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knitterscasket's review
adventurous
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent
mmccombs's review
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
3.0
That was… fine. The plot was pretty boring and felt low stakes, so even when the more interesting sci fi elements were happening my overall impression was one of flatness. The writing was fine, I didn’t really care for the style but it wasn’t bad either. I enjoyed what it had to say about grief and being stuck in the past, but I just didn’t care about the tv show side plot and felt largely confused about the “commuting” aspect. I’m thinking if this was just a bit longer, or if more time was spent digging into one thing instead of every element this book introduces, this would have been a stronger book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief and Death of parent
Moderate: Medical content
wordsareworlds's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I enjoyed Flux and thought it was an interesting debut, but I think the pacing was rather off and wanted to get into more of the spec-fic and interconnectedness much sooner than the book got there.
I really liked the exploration of being mixed race, and the complicated feelings of being diaspora, specifically around language. I related so strongly to the portrayal of anger and isolation of grief after losing a parent, along with how the MC latches onto this one tv show so much that it is simultaneously embarrassing and heartbreaking. The nuance of his relationship with that fictional TV show was so good, and I saw so much of myself looking desperately for representation and connection in the media of a place that so often felt like it tolerated me at best. The last 40% or so is a whirlwind of time loop chaos, and Chong's writing really lends itself to the cinematic style there and in the TV show "recaps."
Onto the downsides. The pacing is rather choppy and slow. Some of that's on purpose but also obvious information is withheld for way too long and I think Chong could have gone further into the spec fic elements a lot sooner. There are some elements in this that felt very "written by a man," especially when it comes to Min and their relationship. Side characters overall are flat, although ymmv on how much of that is purposeful because of the MC's self-absorbtion and disconnects from reality. The main company in this book is a thinly-veiled Theranos, complete with renamed Elizabeth Holmes and Sunny Balwani. The plot hinges on the specific consequences of their actions much more than the overarching ones, and I wanted a lot more from the Blue storyline on that front.
Overall, I enjoyed the book and I'll definitely be looking for more from this author, with the hope that it gets a blurb that much better fits the actual contents.
Recommended for people who enjoy a character-driven scifi that explores grief and how much that can warp a person's life, and fans of movies like Vanilla Sky or David Lynch.
I really liked the exploration of being mixed race, and the complicated feelings of being diaspora, specifically around language. I related so strongly to the portrayal of anger and isolation of grief after losing a parent, along with how the MC latches onto this one tv show so much that it is simultaneously embarrassing and heartbreaking. The nuance of his relationship with that fictional TV show was so good, and I saw so much of myself looking desperately for representation and connection in the media of a place that so often felt like it tolerated me at best. The last 40% or so is a whirlwind of time loop chaos, and Chong's writing really lends itself to the cinematic style there and in the TV show "recaps."
Onto the downsides. The pacing is rather choppy and slow. Some of that's on purpose but also obvious information is withheld for way too long and I think Chong could have gone further into the spec fic elements a lot sooner. There are some elements in this that felt very "written by a man," especially when it comes to Min and their relationship. Side characters overall are flat, although ymmv on how much of that is purposeful because of the MC's self-absorbtion and disconnects from reality. The main company in this book is a thinly-veiled Theranos, complete with renamed Elizabeth Holmes and Sunny Balwani. The plot hinges on the specific consequences of their actions much more than the overarching ones, and I wanted a lot more from the Blue storyline on that front.
Overall, I enjoyed the book and I'll definitely be looking for more from this author, with the hope that it gets a blurb that much better fits the actual contents.
Recommended for people who enjoy a character-driven scifi that explores grief and how much that can warp a person's life, and fans of movies like Vanilla Sky or David Lynch.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Dementia, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Racism and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Domestic abuse
mirandyli's review
dark
mysterious
sad
fast-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
4.25
This was a great, trippy, dystopian read with a bisexual Korean male lead. Confusing at times but quick to get through.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
aliciawithoutkeys's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief and Death of parent
concretefem's review
challenging
mysterious
sad
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? Yes
3.5
Although it took me a while to get into this book because of it’s non-linearity, and although the author vastly overestimated how much I wanted to hear about Jacket Guy at various times, it remained gripping throughout and pulled its act together by the very end and delivered one of my favorite ever genres thanks to EEAAO: An Asian family drama wrapped up in a sci fci conceit. Bravo.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide and Death of parent
Minor: Murder
eleanora's review against another edition
Should have paid more attention to the content warnings, not up to it right now
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, and Death of parent
melodyseestrees's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
If you know the movie Groundhog Day (1993) you will be familiar with the order of some events within this book. It is particularly easy to lose your place during the audiobook and then be confused until the events start to wrap up. There are some really poignant moments between characters, especially towards the end of the book. It may be easy to predict how certain characters are connected together throughout the events of the story, and the 'villain' is also very apparent well before the big reveal.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Dementia, Grief, Death of parent, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Racism, Medical content, Car accident, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Ableism, Drug use, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, and Murder
Bo has a scene where there is a stick stuck in his hand and his wrist is also broken. Brandon and his boss have a toxic faux friendship where drug use is common. Blue and his family have a history of verbal aggression, if not abuse, and he struggles to maintain/fix his connection to his family- there is a tense Christmas Dinner scene. Blue is nonverbal but this is "fixed" with some sort of implant in his neck.evelphysicist's review
challenging
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Drug use
cherry_lake's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I liked this book so much, and when i went to look at reviews I was really surprised how mixed they were.
I usually write a little list of things I liked and disliked about a book, but tbh this one is too complicated to do that. I’ll just say, I think it was a bold piece of writing, I loved the tone and the nonlinear quality.
I loveeeed the MC’s obsession with his favorite childhood tv show, how media exists both in the psyche and in reality.
It’s not a light read, it’s also not a heavy one. It’s… just different. Someone else said it had a millennial whine and, as a millennial, I really enjoyed that aspect of it. Someone else said it would be good visual media and I really agree! It was cinematic and I often imagined it in anime form as I was listening to it.
Will read anything else Jinwoo Chong puts out.
I usually write a little list of things I liked and disliked about a book, but tbh this one is too complicated to do that. I’ll just say, I think it was a bold piece of writing, I loved the tone and the nonlinear quality.
I loveeeed the MC’s obsession with his favorite childhood tv show, how media exists both in the psyche and in reality.
It’s not a light read, it’s also not a heavy one. It’s… just different. Someone else said it had a millennial whine and, as a millennial, I really enjoyed that aspect of it. Someone else said it would be good visual media and I really agree! It was cinematic and I often imagined it in anime form as I was listening to it.
Will read anything else Jinwoo Chong puts out.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Vomit, and Death of parent