Scan barcode
booksthatburn's review against another edition
I don't like the feeling of being poised in suspense to find out whether the twist is obvious or strange. There are two main characters with two different understandings of what their reality is, and I got far enough to know I didn't care who was right, if one or both of them are actually dead, or if it's some additional permutation I didn't think of.
The island sequences were pretty cool, the world is an interesting dystopia, and I like the audiobook narrator. This just wasn't a story I like.
The island sequences were pretty cool, the world is an interesting dystopia, and I like the audiobook narrator. This just wasn't a story I like.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Terminal illness, Grief, Vomit, Child death, and Death
shadereads's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Terminal illness and Suicide
Moderate: Grief and Death
mikaelaandherbooks's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Death, Grief, Murder, and Suicide
Minor: Sexual content
littlewishling's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
He tells a story of sisters and what it is to be human. An emotional journey about living for yourself and for others.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death and Death of parent
Minor: Terminal illness
librarianlayla's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
This book hurts. It hurt me so much. I adored it.
Slow to start but it does pick up pace and I found myself unable to put it down, finally finishing it at 2am.
It's raw and heartfelt and sad and tragic.
If you love stories based on familial bonds, on tackling environmental issues and discovering one's purpose in life - this book is for you. But prepare your heart to break.
Slow to start but it does pick up pace and I found myself unable to put it down, finally finishing it at 2am.
It's raw and heartfelt and sad and tragic.
If you love stories based on familial bonds, on tackling environmental issues and discovering one's purpose in life - this book is for you. But prepare your heart to break.
Content Warnings
Minor: Death, Death of parent, Medical trauma, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Vomit, Blood, and Cancer
ajthequeen's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Fresh concept, predictable (but not too cheesy/lame) twists. Big horizon zero dawn vibes from the plotline. Id love to see a sequel following the immediate end of this book. Overall 3.75 stars. I liked the characters and i liked that they were complex and Kasey was Autistic (you can pry that out of my cold dead hands) but it was never really seen as a flaw and kasey came to love herself because of it. I liked that actinium wasnt a broody sad boy and that there was no huge romance plot.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Murder, Bullying, Terminal illness, Death of parent, Cancer, Xenophobia, and War
Moderate: Classism, Cursing, Grief, and Colonisation
jessicaludden's review against another edition
dark
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
“‘I don’t think either of us came here by choice… And I think we have even less choice over the ones we’re meant to find.’”
This book wasn’t what I was expecting at all, but it did not disappoint. First of all, I loved the world building. It may have been a little confusing at times, but what world building isn’t? There were so many cool details that made this world feel so realistic, but also so unique. I just loved the whole concept of classism affecting survival in a world irreparably impacted by global warming and the pollution that humans have caused. The plot twist threw me for a loop. The moment it was revealed that Cee is actually a bot created by Kasey was written so well. The chapters were so much shorter to build the suspense and make the reveal that much more intense and it wasn’t just one moment. I feel like the book hit a certain point and then just started revealing secret after secret and I couldn’t put it down. It’s funny because I noticed the differences between Cee vs. Celia in Kasey’s perspective and Kasey in Cee’s perspective vs. Kasey’s actual thoughts in her perspective. I thought it was interesting how differently Cee was acting in her own perspective compared to the idea Kasey had of her. I thought she was more blunt and less whimsical, but turns out she wasn’t Cee at all. I also thought Kasey loved Celia a lot more in Cee’s perspective, which makes sense now because those memories were her driving motivation to find Kasey. I loved Hero and Cee. I know the name Hero is cheesy, but I like it and how they came up with it because in the end he really was a hero. Killing yourself to let your lover make her own decisions? King. Now, Actinium on the other hand. He turned out to be so much more evil than I thought he was going to be. This man was an actual murderer by the end of the book. I wasn’t entirely sure of Kasey’s intentions when it came to Project Reset, but for some reason I never thought he was gonna get that intense about it. I loved how Actinium and Kasey left things at the end though. A little competition with your enemy to decide the fate of the entire human population? Yes please. I’m a sucker for the villain. I loved the difference between Kasey and Celia’s motivations. In Kasey’s perspective she believes every human cannot live without consequence. Everything we do has an effect on other people, but we still have the right to live.
