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mistermeek's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
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? It's complicated
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail
bethtabler's review against another edition
5.0
I was provided an ARC by Tor.com in exchange for my open and honest review.
It is a terrible and wondrous thing to be so stunned by a story you lose your ability to use words. This story literally stunned me into silence. The only response I could muster for the first day was, "That was fucked."
I'll tell you why. I am from Las Vegas, Nevada. Born and bred. On October 1st of 2017, my hometown was visited by the worst act of mass gun violence in US history. I watched the news in horror as people ran for cover. I searched the videos streaming on youtube with tears streaming down my face looking for people I knew. I looking for my family. Thankfully none of my family and friends were involved in the shooting, but only just. I know lots of people who work in the hotels. On December 11th of 2012, the Clackamas Town Center mall was riddled with holes as a single gunman went in and shot shoppers. At the time of the shooting, I lived 800 feet from the entrance of the mall. My husband was home during the shooting, although he didn't hear anything and oddly enough I was in Las Vegas at the time. But, I was having lunch in the food court, exactly where the gunman shot people, 1-week prior. I was not directly involved in that shooting, but for a month I saw the masses of flowers and teddy bears laid out on the Clackamas sign. People died 800 feet from my home.
I am an American, and my life has been touched by gun violence if only by proximity to it and that is the point when it comes to this story. Gun violence by proximity. Most of the story is about people watching gun violence take place elsewhere. It is over there, in that mall with people you don't know. Viewers eyes are glued to the screen, and they wonder what is going to happen. They armchair quarterback what the victims would do or not do. It is chilling and so very real. John McDean's job in this story is to ask, "how do we get more people watching?" "How do we manage this and cause these scenarios to happen?" We create Fear. America is a nation of Fear. Let's feed that! He produces scenarios where Americans worst fears are played out for the masses in an engorged "Bread and Circuses" scenario. It is a vicious cycle that feeds on itself like an ouroboros and Bennett created the perfect story around that idea.
Mcdean is disgusting, he is immoral, and not too far from how the media handles these things right now. I have never been disgusted by a character as much as I was with him. In 10 years, maybe 20 who knows perhaps we will have a Running Man by Stephen King or a Vigilance by Robert Jackson Bennett television show on our hands. Or, maybe books like this will help us wise up and see what we are doing to ourselves. I don't know, but I can hope. Read this. Read it if you are American, read it if you are not. Just read it. It is worthy of your time and money.
If you would like to read more of my reviews, please c'mon by. beforewegoblog.com
It is a terrible and wondrous thing to be so stunned by a story you lose your ability to use words. This story literally stunned me into silence. The only response I could muster for the first day was, "That was fucked."
I'll tell you why. I am from Las Vegas, Nevada. Born and bred. On October 1st of 2017, my hometown was visited by the worst act of mass gun violence in US history. I watched the news in horror as people ran for cover. I searched the videos streaming on youtube with tears streaming down my face looking for people I knew. I looking for my family. Thankfully none of my family and friends were involved in the shooting, but only just. I know lots of people who work in the hotels. On December 11th of 2012, the Clackamas Town Center mall was riddled with holes as a single gunman went in and shot shoppers. At the time of the shooting, I lived 800 feet from the entrance of the mall. My husband was home during the shooting, although he didn't hear anything and oddly enough I was in Las Vegas at the time. But, I was having lunch in the food court, exactly where the gunman shot people, 1-week prior. I was not directly involved in that shooting, but for a month I saw the masses of flowers and teddy bears laid out on the Clackamas sign. People died 800 feet from my home.
I am an American, and my life has been touched by gun violence if only by proximity to it and that is the point when it comes to this story. Gun violence by proximity. Most of the story is about people watching gun violence take place elsewhere. It is over there, in that mall with people you don't know. Viewers eyes are glued to the screen, and they wonder what is going to happen. They armchair quarterback what the victims would do or not do. It is chilling and so very real. John McDean's job in this story is to ask, "how do we get more people watching?" "How do we manage this and cause these scenarios to happen?" We create Fear. America is a nation of Fear. Let's feed that! He produces scenarios where Americans worst fears are played out for the masses in an engorged "Bread and Circuses" scenario. It is a vicious cycle that feeds on itself like an ouroboros and Bennett created the perfect story around that idea.
Mcdean is disgusting, he is immoral, and not too far from how the media handles these things right now. I have never been disgusted by a character as much as I was with him. In 10 years, maybe 20 who knows perhaps we will have a Running Man by Stephen King or a Vigilance by Robert Jackson Bennett television show on our hands. Or, maybe books like this will help us wise up and see what we are doing to ourselves. I don't know, but I can hope. Read this. Read it if you are American, read it if you are not. Just read it. It is worthy of your time and money.
If you would like to read more of my reviews, please c'mon by. beforewegoblog.com
boomgrrrl's review against another edition
4.0
I liked this book, but it terrified me and also disgusted me(the idea behind the Vigilance that is). But, I still have it 4 stars because I did like it. Felt like a messed up version of The Hunger Games.
hunterpons's review against another edition
3.0
Picked this up based on the reviews. The concepts in it are fun, nothing too new or thought-provoking other than the overt criticism of gun policy in America. There was one large plot hole I had a hard time getting over. In order for the premise to work, we have to assume that funding terrorism is somehow legal in this future America, a discrepancy not really addressed at all.
This short story also has excessive cursing and sexual innuendos. I would not mention this if it weren't for the fact that the cursing and sex are inserted so awkwardly. At times I felt like I was reading the screenplay for a misogynistic 80s action movie, not a literary work given serious time and thought. I had a hard time believing that all the "intelligent" characters had equally perverted sexual behaviors and felt compelled to talk about them all the time. If it wasn't for this openly juvenile approach to character development and dialogue the actual message(s) could have hit harder.
This short story also has excessive cursing and sexual innuendos. I would not mention this if it weren't for the fact that the cursing and sex are inserted so awkwardly. At times I felt like I was reading the screenplay for a misogynistic 80s action movie, not a literary work given serious time and thought. I had a hard time believing that all the "intelligent" characters had equally perverted sexual behaviors and felt compelled to talk about them all the time. If it wasn't for this openly juvenile approach to character development and dialogue the actual message(s) could have hit harder.
qalminator's review against another edition
4.0
Wow. The most disturbing thing about this is how plausible it feels. Government-generated mass-shootings for entertainment, with companies more concerned about ratings than human lives? Yeah... Rather on the nose.
Very well-written, and well-thought-out. Recommended, but be warned that it's not a pleasant read.
Very well-written, and well-thought-out. Recommended, but be warned that it's not a pleasant read.
_b_a_l_'s review against another edition
3.0
Pointed and very plausible sci-fi-as-social-commentary - but a little too heavy handed and predictable to be a really great story.
squeebacon's review against another edition
4.0
This book was excellent and terrifying; it has some Battle Royale & the Condemned vibes but like, amped up to 11 because reading it makes it more scary (at least for me). I rather enjoyed the ending, completely unexpected to me.
stine_reads's review
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence
adamcagey's review against another edition
2.0
This reads like the love child of Network and Series 7, but it's not as clever as the former and it lacks the heart of the latter. Set in a future, dying America, the book follows a TV exec as he produces a show which turns mass murder into entertainment. I am the choir to which this book is preaching-- it's anticapitalist, and it's critical of what mass media and the country have become -- and it still left me cold. Maybe it's too calcated, or too broad even for the type of satire on display. Maybe it's that it revels so much in its descriptions of violence for a supposedly anti-gun story. Whatever it is, it all adds up to a book that never quite gelled for me.