Reviews

The City Inside by Samit Basu

pollaro70's review

slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No

2.75

cb613's review against another edition

adventurous challenging reflective tense slow-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

3.5

bex_knighthunterbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark slow-paced

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

4.25

A chaotic, clever and shocking piece of near-future sci-fi, set in Delhi. Packed full of ideas, this is very much world-building focussed rather than plot driven, but I really enjoyed that in this case. The view of India feels very plausible, with a slow polycrisis unfolding in the background, while the story is mostly focussed about what is keeping everyone distracted - social media. The prose was witty and with a great turn of phrase - there were a few parts I felt the need to read out to whoever was around. It wasn't a quick read for me - I found the writing a little dense with how many ideas and terminology was packed in, but once I realised this wasn't a book I was going to rip through and gave it the time it needed I didn't find this an issue (especially at it's shorter length). The ending is unconventional, without a huge amount of satisfaction, but it was also  clever and a little experimental, and I appreciate a book that leaves me feeling off-kilter. I think this is the type of book that would benefit from a reread. In some ways this book feels more like a slice-of-life story where we aren't following the heroes (because what heroes really can there be in this dystopia), but rather everyday people carried on the flow of events around them.

pagesofash's review

challenging tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

birdabouttown's review

challenging medium-paced

2.0

This felt like stream of consciousness, fever dream stuff. Either it went over my head or it was just not very good…or both

caramisha's review

adding a note here for my future self: contemporary fiction. immediate flashback to protests. surveillance state -- technology keeping track of your emotional/physical state.

denaiir's review

I don't see the point of this story, it's confusing, doesn't have a clear storyline, I don't have enough time to see if there will finally be a direction in the last 40%

evantudorelliott's review

medium-paced

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

4.25

moose85's review

challenging dark tense slow-paced

4.75

c_morning's review against another edition

dark funny medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5