Reviews with content warning for Child death - Leviathan Wakes

I’m gonna be honest the only reason I read this book was for my writing class. If you’re into sci-fi and zombies, this book will probably be up your alley. But I’m more a realistic-fiction girlie so there were good stretches of this book where I was kind of bored.

I will admit, I was able to keep myself entertained throughout the middle and end of the book by just reading it as a character study. I mean, almost all the (male) characters were character types that I was not into, but I think it was a nice exercise to dissect why I was turned off by them.

Miller is such a fucking looser. Like he was just giving pathetic flop cringecore the whole book, especially towards the end with his obsession with Julie. Like, my guy you literally have never even met this woman and she’s god-knows how many years younger than you. I get that Julie (and her case) just represented his need for redemption to prove himself as a capable detective and whatnot but it was still very weird the way he was about her.

Holden and Naomi was the most comphet ass shit and I will stand ten-toes down in that. That being said, the scene after they had sex (~~I will not permit hetero copulation on my good Christian server~~) was kinda cute, idk. I like my men a little-love stupid. If they actually ever take the time to develop legitimate chemistry together beyond this-is-convenient-and-we-need-the-guy-to-get-his-girl type of situation, they could actually be, like, nice to look at. I really appreciated Naomi standing her ground and being like «if you want me, prove it.» Yes girl, respect yourself!

My writing prof said there was more stuff that gets developed in later books that actually seemed interesting to me (why tf is Amos like that, Naomi pov), but I did not care enough about this first book to feel motivated to keep going. Y’all have fun though.

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iono's review against another edition

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adventurous funny mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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blakethebookeater's review against another edition

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adventurous fast-paced

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

4.0

https://youtu.be/5qZ6UKSyTqw

This is a reread for me! And it was just as good the second time around. Read this because I'm hosting an Expanse readalong this year in prep for the final book coming this fall! The live show discussion for this book is linked above and you can follow the Twitter account @ReadTheExpanse for more information/announcements!

So this book follows two main plots: Joseph Miller is searching for the missing Julie Mao, and James Holden and the crew of the Rocinante are...just constantly on the run. Eventually their two narrative intersect and then this book finishes off with quite an explosive finale!

Now I do think I was inclined to like this book more because I do already have a knowledge of where these characters go from here and seeing how their arcs started out was just a joy. I will have to say that this novel doesn't quite focus on character, and moreso focuses on plot, but that is a-ok because the plot really needs to be focused on. A LOT happens.

The Expanse takes place in a future where we have three main factions: Earth, Mars (technologically superior), and the Belt (basically everyone else living on various space stations). An event at the beginning of the novel sparks a solar-system-wide war and Holden and his crew race to discover the cause/stop it and Miller's mystery might have something to do with it as well.

I highly recommend this book is you're a fan of science fiction, and recommend the series as a whole. Because as crazy as this one is, it only gets crazier and more epic.

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futureofmydays's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious tense medium-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

4.75

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