“…freedom is a privilege. Life is a right. We must protect life, first and foremost. Together we pay this price.”
Whereas Celia, in her memories, is more focused on living her life and doesn’t really care what happens to herself.
“I chose to live the way I wanted to live. And now I alone should bear the consequences.”
She’s very much focused on taking responsibility for her actions, when she doesn’t even realize Kasey’s point that her death was only partly her fault. I loved the whole idea that Celia’s death was bigger than her due to the amount of human error and destruction done to the Earth. In a way, Celia is being completely true to herself and I loved how Cee saw the memories of Celia, whether fabricated or not, and used it to make her own decision. Now, I’m a little skeptical of the whole idea of them finding their true selves without outside forces because I think that’s a little impossible, but this moment where Cee decides what to do also seems a little ambiguous. It seems like she chooses to save Kasey, but in doing so, it also feels like she chooses herself. Not herself, as in Cee, but herself as in Celia. She decides that even in death, Celia will have a purpose. She will contribute to something bigger than herself by saving Kasey, along with the entire human population. I loved how originally, the bots that would wake her up weren’t based on Celia, they were just generic. I loved how Kasey had such a huge amount of trust in her sister’s love for her, even though they weren’t that close. She believed in who Celia was as a person and trusted her enough to find her. Also, the idea that Cee may have fabricated some of the memories she has from Celia is so insane to me. The last memory she has occurs after the Intraface is taken out of Celia. So, did it really happen? Or was it fabricated by her mind in order to motivate her to complete her mission. I have no idea. Overall, I loved everything about this book.
Favorite Quotes:
“Hope was a drug.”
“At his core, he was someone she could trust. Someone a little reckless. Someone ruled by his heart.”
“‘We need to remember what makes us us.’”
“Just moments ago, everyone had been so assured of their place in the world. Before they became I, no one cared when they died.”
“Don’t look at him. Don’t make eye contact. Because it’s over the moment we do.”
“The sound suits him, fits nicely into the repertoire I’ve collected for the boy-I-think-I-know, a bout whose mysteriousness begins and ends at his lack of memories and who, for the most part, is the opposite of dangerous. The opposite of suave.”
“‘A place in between land and water, where there is power in a single step.’”
“‘I think most choices are made before you reach the edge.’”
“I am vast as an ocean, the only sea I don’t have to cross, and for the first time in a long time, I remember what it feels like to drown in myself.”
“Actinium had met her gaze head-on, and in his, she saw herself—and the fire she was missing.”
“I don’t need saving—but honestly? I wouldn’t mind it, every now and then.”
“We’ve made do, come to know each other the best we can. Imperfectly, incompletely, our conversations like crumbs and yet these are flavors I’ll never forget.”
“‘The thing about stars… is most of them appear close together, but not many actually are. None are meant to pass each other in orbit.’”
“Because it was possible to love someone without fully understanding them. Possible to love parts of them, and not their whole.”
“‘Home is where the mind is.’”
“We are as real as we believe ourselves to be.”
“‘All my secrets, untold and told.’”
“For Actinium, gravity didn’t exist on Earth. Gravity existed in her. It was heady. Overwhelming.”
“The distance between them didn’t change, but the magnetic charge did, Actinium’s every emotion so similar to Kasey’s that they could have physically repelled each other.”
“Her anger wasn’t all of her, but it was a part of her, and she was tired of hiding parts of herself, however inhuman, from people.”
“‘I want you, not everything and more.’”
“We’re nothing as timeless as stars in orbit. More like two grains of sand before the tide rushes in. Here, then not. Human.”
“His rage was a fire, yes, but it only burned bright in the darkness of his self-made coffin.”
