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bloupibloupreads's review against another edition
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cannibalism
Moderate: Misogyny, Islamophobia, Racism, and Murder
Minor: Classism, Colonisation, and Cultural appropriation
ethanmmc's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Interesting ideas about culture and friendship, but the sci-fi element (how do people become fluent in a new language in just 10 days) remains undeveloped. We're told, eventually, "it works like this" but with no plausible explanation of how or why "this" would work.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cannibalism
Minor: Sexual content, Sexual harassment, and Islamophobia
melanieripple's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Classism, and Cultural appropriation
Moderate: Xenophobia, Sexual assault, Death, and Islamophobia
Minor: Gore and Racial slurs
novaleestar's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I was really excited by this read, but it was honestly disappointing. Very well written by all means, but it fell flat, often lacked stakes, and overall just didn't give me the scare I was hoping for. Definitely an interesting story, just a bit meh.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cannibalism
Minor: Death, Classism, Antisemitism, and Islamophobia
crgrace's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racial slurs, Sexism, Colonisation, Death, Gaslighting, Islamophobia, Misogyny, Cannibalism, and Racism
Minor: Alcohol, Sexual content, Bullying, and Classism
anntharai's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Normally if I guess the twist it can't be a 5 star book for me, but even though I got it early on I thought this book was fantastic. Its also one of the best applications of audiobook production I've heard. Tiny bit obsessed.
It's the layering that gets me, it's not just about one thing. The esstereggs are there (including on the cover art, IMO but no idea if that's intentional or not)
It's the layering that gets me, it's not just about one thing. The esstereggs are there (including on the cover art, IMO but no idea if that's intentional or not)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation, Body horror, Cannibalism, and Classism
Moderate: Islamophobia, Sexism, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Misogyny, Racism, and Sexual content
joreneereads's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
the premise of this book gets a solid 5/5 from me, such an interesting concept and subject for a book. as someone obsessed with languages, the whole "learning a language" aspect of the story was so interesting to me that i had no attention issues over the first half of the book like some reviewers have described. i firmly believe that language learning is an underserved plot or subject matter for books. the ideas here are also so interesting - do you take on something of the culture, personality, or values of the group or individual that you learn a language from? why is it so valued for english speakers to learn another language, but only expected for speakers of other languages to learn english? (obviously we all know the answer to that.) how does the brain assimilate language?
the commentary from the narrator was casual and varied in style - at times a bit "opinion dumping" - but that does not bother me at all. The dialogue was odd... one character says "lol" out loud? but again, not something that bothers me.
where I think this book had some unfulfilled potential is the development of all these ideas. of course it IS all connected - colonialism, classism, racism, exploitation, language, etc. - but the first 2/3 or so of the book is dedicated to throwing all these pieces into the ring, and then they are kind of just left there, and the book ends. i found the premise and idea behind the book stronger than the final execution, but ultimately i did still enjoy reading this so much (despite its disturbing content), and I will be thinking about it for a long time to come.
one note - the main character spends a fair amount of time disparaging a partner who seems to have little to no libido. i'm not sure what the intended reading of this is - if it is supposed to be a statement on the main character, on the partner, on race dynamics, other?, but it was a bit uncomfortable to read. it is fine to have low libido. it is also fine for that to be something you don't want in a relationship, but it doesn't make someone a bad partner because they have a libido that doesn't satisfy your preferences.
eARC received through netgalley, thank you.
the commentary from the narrator was casual and varied in style - at times a bit "opinion dumping" - but that does not bother me at all. The dialogue was odd... one character says "lol" out loud? but again, not something that bothers me.
where I think this book had some unfulfilled potential is the development of all these ideas. of course it IS all connected - colonialism, classism, racism, exploitation, language, etc. - but the first 2/3 or so of the book is dedicated to throwing all these pieces into the ring, and then they are kind of just left there, and the book ends. i found the premise and idea behind the book stronger than the final execution, but ultimately i did still enjoy reading this so much (despite its disturbing content), and I will be thinking about it for a long time to come.
one note - the main character spends a fair amount of time disparaging a partner who seems to have little to no libido. i'm not sure what the intended reading of this is - if it is supposed to be a statement on the main character, on the partner, on race dynamics, other?, but it was a bit uncomfortable to read. it is fine to have low libido. it is also fine for that to be something you don't want in a relationship, but it doesn't make someone a bad partner because they have a libido that doesn't satisfy your preferences.
eARC received through netgalley, thank you.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cannibalism, Classism, Death, Racism, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Colonisation, Islamophobia, and Misogyny
Minor: Acephobia/Arophobia
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