Reviews with content warning for Gore - Middlegame

This was an odd choice for me, a book that I bought for the cover and because I had store credit at the used bookstore. I ended up loving it. It had an interesting combination of Frankenstein and Wizard of Oz. It had twins who can communicate through a link in their minds. It had well-developed characters, despicable villains, and lots of adventure, intrigue, and action. I loved the relationship between the siblings and their quest. As a central California native, the settings of UC Berkeley and the Sutro Baths were familiar and vivid.

This was a long read, and there were a couple times when it felt slow, but I still had very few issues. I started this in print in July and it wasn’t “working” at the time, so when I picked it up again, I decided to change to audio. The narration was fantastic and I could not recommend it more highly. I think the alchemy and details might have been frustrating to me or I might have gotten lost in them with a print read, but the audio made that easier for me.

I love being surprised when reading. This is one of those books that took me by surprise, not in the plot but in what an absolute pleasure it was to read. I see more Seanan McGuire in my future.

The bottom line: Read this if you want a strange and delightful mixture of science fiction, urban fantasy, and contemporary with nods to Frankenstein, The Midwich Cuckoos (new TBR for me), and The Wizard of Oz.

— NOTES —
Genres: urban fantasy, science fiction
POV: 3rd-person, multiple

— MY RATING CONSIDERATIONS —
(all out of 5)

Pace: 4
Enjoyment: 5
Craft: 5
My Gut Feeling: 5

Total Stars: 4.75

Content Warnings

xosirenox's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

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

4.25

Content Warnings

lily_kruse's review

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adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

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

5.0

Content Warnings

needlesnbooks's review

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No

3.5

Content Warnings

oliverreeds's review

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adventurous challenging dark slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

no idea what happened. i loved every second

Content Warnings

mugs_it_is's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

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

3.0

Content Warnings

bright_eyed_and_bookish's review

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dark hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

I loved the sibling dynamic in this story. I was cheering for Roger and Dodger the whole time as they discovered their abilities and struggled with their relationship with each other. I sometimes struggle with Seanan Mcguire’s writing style and understanding the details she includes, but I have to say, she created an amazing atmosphere and mange’s to be a little humorous at times too.

Content Warnings

jayisreading's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

3.25

For a limited time, Tordotcom made Middlegame downloadable for free, which was nice. I admit I have a tendency to jump at any opportunity to get a free book, even if I don’t know the premise of it. It was absolutely the case with this book, ahaha.

That said, I think I enjoyed this book? It’s hard to tell because, admittedly, I didn’t fully follow what was happening at times. I think there were two reasons for this. One is that there’s a lot of fascinating worldbuilding, but there was a little too much happening. The other related reason is because of the point-of-view that McGuire decided to write in, which was limited third-person primarily from the perspectives of Roger and Dodger. I don’t mind reading books that don’t have an omniscient perspective, but I think it would have helped for this book because, goodness, Roger and Dodger simply have no idea what’s happening for most this book. In other words, the reader has to deal with this as well, and that can get really frustrating. As a result, the story got messier.

On a more positive note, though, I was fascinated by this idea of math and language being the foundation of the world (in a way). I also really enjoyed how McGuire explored the relationship between Roger and Dodger. It was such a unique dynamic that felt very real. Lastly, McGuire writes beautifully with multisensory descriptions that added so much to the book.

I could have missed something that resulted in my confusion, but I may look into the sequel. I’m admittedly curious to know what more McGuire can do with the worldbuilding she has done. Plus, it might make more sense since I have some footing from this book.

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