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just_one_more_paige's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
Graphic: Violence, Death, Murder, and Death of parent
Minor: Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, and Xenophobia
lonelylooper's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Violence, Death of parent, Classism, Murder, Suicide, Xenophobia, Death, Gore, Gun violence, and War
Moderate: Pregnancy, Alcohol, Blood, Confinement, and Colonisation
Minor: Animal death, Cursing, and Genocide
marker_yippee's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Graphic: Death and Death of parent
Minor: Alcohol and Pregnancy
kouran94's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Graphic: Suicide, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Pregnancy
Minor: Grief
katdotniche'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
3.5
The characters were amazing, I really found myself caring about them and their stories, and I didn't see the plot twist coming. Looking back, I could see the foreshadowing was in place for it, I just hadn't picked up on them because I was so invested in the characters.
Graphic: Death of parent
Moderate: Alcohol and Suicide
Minor: Pregnancy
nerdkitten's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Violence, Confinement, Murder, Blood, Death, Grief, Gore, and Death of parent
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Alcohol, and Gun violence
Minor: Animal death, Classism, Sexism, War, Religious bigotry, Suicide, Police brutality, and Pregnancy
puifaii's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, War, Murder, and Colonisation
Moderate: Physical abuse, Confinement, Death, Pregnancy, and Police brutality
Minor: Medical trauma
alexutzu's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
😍 The good:
The scientific descriptions were researched and complex, making me wonder if these things could really happen in daily life. There were a bunch of interesting quotes and ideas, specifically in the first and second part of the book. Due to its complexity, it is fun and easy to come up with many theories related to this. I personally also liked learning more about the history of China and this novel encouraged me to research and understand the related sociopolitical phenomena better.
😅 The not-so-good:
The characters were flat and not that interesting and I felt at times that the plot has some holes. The literary style was barely existent in my opinion, as the book was really heavy to process and packed with too many details that felt more like a thesis than a novel. Overall, the general idea related to cultish alien invasions was not my really cup of tea, so the last part of the book was really dragging for me and I had to speed-read it. I also felt that there were too many story lines and plot points to keep track of and some of them seemed redundant or absurd.
Graphic: Violence, Murder, and Death
Moderate: Suicide and Colonisation
Minor: Alcohol and Pregnancy
icarusandthesun's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
i'm a little ashamed to admit that i didn't understand like half of it. maybe it was the english terminology—all the jargon—, or maybe it was the fact i'm not too knowledgeable about neither the Chinese Cultural Revolution nor, well, astrophysics.
maybe my reading was also lacking a bit of personal initiative, because i'm sure a couple more google searches (that i didn't make) would've greatly helped my understanding.
but alas. perhaps i will re-read this book someday and then hopefully understand it a bit better, because the story and ideas weren't at all bad! i still really enjoyed it.
Graphic: Blood, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder
Minor: Alcohol and Pregnancy
atalea's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Physical abuse, Death, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, and Death of parent
Minor: Mental illness, Pregnancy, and War