Reviews with content warning for Suicide attempt - Middlegame

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Middlegame by Seanan McGuire

119 reviews

vaxis's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense slow-paced

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

4.75

I sometimes wonder if I'm just too dense or if I missed something with Seanan's world building, or if the reason I don't fully feel like I understand what's happening is how it's been explained. This was sometimes an issue, but not too much.

There's a heavy emphasis on their headspace and how they come to the decisions they make. There's some excellent prose.

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hisrad's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad 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

4.0

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adancewithbooks's review

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challenging dark reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

Middlegame is one of those books I've heard a lot about. People singing its absolute praises. Did I love it as much as them? No but I can see why it captured everyone's attention like that.

Middlegame follows the lives of two twins that were seperated at birth. They were used for human experimentation to create something entirely non-human in a human body. To become the perfect vessels. They weren't the only ones. Of course they know none of this. And across the country they find each other. Despite those higher up trying to stop them, they still find each other again and again.

Middlegame is a trip that you follow along with Roger and Dodger. Even though we know more than them it doesn't take away from all the surprises we come across with them in who they really are. And even that, it isn't really about that. It is about their relationship and finding their way in the world when the world has been shaped for you. To take back your own choices.

And it is strong in setting up the two unit between Roger and Dodger. Because it goes with heart, bumps and scrapes. Many scrapes but with a lot of feelings. Relationships, especially with found siblings like these, don't come easy. It was realistic to see them run and turn away from each other. Their characterisation made me invested in the story.

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leanne_miron's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

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

5.0

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summertimereads's review

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adventurous 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? It's complicated

5.0

Really amazing book. A new favourite for sure!

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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.

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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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