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parinda's review against another edition
adventurous
inspiring
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
froggy1png's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
3.25
mhverney's review against another edition
Neffy volunteers for a vaccine trial at the start of what turns out to be the pandemic to end all pandemics. She wakes up from a severe reaction to find the hospital deserted except for four other young volunteers. This dystopian plot line is intersected with letters to the mysterious H, her love of octopuses (octopi) and a quaint new technology “The Revisitor” that activates highly vivid memories. I could not quite decipher what the overall message was - the importance and dangers of memories? The morals of how we treat animals? The everyday choices between right and wrong? By the end of the book, I still wasn’t.
On the plus side: Claire Fuller is an amazing writer. She gets into the heads of her Gen Z characters very convincingly and the pandemic mood is almost top pitch perfect. Advance warning for readers who are still traumatised by the COVID lockdowns and/or who have lost someone in the pandemic: this may not be the book for you. The octopus storyline is wonderful. The opening line “Is is possible to fail in love at twelve, and with an octopus?” - is one of the best in a long time.
And yet. Once again with this author, I did not quite like it. Just like with Unsettled Ground, I was unsettled, recognised the good writing and admired the overall effect, but I simply did not like any of the characters. More than that, there is something in both novels of a fascination with illness that grates on my nerves. And the ending was a bit too trite. This being said, this is very personal and other readers are likely to very much enjoy this book
On the plus side: Claire Fuller is an amazing writer. She gets into the heads of her Gen Z characters very convincingly and the pandemic mood is almost top pitch perfect. Advance warning for readers who are still traumatised by the COVID lockdowns and/or who have lost someone in the pandemic: this may not be the book for you. The octopus storyline is wonderful. The opening line “Is is possible to fail in love at twelve, and with an octopus?” - is one of the best in a long time.
And yet. Once again with this author, I did not quite like it. Just like with Unsettled Ground, I was unsettled, recognised the good writing and admired the overall effect, but I simply did not like any of the characters. More than that, there is something in both novels of a fascination with illness that grates on my nerves. And the ending was a bit too trite. This being said, this is very personal and other readers are likely to very much enjoy this book
creepycrawlybookworm's review against another edition
dark
hopeful
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
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
4.0
joy_b's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
tarnya_smith's review against another edition
3.0
Started out strong but I felt it kinda lost it's way in the end and I lost interest.
aclopez6's review against another edition
5.0
The weirdest part of this for me was Neffy dating her stepbrother. I had to re-read a few lines to make sure I was following. While not technically incest, I was shook.
winter94's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
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? It's complicated
3.75
cupidcove's review against another edition
dark
emotional
fast-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'm really conflicted on my opinions on this book. It was very readable and I found myself compelled by many of the ideas within but I almost think there were too many things going on. Between the pandemic, octopi, revisiting, and unraveling the mystery of why everyone is was acting so weird, I think we lost some of the complexity that each of those plot points deserved. Still, I did find many elements of the story intriguing and I could see the potential of the good book within. My biggest issue, though, was the portrayal of the virus and its impact on society. I think that if you are going to write a story like this in a post-Covid world you need to clearly justify why society collapsed if it didn't during Covid. I understand that our protagonist wouldn't neceessarily have that information but the author could have figured something out. As it is, it just felt a bit unrealitic when compared to the effects of Covid which continuously took me out of the story. Overall, I think this is worth a read if the concept is interesting to you, but I'm not sure if I will remember it down the line.
clairelovestoread's review against another edition
challenging
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0