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lini002's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
Zero Sum Game follows Cas Russell, a mathematical genius who takes on any job so long as the pay is good. She finds herself involved in a real-world conspiracy whose leader can manipulate the mind of anyone around them, she would regularly leave it well enough alone but they made it personal. The only issue is that she doesn't know what thoughts are hers.
This book is disjointed and not fun whatsoever. Character development is nonexistent and the MC is unbelievably boring. The other characters are lackluster and feel like any other action thriller cast. Cas could have been anyone else and I wouldn't have noticed. For some reason one of the side characters is a psychopath and that is never elaborated on. There's a lot of repetition of Cas naysaying certain plans but barely giving reasons why, arguing over what they should do, and stupid plans that obviously won't work.
I am interested in Water Outlaws by the same author so I won't write them off completely. 1.5/5 stars for this one though.
This book is disjointed and not fun whatsoever. Character development is nonexistent and the MC is unbelievably boring. The other characters are lackluster and feel like any other action thriller cast. Cas could have been anyone else and I wouldn't have noticed. For some reason one of the side characters is a psychopath and that is never elaborated on. There's a lot of repetition of Cas naysaying certain plans but barely giving reasons why, arguing over what they should do, and stupid plans that obviously won't work.
I am interested in Water Outlaws by the same author so I won't write them off completely. 1.5/5 stars for this one though.
melanietrumbo's review
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- 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
3.0
turrean's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
This is a fast-paced thriller with a tough, belligerent protagonist.
Cass Russell belongs to the Jessica Jones school of female badassery: a predilection for drinking, shooting, and fast driving; elastic morality; and a knee jerk reaction against the typically feminine. When fate provides a pink motorcycle, male characters guffaw, and Cass scowls. Serious injuries are shrugged off in a few days.
For a book with a female hero and a female villain, the book is woefully bereft of estrogen. There are no women in Cass’s inner circle. Hell, there are no women in her outer circle, either, other than a few victims and NPCs. Let’s hope this is remedied in the next books in the series.
One secondary character seems unable to use contractions, which made his dialog stilted at times.
Cass Russell belongs to the Jessica Jones school of female badassery: a predilection for drinking, shooting, and fast driving; elastic morality; and a knee jerk reaction against the typically feminine. When fate provides a pink motorcycle, male characters guffaw, and Cass scowls. Serious injuries are shrugged off in a few days.
For a book with a female hero and a female villain, the book is woefully bereft of estrogen. There are no women in Cass’s inner circle. Hell, there are no women in her outer circle, either, other than a few victims and NPCs. Let’s hope this is remedied in the next books in the series.
One secondary character seems unable to use contractions, which made his dialog stilted at times.
phenyl82's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
plmlighting's review
4.0
A decent debut novel which keeps the action coming. There are times I wished the author had gone through the details of Cas' calculations rather than vaguely explaining "the math all came together," but other than that, I look forward to a second novel which this feels open to.
wordwrestler's review
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-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
4.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death
ddrake's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
moiram's review
4.0
Always great to discover a new author to love. Just finished the first Cas Russell book and immediately rushed out to buy the next two. Really looking forward to reading them!
lsparrow's review against another edition
1.0
just couldnt get into this action, conspiracy, save the world book.
meemzter's review against another edition
4.0
For some reason, I don't read a whole lot of action/thriller books. Zero Sum Game -- a fast-paced, larger-than-life story in which math is a superpower -- has left me wondering why.
This book was piles of fun - Cas Russell is a badass and endlessly interesting lead, and I find myself dearly attached to the supporting characters of Arthur, Checker, and Rio.
It's definitely a departure from the kind of thing I normally read, and at times some of the plot mechanisms edged toward the absurd - but they never ceased to entertain. Even if at times I thought something was a little cliche, I flew through this book - I never wanted to stop reading.
I just did some digging around on the internet and discovered that there are already several more books written for this series, and an indefinite amount planned. I'm very relieved - there's a lot more story here. You'll catch me back here whenever book 2 gets released! Can't wait to find out more about Cas Russell and her wacky gang of friends in the next installment.
This book was piles of fun - Cas Russell is a badass and endlessly interesting lead, and I find myself dearly attached to the supporting characters of Arthur, Checker, and Rio.
It's definitely a departure from the kind of thing I normally read, and at times some of the plot mechanisms
Spoiler
(a shady, all-powerful but secret organization; a lead character with seemingly endless access to guns, money, and grenades; a hacker who can hack anything)I just did some digging around on the internet and discovered that there are already several more books written for this series, and an indefinite amount planned. I'm very relieved - there's a lot more story here.