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dreareads_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This is a fun scifi buddy cop(soldiers?) story about nostalgia and governmental propaganda. I think it is a book that is trying to do a lot, but at times forgets the logic of its own world building. I appreciated the anticapitalist, US military propaganda motifs, but they often times felt vague and repetitive. Towards the end of the book I was left with more questions than answer, and not in the fun interpretation kind of way, but in the "I don't think the story understand its own rules" kind of way.
Fortunately, the book centers around two main characters that you cannot help but fall in love with. I am obsessed with Rao and his unapologetic queerness and large personality. A personality that is deepened by his own personal trauma and insecurities. Pair him with a character like Adam, whom in the surface may seem serious and unfeeling but on the inside is warm and precious, and you simply have the perfect recipe for a captivating relationship. Even if the ending did not fully work for me, I was just happy to be with them.
For a 500+ pages book it was fun and fast paced enough that you do not feel fully bogged down by the lack of world building. But if you stop and think about it too much you will discover holes that not even prophet could fill.
Graphic: Police brutality, Abandonment, Cursing, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Grief, Homophobia, Islamophobia, Physical abuse, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Torture, Violence, War, Racism, and Xenophobia
hazelmh's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gun violence, Medical content, Blood, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Homophobia, Racism, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, and Vomit
maregred's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Body horror and Death
Moderate: Alcohol, Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, and Torture
Minor: Homophobia, Car accident, and War
scifi_rat's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
3.75
Prose: 4★
Pace: 4★
Concept/Execution: 5★/3.75★
Characters: 4.75★
Worldbuilding: 3.5★
Ending: 3.5★
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Medical content, and Violence
Moderate: Physical abuse, Racism, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Emotional abuse, Grief, Murder, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Colonisation, Gun violence, Homophobia, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Mental illness
Minor: Gaslighting, Antisemitism, and Panic attacks/disorders
rinku's review against another edition
- 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
3.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Alcohol, Body horror, Death, and Gun violence
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Fire/Fire injury, Racism, War, Animal death, Violence, and Addiction
Minor: Drug use, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Confinement, and Homophobia
paracosim's review against another edition
- 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
4.25
I listened to the audiobook, and the narrators were fantastic. It actually took me a few chapters to realize the narrators were different people switching from POVs, because the voices they used for the characters sounded so similar. So it wasn’t jarring in the least. The plot was great, but there were a few parts that seemed a bit too convenient (or that made me want to shake the character’s shoulders to demand what the hell they were thinking). Overall, this was an extremely solid read and I think I’ll be buying a physical copy.
Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an ARC of the audiobook to review.
Graphic: Body horror and Mental illness
Moderate: Drug abuse, Alcoholism, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Homophobia and Animal death
swalk's review against another edition
- 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
3.0
Rao is somehow able to tell the difference between what is true and what is not true. He doesn’t know how he knows, but this skillset makes him invaluable to all government agencies. Working together Rao and Adam must get to the heart of what is causing these strange items to appear and how.
*SPOILERS*
They soon discover there is private testing going on of drug called prophet, which causes the subject to think a nostalgic item of matter into being.
I felt like this was a really interesting premise, but a little disjointed in places. This could be because it’s quite a complex idea based in ‘physics’ and the characters themselves aren’t quite sure what’s going on, so it gets very confusing when the drugs become involved. I felt like a little more explanation between them being tailed and going to the lab could have happened, or at least some further explanation at the lab. It felt like it was assumed the reader knew certain things which we didn’t. I did appreciate the touches on string theory and things of that ilk though.
I thought the complex relationship between Rao and Adam was really well written and enjoyed the jump in timelines with both characters backstories, also that it was easy to assume that one characters backstory was in fact the others which added a nice twist. It gave the characters a lot more depth.
Most of the action happened in the last 15% of the book which was excellent, but I would have like a little more of the ‘weird stuff’ throughout. This book really has so much potential to be amazing. I felt like there was a flavour of Adrian Tchaikovsky in there at times, who I love.
Great narration, but unfortunately there were a lot of strange and obvious edits to the audio, which broke the flow of the book and made it hard to become immersed. It was clear that the recordings were with different equipment and/or different rooms and did not run together smoothly (It seems to resolve itself after the first 30%?) This has resulted in me deducting 1 *star from my rating as it impacted my enjoyment. I would suggest reviewing the first third of the recordings for inconsistencies.
Moderate: Homophobia and Body horror
gorejoyous's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I started this book on a late, crowded flight and was instantly immersed. I've never been able to so clearly visualize the world and characters from a novel before, both to my adoration and horror in the case of this story. Blaché and Macdonald are a killer duo in their descriptions of the characters' actions and inner workings, letting you really get under their skin.
It's so weird and gross and lovely and upon finishing it I'm absolutely devastated in the best way possible. Extremely excited to yell about this book to everyone I know and thrilled to add two stellar authors to my "read everything by them" list.
Biggest thanks to Grove Atlantic and NetGalley for the digital ARC!
Graphic: Body horror
Moderate: Addiction, Murder, Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Torture
Minor: Animal death, Panic attacks/disorders, Homophobia, and Suicide attempt