Scan barcode
augie_'s review against another edition
- 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
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
bellbirdie's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship and Violence
Moderate: Gun violence, Blood, Racism, Drug abuse, and Confinement
Minor: Addiction, Sexual violence, and Racial slurs
janalg's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
Graphic: Animal death, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, and Violence
Moderate: Xenophobia, Racism, Racial slurs, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Drug abuse, Gore, Addiction, Alcohol, and Classism
flexagoon's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
As others said, the ending is a bit lackluster and Deus Ex Machina, but it still didn't leave me disappointed after finishing the book.
The plot itself is confusing at times, but generally really interesting. People who like fast-paced action stories will probably love it. The book also has good worldbuilding.
I didn't really get the "metavirus" stuff but it was still interesting.
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Gun violence, Racial slurs, and Violence
Moderate: Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Racial slurs
Minor: Blood, Drug use, and War
strawberrypinch's review against another edition
- 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
3.5
Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Gore, Blood, Body horror, Gun violence, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Colonisation, Xenophobia, War, Death, Police brutality, Classism, Drug use, Cursing, and Drug abuse
Minor: Sexism, Genocide, Homophobia, Addiction, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual harassment, Car accident, Kidnapping, Medical content, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, and Rape
booksthatburn's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
4.5
It's using and remixing available stereotypes to their limit to create cartoonishly distilled essences that allow for quick action in the partitioned but not wholly divided setting. There are stark boundary lines all over the place, governing laws, behavior, and life-or-death stakes for everyone within these borders, lit by each Franchise's signage and governed by their franchisee manuals. Where the grooves of life are so well worn around most denizens that they barely notice a disturbance to their routines, unless they’re the protagonist, Hiro Protagonist or perhaps the Kourier Y.T. There's a franchise for most things, and some of those things are racism. There's some fatphobia and scattered ableist language which seem to be regular levels of bigotry instead of forming the kind of pointed social commentary which underpins and incorporates the other -isms.
Hiro’s biracial identity (Black/Japanese) matters to the story and exists for more than the surface-level excuse to name the main character “hero protagonist” with alternate spelling. There are several moments where he figures out things based on how someone reacts (or doesn’t) to his appearance and background.
Y.T. isn't as introspective as Hiro, but she gets a decent amount of focus and her perspective is integral to the story, both as an active agent and as an observer with a very different point of view from Hiro, a non-hacker one.
As a cultural artifact, this feels more prescient than it perhaps has a right to be because a lot of people have tried to make things more like the world imagined here, and that's not always a good thing. Reading it now is strange because even something like the word "avatar" as a representation of one's physical self in a digital context was popularized by this book and so it doesn't feel new, though it was at the time.
Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Gore, Violence, Gun violence, and Death
Moderate: Ableism, Xenophobia, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Sexism, Misogyny, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Animal death
Minor: Pregnancy and Excrement
rubybastille's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
2024 reread: actually I still mostly agree with my original review. It’s nice to read cyberpunk that has a sense of humor and that makes an attempt (in a now-dated-feeling-but-at-least-it-tried 90s way) to include and even center characters from marginalized groups. The infodumps get old, though, especially Hiro’s lecture near the end.
Graphic: Sexual harassment, Blood, War, and Sexual content
Moderate: Racial slurs and Homophobia
confusedmuse's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Car accident, Cursing, Drug use, Gun violence, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Sexual content, Violence, and Adult/minor relationship