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3.51 AVERAGE
3.51 AVERAGE
Nadia Afifi does an excellent job of executing an exploration of misogyny, religion, oppression and reproductive politics in the context of a compelling futuristic world which includes morally questionable technology and decisions. The book starts out interesting and becomes extremely compelling about 25% of the way in. From there on it is a quick and enjoyable read.
adventurous
dark
reflective
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:
Complicated
adventurous
mysterious
tense
The cult/religious aspect of this made this a unique take on human clones. I liked that I didn't know who I could trust as Amira navigated a situation that became increasingly dangerous. I also loved all the strong female characters and how they each displayed their inner strength in different ways—from Amira with her razor-sharp determination, to Valerie with her tough-as-nails exterior, to D'Arcy with her naive-yet-competent demeanor, to Rozene searching for purpose by having a child. I look forward to reading the sequel!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Bullying, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Lesbophobia, Deportation
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
An ambitious novel that didn't meet expectations, though there were pockets of brilliance.
I found the first quarter thrilling and couldn't wait to keep learning more about this world and how the main character, Amira, was going to be able to help her patient, Rozene, and work out whether the Pandora project or an external force was to blame for what has been going wrong. But by the midway point I was still struggling to understand the world and Amira's motivations, and by the end I felt like the book had veered in a very different direction to where I thought it was going. I expected this to turn into a clever political thriller, where the stakes were high and where Amira's intelligence would be put to the test. I thought this would be a battle of ethics above all else. But I never felt like the academic questions at play (Why is cloning useful to this world? Who benefits? What ethical limits are imposed on accessing someone's dreams and thoughts against their will? What use are gender roles in future societies? Is there a place for religion in future communities? How do religious cults have so much power in this world? How will women overcome patriarchal shackles? What prospects do all young women face in this world?) were answered. Instead it turns into fight after fight after fight, with quite a lot of violence (and somehow only the 'bad' characters are hurt).
I ended the book feeling like it just didn't deliver in what I thought it was selling, which is a shame as the foundations were there and it had so much potential.
I found the first quarter thrilling and couldn't wait to keep learning more about this world and how the main character, Amira, was going to be able to help her patient, Rozene, and work out whether the Pandora project or an external force was to blame for what has been going wrong. But by the midway point I was still struggling to understand the world and Amira's motivations, and by the end I felt like the book had veered in a very different direction to where I thought it was going. I expected this to turn into a clever political thriller, where the stakes were high and where Amira's intelligence would be put to the test. I thought this would be a battle of ethics above all else. But I never felt like the academic questions at play (Why is cloning useful to this world? Who benefits? What ethical limits are imposed on accessing someone's dreams and thoughts against their will? What use are gender roles in future societies? Is there a place for religion in future communities? How do religious cults have so much power in this world? How will women overcome patriarchal shackles? What prospects do all young women face in this world?) were answered. Instead it turns into fight after fight after fight, with quite a lot of violence (and somehow only the 'bad' characters are hurt).
I ended the book feeling like it just didn't deliver in what I thought it was selling, which is a shame as the foundations were there and it had so much potential.
challenging
dark
reflective
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
The Sentient is about a neuroscientist who is assigned to a controversial cloning project and uncovers a conspiracy to stop the birth of the first clone. The futuristic world building is relevant while the culture of the cult is believably constructed. The protagonist is a compelling character--intelligent, strong, and a survivor of this cult. The first half of this novel progresses as expected for science fiction, then it changes approach at the midway point. The pacing is inconsistent. Plot elements that initially appear separate are revealed to be intertwined, cohesively pulling the story together.
there is a Lot packed into this - the start is slow-ish, in the direction I was expecting it to be, then it very quickly goes into a whole lot of directions. Which I actually felt was quite interesting, just maybe a little too fast? In some ways it felt like set-up/context for what the Real focus of the story is gonna be in the next books - and I am definitely interested to see where it goes. It has some good characters!
An interesting and messy world - though I couldn’t help but wonder with all the other technological advancements, why cloning hasn’t been done yet? like it seems to be the same kind of cloning we can already do with animals, right? (I don't know much about that lol). It's def more about mind stuff than clones though.
An interesting and messy world - though I couldn’t help but wonder with all the other technological advancements, why cloning hasn’t been done yet? like it seems to be the same kind of cloning we can already do with animals, right? (I don't know much about that lol). It's def more about mind stuff than clones though.
Some blurbs call this a feminist take on cloning and I can’t tell if they mean like; the head scientist’s pitch (if women can procreate by cloning ourselves we aren't bound by men!) here is feminist? I feel like using teenage girls from religious compounds as babymaking machines is not very feminist? the book definitely does critisize her methods a bit but past the half way point I feel like it got a bit lost. I had ethical questions I felt weren’t really brought up lmao. That’s not to say it doesn’t talk about medical ethics, religious cults, trauma etc, just once the plot gets going there’s so much happening I lost track of some of it.
also there’s an intersex trans woman character who feels a little iffy to me? or just has quite a stereotypical backstory, I guess (which is most of her character - she just shows up for a chapter). Though she is portrayed positively overall.
also there’s an intersex trans woman character who feels a little iffy to me? or just has quite a stereotypical backstory, I guess (which is most of her character - she just shows up for a chapter). Though she is portrayed positively overall.
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
The Sentient includes a lot of heavy themes - cloning and medical/research ethics, religious coercion and patriarchal cults, trauma, memory, class disparities, reproductive justice - within the context of a coherent plot set in a relatively believable near-future setting with an interesting protagonist POV. In other words, I like a lot about this and I think it's a really solid debut. I feel like the characters were mostly well developed even though there were quite a lot of them, and it felt like a fresh take on the subject matter. What didn't quite work for me is some of the pacing toward the end; there were perhaps one or two too many things going on, and the technology got a bit convoluted and less believable. I also felt like in a few places it skewed YA (which isn't my thing) though I wouldn't say it reads as YA overall. Overall, though, I liked this and I'd happily read more from Nadia Afifi.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual violence, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Filled with some cool and interesting ideas, but just not executed in a compelling way. I was confused by the POV (I think it was 3rd-person limited, but still not sure), and there were so many sentences that did so much expository work. For example, at the beginning while the reader is still trying to figure out the world the protagonist lives in, we are given some sentences that work really hard, probably too hard.
"It was no surprise that D’Arcy, a top quantum programmer at the Academy who custom-made her own Third Eye, had placed well – but Pandora? The project was both unusually prestigious and clandestine, even by the standards of insular Aldwych." These two sentences so clunkily convey too much information meant as character development and setting.
And this, relayed by an instructor at the academy to the protagonist "'But to do research on one of the stations, especially the Osiris, is reserved for the seasoned and the true elite. Only the best in the world go into space, no matter how they score at Placement.'" Would she really not have known this?
Some of the themes were interesting, which is why I gave it 2 stars, but the writing was just too awkward for it to be an enjoyable read for me.
"It was no surprise that D’Arcy, a top quantum programmer at the Academy who custom-made her own Third Eye, had placed well – but Pandora? The project was both unusually prestigious and clandestine, even by the standards of insular Aldwych." These two sentences so clunkily convey too much information meant as character development and setting.
And this, relayed by an instructor at the academy to the protagonist "'But to do research on one of the stations, especially the Osiris, is reserved for the seasoned and the true elite. Only the best in the world go into space, no matter how they score at Placement.'" Would she really not have known this?
Some of the themes were interesting, which is why I gave it 2 stars, but the writing was just too awkward for it to be an enjoyable read for me.