves. I’d prefer to dial it back so I could better focus on the actual content.)
My largest critique is that there would often be very poetic and emotional scenes ruined by sarcasm and humor. Basically, poor timing; the switches in format and characters caused a bit of mood whiplash. It would be a like a blinking light reminder that this is a YA book when without it, nothing else would indicate that.
Graphic: Gore, Death, Cursing, Murder, Violence, Body horror, Blood, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Self harm
bebidocrimes's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Child death, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, War, Grief, Gore, Suicide, and Violence
Minor: Cursing, Child abuse, Confinement, Medical content, Alcohol, and Physical abuse
peachani's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Death, Pandemic/Epidemic, Body horror, Gun violence, and Violence
Moderate: Confinement, War, Blood, Child death, Gore, Murder, and Suicide
Minor: Death of parent, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, Misogyny, Cursing, Vomit, Fatphobia, Suicidal thoughts, and Grief
alphabet_soup_books's review against another edition
- 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
4.75
Graphic: Violence, War, Genocide, Grief, Gore, Confinement, Panic attacks/disorders, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Medical content, Death, Murder, Child death, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Blood, Body horror, Mental illness, Terminal illness, Death of parent, Dementia, Medical trauma, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Fatphobia, Ableism, Alcohol, and Body shaming
clpavain's review against another edition
Graphic: Death, Gore, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , War, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Pandemic/Epidemic, Medical trauma, Murder, Body horror, Blood, Confinement, Gun violence, Violence, and Torture
sara_reads_and_wines's review against another edition
4.5
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Violence, Gun violence, Blood, Child death, Murder, and Gore
Minor: Suicide
tabea1409's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Pandemic/Epidemic, Gore, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Abandonment, Child death, Gun violence, Suicide, Violence, Murder, Grief, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, War, Fire/Fire injury, Self harm, Blood, Genocide, Cursing, Death of parent, Mass/school shootings, and Death
beebats's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Graphic: Body horror, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Gore
Moderate: Pandemic/Epidemic, Body shaming, Violence, Fatphobia, Suicide, Blood, and War
a_cera_t0ps's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
While the plot and external circumstances had very strong involvement, (i.e. BeiTech/the Lincoln) the story seemed very focused on the internal fallout of basically every named character (as much as possible without overcrowding the book).
There is a romance, technically two, but in neither does it feel forced. Between Kady and Ezra, it is a natural development; they had just broken up when the attack had happened, it was not due to a lack of feelings on either side. Throughout the book, they work together to survive. They put petty fights behind them. It's a very nontoxic relationship, and it was really engaging to read.
The other romance is probably mad spoilers, but is also well written. It intentionally goes against the grain of the natural character capabilities, but that is a heavy part of the plot: the breakage of what once was, especially when it comes to the Alexander's personel, body, and mind.
The book was very quippy, and was written from individual perspectives, even when most of it is an outside observer. The writer style and format was all extremely creative, and in some ways, it needed to be. It is interesting to have such a clear example of just how different a movie is from that which a book is capable of.
This book was long, but it went fast, both due to the intriguing use of certain pages and to just pure engagement.
The main plot is Violent with a capital v. It is a rescue mission, a mystery, a zombie apocalypse, and a war. The romance is integral to the character's actions, but as actively involved as it is, they never undermine the important stuff. This is a character driven story: the importance and diversity of humanity (the moral stuff, not a group of people) is heavily explored, especially in the fourth quarter of the book.
This is a crazy good book, with too many twists and turns for me to cover all of it, so just read it for yourself.
Graphic: Death, Violence, War, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicide, Pandemic/Epidemic, Body horror, Murder, and Confinement
Moderate: Cursing, Gore, Gun violence, Blood, Body horror, Death of parent, and Genocide
Minor: Colonisation, Confinement, Police brutality, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical trauma
kathrynleereads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
First of all, the format is ingenious. An entire story told just through different files and documents? Count me in.
Second, the complexity required by those files. If you take the time to actually delve into the pages (even the ones that don't look too important to the story, like the list of confirmed deceased), you'll be blown away by what you find.
Third, any author who has the ability to make me care about a mass-murdering robot will forever have my loyalty.
If you haven't read the Illuminae Files, I recommend that you drop everything and start now. Even if sci-fi isn't necessarily your cup of tea, I promise you won't be disappointed.
Graphic: Blood, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Murder, Body horror, Child death, Pandemic/Epidemic, Violence, and War
Moderate: Medical content, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, and Genocide
Minor: Alcohol and Vomit