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lilifane's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
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
5.0
I think when you read this book you either love it or you hate it. And I definitely loved it!!!
It was love at first page. The writing is soooo beautiful from the very first few words tbh and these first 3 pages left such a deep impact on me that they carried my interest for the rest of the book. I cannot tell you how often I reread that first chapter. Also the amount of quotes I wrote down is ... worrysome. Then the structure is soooo satifying. I live for these kind of books.
And then there are the characters. I fell in love with them, hard. I didn't know this was even possible. The way you get to know the two protagonists in such an intimate way, I felt all the feels. Especially because they are siblings with such a deep connection and you basically spend most of the plot in their heads. Uff, I cried SO SO SO SO much because of the things they went through, physically and mentally. There is this main plot that is epic and kind of... hard to grasp. It's very abstract and sciency and phantastical. But since I genuinely like these kind of elements in books, I enjoyed that, too. Although I had to just accept some things that clearly went over my head or were too vague. But the majority of the plot is just about (found) family and friendship and love (mainly the love between siblings) and loneliness and trust/loss of trust and longing. It just broke my heart and healed it over and over again.
I know this sounds very wholesome but this book is actually quite.... brutal. So tw/cw for suicide attempt, violence, murder, blood (SO much blood), natural disaster/catastrophe.
It was love at first page. The writing is soooo beautiful from the very first few words tbh and these first 3 pages left such a deep impact on me that they carried my interest for the rest of the book. I cannot tell you how often I reread that first chapter. Also the amount of quotes I wrote down is ... worrysome. Then the structure is soooo satifying. I live for these kind of books.
And then there are the characters. I fell in love with them, hard. I didn't know this was even possible. The way you get to know the two protagonists in such an intimate way, I felt all the feels. Especially because they are siblings with such a deep connection and you basically spend most of the plot in their heads. Uff, I cried SO SO SO SO much because of the things they went through, physically and mentally. There is this main plot that is epic and kind of... hard to grasp. It's very abstract and sciency and phantastical. But since I genuinely like these kind of elements in books, I enjoyed that, too. Although I had to just accept some things that clearly went over my head or were too vague. But the majority of the plot is just about (found) family and friendship and love (mainly the love between siblings) and loneliness and trust/loss of trust and longing. It just broke my heart and healed it over and over again.
I know this sounds very wholesome but this book is actually quite.... brutal. So tw/cw for suicide attempt, violence, murder, blood (SO much blood), natural disaster/catastrophe.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Child death, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Murder, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Violence
whatellisreadnext's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
๐๐ฐ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ฅ๐บ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ข๐ฑ๐ช๐ด๐ต, ๐ฑ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ๐ข๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ค๐ญ๐ถ๐ต๐ค๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ด. ๐๐ต'๐ด ๐ข ๐จ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ๐ข๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ. ๐๐ฉ๐บ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฅ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต๐ช๐ค๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ข ๐จ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ๐ข๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ช๐ต ๐ช๐ด? ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ'๐ด ๐ข ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐บ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ต๐ข๐ญ ๐ด๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐น๐ข๐ค๐ต ๐ด๐ช๐ป๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ข๐ฑ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ณ. ๐๐ฆ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด'๐ด ๐ด๐ฌ๐ถ๐ญ๐ญ. ๐๐ต ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฃ๐ข๐ฃ๐ญ๐บ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ๐ข๐ด๐ต ๐ข๐ฏ๐บ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ. ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ต'๐ด ๐ข ๐ฑ๐ช๐ต๐บ. ๐๐ต ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ข ๐จ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ๐ข๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ.
Roger and Dodger meet as children, but not in an ordinary way. They speak to each other through their minds, but live hundreds of miles away from one another. They're both blissfully unaware, that their lives were being written even before they were born.
Well guess who found a new favourite book? Middlegame is bat shit crazy and I loved every second of it. It's not a small book, coming in at just over 500 pages, and it took me about a week to read, but only because I was enjoying it so much, that I didn't want it to end.
Time travel in books is so hard to get right, but Seanan McGuire absolutely nailed it. The hints at alternate timelines, and the countdown like structure, showing us failed attempts at saving the world, was done so so well.
I loved Rodger and Dodger so much, finally a believable and platonic relationship at the centre of a narrative. Their ups and downs felt so real, and I was rooting for them the whole way through. I read Over The Woodward Wall late last year, which is the fictional children's book featured throughout Middlegame, and I also loved seeing the parallels of Zib and Avery to Rodger and Dodger. It was really clever, and just added another layer to my love for this story.
If you love character driven, timey wimey sci-fi that is super weird, you need this book. I honestly can't pick one fault with it and I'm already looking forward to reading it again ๐
Roger and Dodger meet as children, but not in an ordinary way. They speak to each other through their minds, but live hundreds of miles away from one another. They're both blissfully unaware, that their lives were being written even before they were born.
Well guess who found a new favourite book? Middlegame is bat shit crazy and I loved every second of it. It's not a small book, coming in at just over 500 pages, and it took me about a week to read, but only because I was enjoying it so much, that I didn't want it to end.
Time travel in books is so hard to get right, but Seanan McGuire absolutely nailed it. The hints at alternate timelines, and the countdown like structure, showing us failed attempts at saving the world, was done so so well.
I loved Rodger and Dodger so much, finally a believable and platonic relationship at the centre of a narrative. Their ups and downs felt so real, and I was rooting for them the whole way through. I read Over The Woodward Wall late last year, which is the fictional children's book featured throughout Middlegame, and I also loved seeing the parallels of Zib and Avery to Rodger and Dodger. It was really clever, and just added another layer to my love for this story.
If you love character driven, timey wimey sci-fi that is super weird, you need this book. I honestly can't pick one fault with it and I'm already looking forward to reading it again ๐
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Grief, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Violence
angelareads's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Gore, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Violence
Moderate: Grief, Gun violence, and Mental illness
Minor: Child death, Confinement, and Forced institutionalization
tqlikesbooks's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
โThey were supposed to grow up with their hands in each otherโs pockets, compensating for one anotherโs weaknesses, encouraging one anotherโs strengths.โ
Having only read one other book by McGuire, the first book in her Wayward Children Series, I was not sure what to expect from Middlegame. I have also seen very mixed reviews; generally people who adored her other books seem not to enjoy Middlegame, and those who did not seem to like Wayward Children seem to love this. As I loved listening to the audiobook of Every Heart a Doorway, I was not if I would 'get' this book. However I truly enjoyed this.
Essentially, Middlegame follows a set of twins, created to embody a mysterious doctrine by a man who seems to be modelled on both Victor Frankenstein and his creation. The twins are split up shortly after their creation and sent off to different families, though as they grow, they find a way to communicate with each other and fate seems to bring them together.
What gripped me most about Middlegame was the writing itself. It was otherworldly, creative and clever while still being accessible. The story was so unique and imaginative; I loved the nods to the Wizard of Oz and various bits of folklore and fairy tales, and how McGuire blended these elements with lots of high-logic based mathematics and science. Although I can see why this certainly isn't everyone's cup of tea as it was confusing at times and there are many questions left unanswered by the end.
I found I particularly loved the story of Roger and Dodger, their connection and how they complemented each other and seemed to find their missing halves in each other.
Dark, timeline-twisty and magical- for me Middlegame encompasses all the best elements of sci-fi and fantasy.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Violence, Suicide, Gore, and Self harm
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Grief, and Drug use
natural disaster (earthquake)
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