Reviews with content warning for Mass/school shootings - The Test

Reviews tagging 'Mass/school shootings'

cosmicpanda's review

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dark emotional tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

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annniina98's review

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3.5

Didn't like the decision to show that it was a simulation in such an early point, maybe at all before the end. Kind of took alot of feeling out of it, when you knew nothing was true or real.

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kather_doc's review

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adventurous fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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bookbird's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

Punchy and interesting and terribly sad. Would love to see this premise expanded.

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kstericker's review against another edition

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challenging dark sad tense fast-paced

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? Yes

5.0

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dalmavatai's review

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

This book was definitely memorable and incredibly unique.

As social commentary, I believe this book is extremely successful. The way that it explores the dangers of the intersection between scientific technology and xenophobia in Britain, all while the country purports to be against prejudice and discrimination, was radical in the best way possible. The dystopian future Neuvel imagines in this short story is a radical critique of our own time and the ways in which 'Western' countries in particular think that they are liberal and accepting, all while perpetuating a status quo that's still very xenophobic, racist, and Islamophobic.

However, this book wasn't for me in other ways. The explanations of science definitely went way over my head, especially because I listened to the audiobook and couldn't go back if I didn't grasp something fully. I also thought that the plot point towards the end, while I understand its function as commentary, was a bit random and I could not fully appreciate its inclusion in the story, especially as so much was going on already that I found it a bit hard to follow.

Short stories are not terribly likely to get a very high rating from me because I can't connect to the characters in such a short period of time, but this is a short story that I believe is definitely worth the read even for those not into science fiction. Maybe read the physical book (perhaps along with the audio because Neal Shah's performance is superb) if you want to stay on top of everything that's going on, though!

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poojakunaparaju's review against another edition

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challenging dark tense fast-paced

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

3.25

i think it was super enjoyable like REALLY INTERESTING up until the end like legit till the last 2 pages after which, a shift in the main character's well, character, made me recoil sharply from the entire story even tho u can't blame him for switching up after the shit he was put through AND I MEAN SHIT. i remember being like 3/4th of the way through and thinking this would def be a 4.25ish read but when i was done it dropped down an entire star to 3.25 and i wish i could explain why but i can't, just something in my gut and also NO ONE CARES LMAO but i was really fascinated by a couple of paragraphs that went into human psychological theories which was informative while still being comprehensive to an average reader i'd say, so i was happy it taught me some pretty cool stuff without making me feel too dumb in the process LOL

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