1.08k reviews for:

The Spare Man

Mary Robinette Kowal

3.76 AVERAGE

sillypunk's review

2.0

adventurous medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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I see what this book was trying to do with gender identity, but it did it with all the subtlety of an email signature 

genevievebrainerd's review against another edition

4.0

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Hugo 2023 Finalist

treehouse_reads's review against another edition

adventurous emotional tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Loveable characters: Yes

madelinechandler16's review

3.75

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

tarheelcoin's review

2.0

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DNF. Thus book started out well enough, but I eventually got tired of reading about drinks, booze, and making out.

laurabwrites's review

4.5

adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

thelalilulelo's review

4.0

funny lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

rkaudrey02's review

3.0

adventurous lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

killakandikane's review

3.0

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This was some weird Frankenstein version of a 1920’s detective book with a sci-fi book with no real science. Tesla was mad annoying, this was basically a story where the privileged prevailed, she used her high priced lawyer to basically get them out of everything, despite the fact that her spouse was innocent, it was annoying to be in her head as she constantly used her $$$ to handle situations. There was some things that I appreciated about the book, I liked the pronoun usage and how gender was handled. I liked reading about the dog though it felt off that a service dog was actively being petted as much when she was supposed to be on the job.

The ending did not come together well and the police force were comedic in how terrible they were. Both Tesla and Shal do some really stupid shit, they kept running off and did not actually get anything accomplished. I wished that I enjoyed this more.

practisingmothman's review against another edition

4.0

mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes