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fairybookmother's review against another edition
3.0
Trippy stuff, really decent sci/fi, wish there was more development in parts! Better review coming.
loganberry99's review against another edition
5.0
Awesome, thrilling sci-fi novel from a new author. Very reminiscent of Philip K. Dick, but faster-paced and even more adrenaline-packed. The descriptive imagery is amazing. The characters pull you in, and I continuously found myself wondering what happens next when I had to put the book down and go to class. Definitely recommend for lovers of dark sci-fi.
readingthething's review against another edition
4.0
This review first appeared on Reading the Thing
2015 in Manchester is not a place and time you want to be, if you read Matt Hill’s book GRAFT. The story about Sol and Y is sometimes hard to get into, and sometimes really accesible. Although that might also be a personal thing, which depended on my own state of mind; I read the book in a few readings, and wasn’t always the most awake. Which might have lead to me DREAMING about someone with three arms! But I digress.
What I liked, but what others might not enjoy as much, is that many things stay vague. How has the world collapsed into something post-apocalyptic in just 10 years? How does the changing of humans into something else work? Where do they come from? How is the rest of the UK faring? The rest of Europe? The world? I enjoy the slowly finding out what there is to find out, and still having questions at the end, because that is how life works; you don’t get anything in a clearcut package.
I loved how the story was structured. How you got to read about Sol and his work in one chapter, and seem to be in a completely different world in the next, following Y after she wakes up and has no memory of what has come before. Different characters are introduced, and their tales connect. That does work well, except in one case. On the whole, I feel like the role Mel plays seems a bit too fabricated, like she was added on later because some of her functions were needed. However, I did like her as a character/person and would like to know more about her. The same goes for many characters in the book: The Irish, Roy, the Reverend, The Manor Lord.
This book only scratches the surface of this possible future. Will there be more? I’d like it if there was.
2015 in Manchester is not a place and time you want to be, if you read Matt Hill’s book GRAFT. The story about Sol and Y is sometimes hard to get into, and sometimes really accesible. Although that might also be a personal thing, which depended on my own state of mind; I read the book in a few readings, and wasn’t always the most awake. Which might have lead to me DREAMING about someone with three arms! But I digress.
What I liked, but what others might not enjoy as much, is that many things stay vague. How has the world collapsed into something post-apocalyptic in just 10 years? How does the changing of humans into something else work? Where do they come from? How is the rest of the UK faring? The rest of Europe? The world? I enjoy the slowly finding out what there is to find out, and still having questions at the end, because that is how life works; you don’t get anything in a clearcut package.
I loved how the story was structured. How you got to read about Sol and his work in one chapter, and seem to be in a completely different world in the next, following Y after she wakes up and has no memory of what has come before. Different characters are introduced, and their tales connect. That does work well, except in one case. On the whole, I feel like the role Mel plays seems a bit too fabricated, like she was added on later because some of her functions were needed. However, I did like her as a character/person and would like to know more about her. The same goes for many characters in the book: The Irish, Roy, the Reverend, The Manor Lord.
This book only scratches the surface of this possible future. Will there be more? I’d like it if there was.
djwudi's review against another edition
3.0
A rather bleak and dismal look at human trafficking in a future where the victims are cybernetically modified on the other side of a trans-dimensional portal. I'm not entirely sure if it was my unfamiliarity with British slang or the author's style, but it took a long time for me to find the rhythm and really get into the book; that, coupled with the near-total lack of joy or any form of happiness, made this one a bit of a slog for me.
svenrokk's review
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
thesffreader's review against another edition
Reasons why I DNF'd this book : https://thecurioussffreader.wordpress.com/2016/01/20/graft-by-matt-hill/
I am not going to rate this book since I DNF it but if I had managed to finish it I probably would have give it a 3.5 rating.
I am not going to rate this book since I DNF it but if I had managed to finish it I probably would have give it a 3.5 rating.
imyril's review
3.0
Prepare yourself for hard-boiled dystopia. Set some 7 years later than Matt Hill's debut The Folded Man, it's a traditional misfits against the system narrative - not that there's much system left in 2025. The cities are burnt-out wrecks after race riots and the government pour their limited resources into law enforcement drones to try and keep on top of critical resources. It's easy for people to disappear; the human traffickers strip them down for parts or strip their memories, mod them and sell them on as little better than slaves (there's a chilling scene in which a salesman tries to convince a madam it's a business opportunity for improving her margins). Middle-aged car mechanic Sol finds a three-armed woman in the boot of a stolen car: Y can't speak, but she can take a threat apart in seconds. The story follows their attempts to find her makers.
I enjoyed this, but I still don't think Hill has quite cracked character or plot. While the overall world building remains excellent, the plot was less original than The Folded Man and I found myself less engaged in the second half. Still, I think this one will rattle around my brain for quite a while and I do like his prose. A lot. Apparently his next novel will be 'something completely different' - I'll be intrigued to see what.
Full review
I enjoyed this, but I still don't think Hill has quite cracked character or plot. While the overall world building remains excellent, the plot was less original than The Folded Man and I found myself less engaged in the second half. Still, I think this one will rattle around my brain for quite a while and I do like his prose. A lot. Apparently his next novel will be 'something completely different' - I'll be intrigued to see what.
Full review
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