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augie_'s review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Gore, Racial slurs, Police brutality, Murder, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Blood, Violence, Gun violence, Drug use, and Death
venti's review against another edition
challenging
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? No
2.75
disappointed… in many aspects…. but also intrigued. as someone who was once a 15 year old girl i also reclaim Y.T. as a character because she was very cool aside from the male author constantly fucking talking about her ass.
as one user on goodreads so aptly put it — “juvenile nerd power fantasy in a nutshell”
also on a note unrelated to my personal feelings about this book i think sci-fi written pre 2000 is just too outdated to be good anymore… like sure in the 90s the terms “avatar” and “metaverse” were novel but now if you hear those words irl it’s just an average tuesday
as one user on goodreads so aptly put it — “juvenile nerd power fantasy in a nutshell”
also on a note unrelated to my personal feelings about this book i think sci-fi written pre 2000 is just too outdated to be good anymore… like sure in the 90s the terms “avatar” and “metaverse” were novel but now if you hear those words irl it’s just an average tuesday
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Racial slurs, and Racism
Moderate: Sexism, Sexual harassment, and Sexual content
posatahchips's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
what can i even say about this book. reading it for the first time as an adult in 2024 was an absurd experience. i've never left so many notes that are just "[NAME OF AUTHOR IN ALL CAPS]?????". a lot of the concepts & even a lot of the writing is pretty great, in a way where i immediately understand its outsized influence on the genre, & it's also like... cartoonishly, jaw-droppingly racist. my brain kept trying to automatically tell me it was written ten or twenty years earlier, which still wouldn't excuse it, but would be less baffling. not even going to touch on everything going on with the sexualisation of a fifteen-year-old girl (who could have easily been a few years older with essentially no change).
the further i got into the book, the more the scales tipped, too. a lot of the strength of concept & writing is very front-loaded, & the more the wheels fall off, the more it's like, "why am i reading this???" somehow, it has the oddly distinct feeling of being, like, serially written-- like fanfiction that gets written & posted chapter by chapter, without a lot of structural editing to pull the whole thing together.
the part of me that loves pulp-y sci-fi trash can totally ride with the tonal whiplash & dissolving plot, but between the bigotry & the MULTIPLE CHAPTERS that are just dialogued christian atheist conspiracy loredumps & the bigotry (naming it again because oh my god), my patience definitely... waned. but, you know, i was warned multiple times by more than a handful of people who said they were glad they read it before they knew better, sooo can't say i shouldn't have seen it coming, lmao
the further i got into the book, the more the scales tipped, too. a lot of the strength of concept & writing is very front-loaded, & the more the wheels fall off, the more it's like, "why am i reading this???" somehow, it has the oddly distinct feeling of being, like, serially written-- like fanfiction that gets written & posted chapter by chapter, without a lot of structural editing to pull the whole thing together.
the part of me that loves pulp-y sci-fi trash can totally ride with the tonal whiplash & dissolving plot, but between the bigotry & the MULTIPLE CHAPTERS that are just dialogued christian atheist conspiracy loredumps & the bigotry (naming it again because oh my god), my patience definitely... waned. but, you know, i was warned multiple times by more than a handful of people who said they were glad they read it before they knew better, sooo can't say i shouldn't have seen it coming, lmao
Content Warnings
Graphic: Xenophobia, Misogyny, Racial slurs, and Racism
Moderate: Ableism
bellbirdie's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
fast-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? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship and Violence
Moderate: Gun violence, Blood, Racism, Drug abuse, and Confinement
Minor: Addiction, Sexual violence, and Racial slurs
trankz's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
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? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship
Moderate: Racism and Racial slurs
Minor: Violence
hgbush's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Pedophilia, Ableism, Racial slurs, and War
dianapiskor's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
It's not every day I can say I truly hate a book. I usually try to find the positives within it, as I think every book, no matter my personal feelings, has merit. For this book, I am struggling to find even ONE good thing to say about it. I hated it from the moment I started. And my hatred continued to grow as I read more.
This book is incredibly influential. People, especially those that now make up our technological lives, LOVE this book. It guessed about personal computers and AI and VR. Big whoop.
And I don't get why tech bros love this book so much. It's incredibly problematic. From the racism to the sexualizing of a 15 year old character, who the author, by the way, makes sure to note that when she engages in intercourse with a 40 year old it is "consensual" and he makes her "uncomfortably horny" this book is just a HARD PASS. I also hated his writing style, the necessary information he includes, the terrible ending, the way the author wrote any and all female characters,
Do yourself a favor, don't read this book. It's not worth it. It has little to no value, I feel, beyond the ideas it presented in 1992. Don't waste your money. Go read something better instead. If I could give it 0 stars here, I absolutely would.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs, Rape, and Pedophilia
cattit00d's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Misogyny, Drug use, Rape, Toxic relationship, Adult/minor relationship, Racial slurs, Racism, and Homophobia
raru's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism
Moderate: Racial slurs and Violence