Reviews with content warning for Confinement - Dark Matter

Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

Dark Matter by Blake Crouch

42 reviews

micaelamariem's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative reflective tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

This book was mind-blowing. I’ve always been interested in string theory on a very basic level and that’s what this book plays around with. What if there’s a version of us for every decision we make? What if there is an infinity of universes out there? I loved the thrill of watching the character grapple with this. The characters were multifaceted. And there’s a word limit on here now so I guess that’s it.

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tyras_bookshelf's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.0

I really liked the book, fast paced and entertaining even if the science felt like nonsense at times.

It’s mostly sci-fi but the overall theme of the book is like “choose love” but also “life is full of choices and we have to be okay with ours”.

*spoilers ahead*

The ending was too open ended to be enjoyable to me. Knowing the elements of the box (and the rules that the book set up), I don’t trust that they are just safe at the end. Charlie came back around to be such a central part of the ending when he barely felt like a character throughout the book so that didn’t feel realistic either. I think it would have been more poetic for Daniela to have chosen the world. Ryan should have been a bigger part of the story too.

The book was actually pretty violent and weirdly sexual at times- or like too focused on it. I thought it was interesting that Daniela could only tell Jason1 was the real one by having sex with him.

Crouch kinda wrote himself into a hole with the Jason’s outthinking themselves because if they’re the same then why wouldn’t all the Jason’s have come to that same conclusion? but I’m choosing to believe that jason1 was so fundamentally attached to his world that he was the only one who could think that way to outsmart the others.

Some of the plot points weren’t explained away well enough like letting all the other Jason’s get to v1 world was too easy and I didn’t track how that happened. And the ending was like “and they all lived happily ever after”. Yes, there was a bunch of murder at the end but we don’t get to see the new world they walk into? After all that build up, the payoff didn’t feel as sweet.

I liked it, I recommend but much of the science and prose was quickly skipped over so I could stay with the plot. Overall, pretty good read and very creative.

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kirtreads's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This is the kind of book that is really going to sit with me for a while. I had no idea what this book was really about going into it apart from everyone saying it was a great novel so I really did not anticipate the wild ride that I got. I was never quite sure where it was going and what was happening, so it was a great summer read.

This book was a lot of fun, and I thought that all the actual science parts were well explained but I never felt too bogged down with information. I thought that Jason was compelling enough to really care about what happens. This book did have a little bit of a perfect white man saviour issue, but it never got obnoxious and I actually think that it thematically helped the novel. Sometimes this really drives me nuts but it didn't become a big issue for me. The two women in the novel are not over the top emotional and total idiots so it has some saving grace.

I am still mulling over the ending and I am not 100% sold on loving the ending but I think that it was the only way that it all could have ended. This book leaves you with a lot of big questions not only about the story but also philosophically and I am not sure if I love the way that he wrapped up these large ideas.

My only other complaint is that the pacing dragged a little in the middle. By the nature of the story it was very cyclical but I could have done with a few less cycles. Overall though, I think its a great read if you are looking for something pretty action packed and relatively fast paced outside of the normal thriller genre.

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marayzex's review against another edition

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adventurous dark hopeful mysterious reflective tense fast-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

4.25

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shanaepraystoo's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

Dark Matter is not my typical read. The book is sci-fi, a thriller with a mystery component. Blake Crouch may have introduced me to a new genre because I absolutely loved Dark Matter. The characters are well written plus the story is cohesive and thought provoking. Dark Matter will have you thinking about life in a whole new way. I’ve got to get an Apple TV subscription so that I can watch the television series. I highly recommend Dark Matter for anyone looking for an engaging thriller, mystery or sci-fi book. The audiobook is also really good!

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angorarabbit's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

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

3.0

Clarketech: A working Schrodinger’s Cat Box.

Bloophole: Where was the money coming from, and why was it always barely enough?

TLDR: A good thriller for those who are not thriller readers, but not much substance.

The plot was interesting and the story well written. Jason was an fully rounded character. Other characters not so much. Female characters in particular seem to only follow the male character’s wishes. I was mostly satisfied with the ending, though Amanda seemed to get short shrift.

The rest of this review is skirting spoiler territory and nerd ranting.

The many worlds interpretation (MWI) is essential for the plot. However the book seems to theorise that the point that a world becomes real is when a human makes a choice This interpretation makes for exciting reading, but no logical sense.

MWI states that ALL possible outcomes of quantum measurements are physically realised in some world. So there would be endless worlds where Janson, Daniela, Charlie, their apartment, Chicago, etc. are all exactly the same. Assuming that a Schrodinger’s Cat Box could be made, and that human desires could direct it Jason should have popped out in endless realities where everything he knew and loved was exactly the same. How would he know which Daniela and Charlie were his?

This kept niggling at my brain the whole time, so rather disrupted my enjoyment of a story of a man desperately regaining what he loved and of another man’s attempt to change the consequences of his choices.

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goldsbuc's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

Very interesting plot. With peace and love, this book was very obviously written by a man ifkyk.

I loved the explorations of the other worlds and wish we could have seen more unusual environments. The way the author wrote about women and sex was annoying, from a female perspective. The women in this story are not very well developed and are disappointing. The ending felt rushed and was predictable. Beginning and middle were strongest plot points imo.

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