Scan barcode
inthebelljar's review
2.0
This could have been so good.
It had so many elements I absolutely love: identity, transhumanism, cyberpunk and science fiction, time loops, AIs and humans together, survivor's guilt, bisexual (I think?) nonbinary main character..... These are some of my favorite tropes/themes. And this story let me down so bad. It's way too rushed with little to no explanation. Nothing was satisfying.
I love the ideas, I love the art, but I just felt so...baffled by this. I could understand basically what happened but so much else was left unexplained or just eluded to vaguely.
So much of the narrative is spent on the main character saying the same few things over and over again in varying angsty poetic ways, to the point that Despite this, I still don't really understand any of the main character's motivations or wants in this. The references to them having no free will I guess apply here but it doesn't seem deep, it just seems like...a plot device.
I don't know. This just could have been so cool and enjoyable but instead I was left going "why?" over and over again.
It had so many elements I absolutely love: identity, transhumanism, cyberpunk and science fiction, time loops, AIs and humans together, survivor's guilt, bisexual (I think?) nonbinary main character..... These are some of my favorite tropes/themes. And this story let me down so bad. It's way too rushed with little to no explanation. Nothing was satisfying.
I love the ideas, I love the art, but I just felt so...baffled by this. I could understand basically what happened but so much else was left unexplained or just eluded to vaguely.
So much of the narrative is spent on the main character saying the same few things over and over again in varying angsty poetic ways, to the point that
Spoiler
an alternate version of the main character shows up at one point to tell them to shut up and complains about how annoying they are?? I still am confused as to why this version is referred to as she/her and also uhhh why the AI who loves them so dearly doesn't trust this version? What happened here?I don't know. This just could have been so cool and enjoyable but instead I was left going "why?" over and over again.
Spoiler
I just can't believe something with two nonbinary characters, one human who doesn't feel connected to humanity, the other a nonbinary AI who doesn't quite get humanity but wants to make their loved human happy, could kiss and end up together and it's still not something I enjoyed. If you had told me that as a hook, I would be rushing to read this but instead I just feel so meh. That's just. Saying something.abitsybat's review
Picked it on a whim because i like the author but it couldnt keep my focus
k_rooz's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
seawarrior's review
challenging
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I've had high hopes for Test since its announcement, but after reading I feel sorely disappointed. Firstly though, I should mention what worked for the book, which is the art. Hickman's drawings and Saxon's colors were the most effective storytellers throughout the narrative. Symbols, expressions, locations and colors portrayed Aleph's experiences and emotional state most distinctly, and clarified what was happening when the text had me feeling lost.
The words were what frustrated me reading this story. As the pages progressed I only got more irritated with Aleph's endless, directionless inner monologue. By the end I felt as if I had just read the same words repeated by Aleph with different synonyms throughout most of the story, leading to an ending that made little sense and answered none the questions I had at the start. The premise of this comic was interesting, and Aleph was a promising character, but the execution of their story left much to be desired and was too over-complicated for me to enjoy reading it.
The words were what frustrated me reading this story. As the pages progressed I only got more irritated with Aleph's endless, directionless inner monologue. By the end I felt as if I had just read the same words repeated by Aleph with different synonyms throughout most of the story, leading to an ending that made little sense and answered none the questions I had at the start. The premise of this comic was interesting, and Aleph was a promising character, but the execution of their story left much to be desired and was too over-complicated for me to enjoy reading it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Medical content, Blood, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, and Self harm
Moderate: Car accident, Death of parent, and Drug abuse
theromanticace's review
challenging
dark
informative
tense
slow-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
More...