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sielantgem's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
4.5
belacqua's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
This book reads like an episode of The Twilight Zone. Thrilling plot developments and well developed characters had me zoom through it in one sitting. It has a very hopeful message about escaping abuse and finding the strength to rise above limitations forced on you by those who want to see you fail. Martine is such a well written and sympathetic character who shows that initial preconceived notions put on her by others can't define who she chooses to become. Evelyn has a strong story arc that sees her overcoming horrific emotional abuse to find the strength to break the cycle of others cruelty and betrayal to begin extending grace that she was never given. All of it told in a compelling Sci-fi story that will keep you hooked.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, and Infidelity
chaotic17's review against another edition
dark
hopeful
informative
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
caspian's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-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? Yes
4.0
tsutton's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-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? Yes
4.5
whatwasmissing's review against another edition
5.0
this was so compelling. it feels like the characters were all set up with motivations and back stories and then the plot went on like a series of falling dominoes. every twist was kind of shocking and then immediately made perfect sense
alivaster's review against another edition
1.0
Note: Written in present tense.
While an interesting book premise with some twists, the book didn't manage to capture my interest by page 75. As a shorter book than I usually read, I didn't think it was worth continuing for me. While others may enjoy it, it just wasn't my cup of tea and I ended up DNFing the book.
While an interesting book premise with some twists, the book didn't manage to capture my interest by page 75. As a shorter book than I usually read, I didn't think it was worth continuing for me. While others may enjoy it, it just wasn't my cup of tea and I ended up DNFing the book.
littletaiko's review against another edition
dark
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? Yes
3.0
timinbc's review against another edition
3.0
In Magic for Liars Gailey mostly respected the fictional canon, but at the end just blew past all conventions and contradicted what had gone before.
Here they have presented a SF concept—not cloning itself but a far-advanced version of it—without the rigour I expect in SF. Only a few SF authors just leap into the key assumption that we're in a world just like ours except that super-detailed cloning just requires the Acme InstaClone kit. Even those who assume FTL travel give us a world in which MANY other things were developed over centuries, and give us credible handwaving about how that happened.
How easy is cloning? How about Evelyn is a super-researcher-expert, but hubby picks it all up in a few minutes by skimming her notes. And he effortlessly adds features assumed to be impossible.
That said: if you allow it, we get a plot that develops interestingly. There's some good work on how Martine is not exactly a copy of Evelyn.
I still don't know what to make of Igor, I mean Seyed. I guess he was necessary, and Gailey was careful to give him a story arc that didn't wreck the main story - although it seemed for most of the book that he would have to.
It all comes together in the acknowledgements, where Gailey explains that they had a difficult early life and this book is very much about dealing with it. For me, this pushes if out of SF and back into the mainstream, where its cavalier treatment of cloning should have pushed it anyway. Gailey's admirable self-cleansing-through-story fits better as mainstream than as SF - although I say that as a reader of 90% F-SF and 10% everything else.
Here they have presented a SF concept—not cloning itself but a far-advanced version of it—without the rigour I expect in SF. Only a few SF authors just leap into the key assumption that we're in a world just like ours except that super-detailed cloning just requires the Acme InstaClone kit. Even those who assume FTL travel give us a world in which MANY other things were developed over centuries, and give us credible handwaving about how that happened.
How easy is cloning? How about Evelyn is a super-researcher-expert, but hubby picks it all up in a few minutes by skimming her notes. And he effortlessly adds features assumed to be impossible.
That said: if you allow it, we get a plot that develops interestingly. There's some good work on how Martine is not exactly a copy of Evelyn.
I still don't know what to make of Igor, I mean Seyed. I guess he was necessary, and Gailey was careful to give him a story arc that didn't wreck the main story - although it seemed for most of the book that he would have to.
It all comes together in the acknowledgements, where Gailey explains that they had a difficult early life and this book is very much about dealing with it. For me, this pushes if out of SF and back into the mainstream, where its cavalier treatment of cloning should have pushed it anyway. Gailey's admirable self-cleansing-through-story fits better as mainstream than as SF - although I say that as a reader of 90% F-SF and 10% everything else.