Reviews - Пасажири

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3.66k reviews for:

Пасажири

John Marrs

4.04 AVERAGE

elliewalton13's review against another edition

3.0

adventurous funny mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: N/A

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

aminonawhim's review against another edition

3.0

dark informative tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

lkoeller's review against another edition

3.5

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

coogsteve's review against another edition

3.75

dark tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

mount_tbr's review against another edition

5.0

dark emotional tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

suvata's review against another edition

5.0

• Kindle e-book • Paperback • Audible audiobook

• Read in November 2021 for Litsy Markup Postal Book Club #LMPBC Round 13 - GroupE

GREAT SCI-FI THRILLER

Artificial intelligence meets completely autonomous self-driving cars with devastating death toll. Government intrigue at it’s scariest.

kchoiniere's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

minimicropup's review against another edition

4.5

challenging dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Dark, fast, and thought-provoking. It’s part thriller, part moral exercise, part thought-provoking tech commentary. If you haven’t read The One, there are some references here (particularly about the DNA matching tech), but you won’t be lost without it.

There are brief but graphic depictions of racial prejudice and terrorism.

Energy: Mysterious. Entertaining. Elusive.

🐕 Howls: There were some genuinely dark and tragic moments that caught me off guard. It never felt expoitative, but doesn’t shy away from violence and heartbreak.

🐩 Tail Wags: Simple but effective set-up. That everyone had something to hide but it was nuanced or believable. How I was also flipping back and forth on who I liked, disliked, and wanted to survive (I felt icky but couldn’t help it!). Showing how people use prejudice to justify their perceptions. The pacing and timing of the reveals. The nuanced commentary on AI and how it’s the humans behind it who determine whether it’s used ethically…or not. The commentary was there throughout but never felt preachy.

Scene: 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Various neighbourhoods near Birmingham, England

Perspectives (7): (1) A pregnant, married 26 yo. (2) A 29 yo former employee for a gasoline car manufacturer. (3) A 78 yo lifelong actress trying to stay in the spotlight. (4 & 5) A couple in their 40s with young kids - one is a detective and the other runs a construction company. (6) A 38 yo with five kids trying to escape an abusive marriage. (7) A civilian juror in an inquest for autonomous driving vehicle incidents.

Timeline: Linear. 2020s. April.

Narrative: Eavesdropping/overhearing thoughts, thrown in (third person omnisicient).

Fuel: Character backgrounds. High stakes national crisis. Reality TV style puzzle. Thought-provoking situations. Who are the people in the cars? Why were they chosen? Who is behind this scheme? Will they follow through on their threats?

Cred: Speculative realism

Mood Reading Match-Up:

Eye scanner. Vehicle inquest. TV news feed. Driverless vehicles. Hacking Collectives.

Direct, minimalist writing style
Anonymous, flawed, quirky, troubled, and sympathetic characters
High stakes decision making
Autonomous cars gone wrong
Who would you save? dilemmas
Black Mirror energy with a splash of Hunger Games concepts
Autonomy, privacy, and survillance anxieties
Public opinion and likeability as currency
Blend of reality show + AI ethics + unseen menace whodunit thriller
Near-future techno sci-fi
Second changes, missed connections

Content Heads-Up: Bigamy. Bigotry (racism). Blackmail. Brain aneurysm. Cancer (diagnosis; young patients; recall, mention). Child sex abuse (rape; mention). Dementia (mention). Depression. Domestic abuse. Explosion, bomb, threats (descriptive; on page). Fire, burns (descriptive). Foster care (memory). Homophobia (parental rejection). Human trafficking, modern slavery, labour exploitation (mention). Infertility. Infidelity. Loss of child. Loss of sibling. Loss of spouse. Mob mentality. Panic attacks. Paedophilia (witnessed, photos; memory). Pregnancy. PTSD. Racism (bias, prejudice, hatred). Suicidal thought, planning. Suicide (recall). Terrorism (explosives, cyber). Theft (work, IP). Vehicle incident (fatal). Vomit. Xenophobia.

Rep: British. Bengali British. Southeast Asian features. Somalian (peripheral). Afro-Caribbean (peripheral). Cis. Gay. Hetero. Lesbian. Olive, freckled, tan, dark, and pale skin tones. Spinal osteoarthritis. Hijabi. Christian.

📚 Format: Kobo

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