Reviews with content warning for Suicide attempt - Middlegame

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Middlegame by Seanan McGuire

119 reviews

chronoreads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-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? Yes

3.75

Once I understood the chronology and what was going on, I enjoyed the story (though I still had to jump back and forth a bit to fill in some gaps). The dynamic between the characters evolve in ways that use some of my favorite tropes. The book would have been five stars if it were easier to get my initial foothold into the plot.

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thelegendhelel's review

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad fast-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

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gladiolus17's review

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I thought Middlegame had great characters and such an interesting premise. Dodger and Roger were very fleshed out and I was invested in their relationship. My favorite character was Erin, though!

The other thing the book did well was metaphors. Sometimes you see books that throw in a metaphor just to be beautiful, but these ones extended the meaning of what they were comparing AND were unique and beautiful.

I was also blown away by how the timeline fit everything together. First I was confused, but then everything fell into place and I was very satisfied.

I did feel certain things were repetitive on a sentence and scene level. I’m not sure if it was necessary to have Roger and Dodger part so many times, as it dragged the narrative down a bit. As well, I felt that the metaphors around math and language were overused sometimes, since Roger and Dodger were often described as not being good at each other’s disciplines.

All in all, an enjoyable read!

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kaylani_simplyme's review

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5.0

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bitterseason's review

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adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced

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

1.25

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just_one_more_paige's review

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-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

4.0

Although I'm reading through it slow as molasses, I freaking love McGuire's Every Heart a Doorway series. I know that she has written like, so many, books, so I'm not sure why I was drawn to this one as my next McGuire read, in particular. But whatever the reason, it's been on my TBR since it was published a few years ago. And when I was looking for a creepy-but-not-too-much October read, this is the one that called to me.

Roger and Dodger are twins, one (Roger) skilled with languages and words and the other (Dodger) with a special gift for numbers and math. They're twins, and kinda mostly human but not quite, though they don't know that. Middlegame follows their lives as they grow up with separate (adopted) families, but with a connection so strong that they keep finding and re-finding each other. Which is both exactly what they were made to do, eventually, by the mysterious (and diabolical) Reed, who implanted them each with half of a "Doctrine" that, when jointly manifested, will allow them the power of, essentially gods. A power that Reed plans to harness and use himself, but Roger and Dodger, along with a helping hand from the equally mysterious (and dangerous) Erin, realize how deeply that must be avoided at all costs.

My goodness this story was freaking riveting, despite the fact that, for a lot of it, the reader is just as in the dark about what is actually happening as Roger and Dodger (which could easily have been deeply frustrating and confusing - it takes a lot of reader trust to just go with it and believe that, eventually, McGuire will bring it all together and actually explain things). This is definitely a book where you need to be prepared to just go with the flow of the story and believe it will unfold as it needs to, even if there are major questions or points of confusion along the way. It's not a writing technique that works for every reader, so be ready for that, but McGuire executes it with precision and skill, so if you are ok with the style, know that it's worth it and well done here. That being said, there are a few things that never really do get fully explained. Or well, not in explicit detail. Specifically, the "Impossible City" that the Doctrine is meant to grant access to - I wasn't ever sure if it was a real place or a more of a conceptual one. Perhaps this is because Roger and Dodger didn't really know either and they're our MCs/narrators. And I could totally see that lack of surety being deeply annoying for some readers. Similarly, the "magic" that Roger and Dodger wield (which I'll talk more about in just a second) and the alchemy aspects (specific to Reed's work) were presented as more of a "just accept it as it is" reality, without explicit explanations of where it came from or how it works. And again, I feel like, with the general suspension of disbelief and paced unfolding of the rest of the plot/information, it was ok for me, I just stayed suspended, but I imagine not all readers would be happy with that experience.

