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lanidon's review against another edition
1.0
This story has frankly just been done better elsewhere. I kept thinking to myself "get to a point I haven't heard before" and there never was a single one. There's no nuance or depth to this execution but it's also not funny enough to be decent satire. It failed for me at every level. Just go consume something else with the same concept because it is guaranteed to do it better. I recommend Qualityland or Finna
Some points the book makes about Internet Bad are just straight up incorrect. At one point someone says that there wouldn't be racism/antisemitism without the internet to hide behind because "nobody would stand on a street corner shouting this." My guy there's literally photographic evidence to the contrary. Bigotry existed before the internet, even if, yes, there is a case for harboring radicalization and fearmongering. The internet did not start a single problem we have in the world, it simply gave those with power new tools to exacerbate preexisting problems for their own gain. The lack of that nuance is crucial to the failure of this novel
As a side note. The way race and gender were treated in this book make me incredibly uncomfortable. It didn't feel like the author had a reason behind it to make this feel purposeful. There are multiple instances of poc being called "a Brown" which was jarring. The n word is also used which I don't think the non-black author had any right to. The use of graphic antisemitism with zero warning or lead up was also uncalled for and is mostly used for a singular joke before being dropped. If the author had a point to his depiction of race it would maybe make sense to force readers into a state of discomfort, but I genuinely cannot find any valuable takeaway from this part of the book
Some points the book makes about Internet Bad are just straight up incorrect. At one point someone says that there wouldn't be racism/antisemitism without the internet to hide behind because "nobody would stand on a street corner shouting this." My guy there's literally photographic evidence to the contrary. Bigotry existed before the internet, even if, yes, there is a case for harboring radicalization and fearmongering. The internet did not start a single problem we have in the world, it simply gave those with power new tools to exacerbate preexisting problems for their own gain. The lack of that nuance is crucial to the failure of this novel
As a side note. The way race and gender were treated in this book make me incredibly uncomfortable. It didn't feel like the author had a reason behind it to make this feel purposeful. There are multiple instances of poc being called "a Brown" which was jarring. The n word is also used which I don't think the non-black author had any right to. The use of graphic antisemitism with zero warning or lead up was also uncalled for and is mostly used for a singular joke before being dropped. If the author had a point to his depiction of race it would maybe make sense to force readers into a state of discomfort, but I genuinely cannot find any valuable takeaway from this part of the book
Content Warnings
Moderate: Antisemitism and Racial slurs
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