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maddie_can_read's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I loved the first novel in the series and felt like I couldn't put it down. I still enjoyed this novel but it did not feel as gripping as the first one did.
After about the 40% mark, I felt like it started to drag, get a bit convoluted, confusing, over-explained (but also some parts not explained enough). I feel like it's better to leave some mystery if the explanation is confusing/ murky/ not great. I think the difference between Shift and Wool might be because the first novel was originally a collection of several novellas combined? I think Shift would have benefited from being a lot shorter/ tighter. Shift just didn't fit together as nicely as Wool did.
I'm looking forward to seeing what Dust does to wrap things up.
The Jimmy/ Solo parts really reminded me of the Jimmy/Snowman character from Margaret Atwood's Oryx and Crake, but going into this detail about Jimmy made me wonder why Jimmy wasn't completely unhinged in the first novel when he met Juliette. He has been all by himself for 30 years.
I enjoyed the Donald/ Troy reveal but while interesting it wasn't surprising.
I wish the love between Donald and his wife had been more detailed/ believable because it didn't seem to make sense why Donald was so upset at loosing her (enough to kill) when it seemed like he was almost about to cheat on her at the beginning. I feel like I didn't understand why Donald was angry enough to kill, especially like the only ally/ person he liked from the before times. This was disappointing because I thought the depiction of romance in the first novel was pretty good.
I also wished we had seen more of the impact that murdering had on Donald and Jimmy. Especially Donald because he seemed so blase about it!
Also wished the Mission plotline had connected more? While I absolutely loved seeing the twist of them being reset, it felt like it should've connected more? Also did not get how they were reset.
After about the 40% mark, I felt like it started to drag, get a bit convoluted, confusing, over-explained (but also some parts not explained enough). I feel like it's better to leave some mystery if the explanation is confusing/ murky/ not great. I think the difference between Shift and Wool might be because the first novel was originally a collection of several novellas combined? I think Shift would have benefited from being a lot shorter/ tighter. Shift just didn't fit together as nicely as Wool did.
I'm looking forward to seeing what Dust does to wrap things up.
I enjoyed the Donald/ Troy reveal but while interesting it wasn't surprising.
I wish the love between Donald and his wife had been more detailed/ believable because it didn't seem to make sense why Donald was so upset at loosing her (enough to kill) when it seemed like he was almost about to cheat on her at the beginning. I feel like I didn't understand why Donald was angry enough to kill, especially like the only ally/ person he liked from the before times. This was disappointing because I thought the depiction of romance in the first novel was pretty good.
I also wished we had seen more of the impact that murdering had on Donald and Jimmy. Especially Donald because he seemed so blase about it!
Also wished the Mission plotline had connected more? While I absolutely loved seeing the twist of them being reset, it felt like it should've connected more? Also did not get how they were reset.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Gore, and Suicide
Moderate: Animal death, Death, Medical content, Murder, Confinement, Excrement, Genocide, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Sexual violence and Sexual assault
sophieamreacher's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Slow at times but intriguing, upsetting, and thought provoking. It will be interesting to see where book 3 goes.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Medical content, Abandonment, Abortion, Police brutality, Blood, Death of parent, Violence, Mental illness, Alcohol, Drug use, Excrement, Vomit, Child death, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Gun violence, Infertility, Rape, Pregnancy, Suicide attempt, Death, Misogyny, War, Body horror, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Genocide, Kidnapping, Gore, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, and Murder
serenhybrid's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I was disappointed by this after the strong start of Wool and think it suffers from "middle book syndrome". The political machinations and world building are excellent, as they were in Wool, but there are too few characters for such a long book, and sorely lacking in female characters.
A large part of the book focuses on a character and story we knew a lot about from Wool, and that I didn't need to know any more about. Cutting that entire section would have made for a much better and easier read, rather than slogging through decades of grief.
The time span of the book is hard to comprehend but generally well managed, although I did a lot of checking back to Wool when I had forgotten character names and Silo numbers. You don't want too much of a gap before reading Shift after Wool!
Shift has definitely got me excited for the third book, Dust, and I'm still so invested in the characters and plot. How on earth will this end?!
A large part of the book focuses on a character and story we knew a lot about from Wool, and that I didn't need to know any more about. Cutting that entire section would have made for a much better and easier read, rather than slogging through decades of grief.
The time span of the book is hard to comprehend but generally well managed, although I did a lot of checking back to Wool when I had forgotten character names and Silo numbers. You don't want too much of a gap before reading Shift after Wool!
Shift has definitely got me excited for the third book, Dust, and I'm still so invested in the characters and plot. How on earth will this end?!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Gun violence, Grief, Abandonment, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Child death
Minor: Sexual assault
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