I want to take a moment to talk a bit more about Roger and Dodger as well, because despite the blurb, the book focuses very deeply on their connection with each other past the "magical" and often in a much more mundane/everyday sort of way. They are really phenomenally and deeply rendered. They develop together and separate from each other, but always in parallel, in really fascinating ways. And I found it really interesting that even with that depth of focus, I still felt like I held them at a distance, like a study/experiment, in a way that made me really invested in their story, but with a strange lack of attachment to them as characters. Like, whether or not they survived the story didn't feel that urgent to me, but how the story wrapped up in general did feel urgent. Relatedly, the idea of human manifestations of language and math (and chaos, if we consider Erin as well, which I definitely do), is so unique. And the specific ways those manifestations happened...I couldn't get enough of that honestly. The power in words and math, the way that Roger and Dodger can manipulate them but only to their full extent when combined is conceptually on point and really holds much deeper meaning than just a device in this magical sci-fi adventure story, when you really think about it.

While this story was paced much slower than I had anticipated, and was more human than magical, I was (as I mentioned) riveted by the story-telling itself. It was complex and creative, and while it took awhile to get there, the culmination felt worth it to me. It was also a wonderful nod and homage to a more traditional "fairy tale," with a great dark and creepy vibe (though one that was totally stomachable for anyone, like myself, who is easily terrified). If you're willing to buy into this book and wait for the delayed gratification of things coming together, and you're looking for atmosphere over fast-pacing (though, don't get me wrong, with a very reasonable amount of adventure and drama), and you are feeling some abstract and academic magical content, then McGuire's literary alchemy in Middlegame will definitely hit the spot for you.

“What better way to hide your teachings in plain view than to encode them in something that would be beloved of children the world over. … [She] rewrote the world by writing a new world into existence.”

“Sometimes the easiest trick is hiding something in plain sight. That which can be found without looking can’t possibly be dangerous, after all.”

“…that’s the trouble with grown-ups. The more effort they put into deciding what kids are going to do or think or be, the more things go wrong for them.”

“There are ways to travel quickly, when one has power, and purpose, and the willingness to damage the world to achieve one’s goals.”

“If they had to lose themselves to walk this road, would it really ever be able to lead them home?”

“Lies are nothing. They’re the currency she uses to pay for the rest of her life.”

“The past is never really past. It’s always lurking, ready to attack the present.”

“You can’t skip to the end of the story just because you’re tired of being in the middle.”

“…sometimes it’s not the words, it’s the way they’re used.”

“…time is a concept invented by men who didn’t want everything to keep happening at once. Time is irrelevant.”

“Here is a secret about powerful men, one they would prefer to go unspoken: their arrogance is one of the greatest forces in the universe. Even the most paranoid among them see what they want to see, believe what they want to believe, and this creates cracks through which the clever may insinuate themselves, changing the story around them.”

“Magic doesn’t have to be flashy and huge. Sometimes, it’s the subtle things that are the most effective of all.”

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archaicgambit's review

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dark emotional medium-paced

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

5.0

I loved this book. I think it's so wild that Seanan Mcguire went and wrote the up-and-under books and I can't wait to read them. As a fan of the Wayward Children series, it was fascinating to see different themes and motifs that McGuire loves pop up in different ways-- frankensteins, portal fantasies, mad scientists and vicious girls.

I love a character-centric fantasy with heavy slice of life elements and Roger and Dodger's relationship as siblings was handled beautifully. I also liked their growth of their respective halves of the doctrine-- I saw people critiquing that handling way too harshly as I was wrapping up the book.

I was surprised by the amount of Oz references growing and honestly loved the subtly twisted elements of that. Oz hangs high in american portal fantasy and it was such a great way to pay a tribute and critique and address the elephant in the room.

The one thing I will say is this book is surprisingly less diverse than her other works. I guess we can presume some of the mad scientists were racist, but I was surprised all the doctrine children were white.

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rasa's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

I don't think I can write a proper review of this book without spending at least 5 pages. I read this book for a month, this is the only book I read in September. But I kept thinking about it for the entire month, almost every waking hour and part of the reason it took so long was because I didn't want to let go and at the same time, the real life stuff was SO REAL and I kept feeling like all of it is happening to me too, and all of the emotional range is very, very rough, deep and entangled. There was so much mystery, fantasy, fairytale elements and all of them made sense to me. Like this is how the world should be, this is why emotions are difficult some times. There is a chance that I will judge my future friendships on what others think about this book. It is very niche, not everyone will like it. but for me - it was so much more than perfect. Roger and Dodger and their relationship is soo precious. I have never read a book like this.

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rimtusaw243's review

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adventurous challenging mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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redkeys's review

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dark 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

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