Reviews

The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu

trevoryu's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

bijan711's review against another edition

3.0

I mostly struggled with the structure of the book. I enjoyed the primary plot and it kept me engaged. But the book frequently makes a hard stop and turns away from the main plot, deep diving into something else for an unanticipated amount of time. I'd find myself desperate to speed through these sections to get back to the main plot. I'd say about half the book consists of these supporting sections, so it made for a challenging read. I understand these sections were necessary to fully comprehend the entirety of the plot, but their execution didn't work for me.

Special shoutout to Da Shi, who stood out as a phenomenal character and frequently brought laughter to very dense or heavy conversations.

lexidubbs's review against another edition

informative medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

Really interesting ideas in this book. I am hoping the next one is more adventurous now that the ground work has been established. Honestly I might be too dumb for this series. I ended up tuning out most of the science talk because it was hard to comprehend. I stayed intrigued because of the interesting plot and I hope the sequel dives right into the good stuff

turtle_puff95's review against another edition

slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

1.0

Honestly, if this wasn't my buddy read pick of the month, I would have DNF'd this one hard. I can't tell if I'm just uneducated or if this book was only directed at super smart people who are into math. I love a sci-fi book with a lot of science about space travel and time travel, but this one was just lost on me. I didn't understand most of the science that was talked about and it seemed to sort of bog the story down.

I felt like there were 20 different story lines all going at once and not making any connections until the last quarter of the book. I found the whole thing confusing and I wasn't retaining anything I was reading. I also didn't care for any of the characters or their story lines. It introduced a lot of people and I had a hard time remembering who was who. 

I'm sad because I went into this book so excited and came out confused and disappointed. I really thought Ye was going to be the main character of this book, and while she is very pivotal to the story, it's in a way I didn't imagine. Unfortunately this book is not at all what I thought it would be and I don't see myself continuing the series anytime soon.

mike_nz's review against another edition

3.0

I had to let this sit with me for a while before I committed my thoughts on here. At times The Three Body Problem felt like a dry physics homework project and at others it read like a high-tension thriller.

BookTuber and fellow Goodreader Aisling summed the book up perfectly for me:

"I found it such a bizarre reading experience. In some ways, I really wanted to just put it down and move on, and in others, I was really curious about what was actually happening and that kept me going"

and that right there encapsulates my thoughts wonderfully. I was in two minds whether to continue the series but it's stayed in my head all week so I'm starting part 2 tonight. Wish me luck!

vaum's review against another edition

adventurous challenging mysterious

3.5

flyasthejet's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Thrilling, and mysterious, with a hard perspective, and ultimately I found it optimistic. This novel is a mystery, which you unravel with the main charscter, whom I forgot his name, he is pretty boring. This novel isn't about the characters, it's s about the ideas, and it's full of really weird ideas. Cixin Liu was an "computer engineer" before becoming an author and it shows in his writing. Liu dedicates a lot of writing to the details of technology in this book. Some ideas I don't think needed as much explanation as they were given, leading to some boring sections. If you're looking for a thrilling andventure, this isn't it. It's a sci-fi novel that explores Liu's crazy ideas primarily, that has some thrilling moments. The book has an optimistic view on technological and scientific advancement laced in it: the survival of human civilisation is dependent on our capacity to create knowledge, so it's based af.

pmartinano's review against another edition

dark informative reflective medium-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

4.0

riewags's review against another edition

challenging mysterious slow-paced

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

3.0

githyankovic's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

4.0