“Logic ended where love began.”
“…that I realize no matter what I choose, I will lose a part of me. There is no winning.”
“We’ll see who wins, in a millennium.’”
“It took a certain kind of person to carry out the mission to termination, a person powered by the need to be needed, who took shelter not in a house but in a heart.”
This book wasn’t what I was expecting at all, but it did not disappoint. First of all, I loved the world building. It may have been a little confusing at times, but what world building isn’t? There were so many cool details that made this world feel so realistic, but also so unique. I just loved the whole concept of classism affecting survival in a world irreparably impacted by global warming and the pollution that humans have caused. The plot twist threw me for a loop. The moment it was revealed that Cee is actually a bot created by Kasey was written so well. The chapters were so much shorter to build the suspense and make the reveal that much more intense and it wasn’t just one moment. I feel like the book hit a certain point and then just started revealing secret after secret and I couldn’t put it down. It’s funny because I noticed the differences between Cee vs. Celia in Kasey’s perspective and Kasey in Cee’s perspective vs. Kasey’s actual thoughts in her perspective. I thought it was interesting how differently Cee was acting in her own perspective compared to the idea Kasey had of her. I thought she was more blunt and less whimsical, but turns out she wasn’t Cee at all. I also thought Kasey loved Celia a lot more in Cee’s perspective, which makes sense now because those memories were her driving motivation to find Kasey. I loved Hero and Cee. I know the name Hero is cheesy, but I like it and how they came up with it because in the end he really was a hero. Killing yourself to let your lover make her own decisions? King. Now, Actinium on the other hand. He turned out to be so much more evil than I thought he was going to be. This man was an actual murderer by the end of the book. I wasn’t entirely sure of Kasey’s intentions when it came to Project Reset, but for some reason I never thought he was gonna get that intense about it. I loved how Actinium and Kasey left things at the end though. A little competition with your enemy to decide the fate of the entire human population? Yes please. I’m a sucker for the villain. I loved the difference between Kasey and Celia’s motivations. In Kasey’s perspective she believes every human cannot live without consequence. Everything we do has an effect on other people, but we still have the right to live.
“…freedom is a privilege. Life is a right. We must protect life, first and foremost. Together we pay this price.”
Whereas Celia, in her memories, is more focused on living her life and doesn’t really care what happens to herself.
“I chose to live the way I wanted to live. And now I alone should bear the consequences.”
She’s very much focused on taking responsibility for her actions, when she doesn’t even realize Kasey’s point that her death was only partly her fault. I loved the whole idea that Celia’s death was bigger than her due to the amount of human error and destruction done to the Earth. In a way, Celia is being completely true to herself and I loved how Cee saw the memories of Celia, whether fabricated or not, and used it to make her own decision. Now, I’m a little skeptical of the whole idea of them finding their true selves without outside forces because I think that’s a little impossible, but this moment where Cee decides what to do also seems a little ambiguous. It seems like she chooses to save Kasey, but in doing so, it also feels like she chooses herself. Not herself, as in Cee, but herself as in Celia. She decides that even in death, Celia will have a purpose. She will contribute to something bigger than herself by saving Kasey, along with the entire human population. I loved how originally, the bots that would wake her up weren’t based on Celia, they were just generic. I loved how Kasey had such a huge amount of trust in her sister’s love for her, even though they weren’t that close. She believed in who Celia was as a person and trusted her enough to find her. Also, the idea that Cee may have fabricated some of the memories she has from Celia is so insane to me. The last memory she has occurs after the Intraface is taken out of Celia. So, did it really happen? Or was it fabricated by her mind in order to motivate her to complete her mission. I have no idea. Overall, I loved everything about this book.
Favorite Quotes:
“Hope was a drug.”
“At his core, he was someone she could trust. Someone a little reckless. Someone ruled by his heart.”
“‘We need to remember what makes us us.’”
“Just moments ago, everyone had been so assured of their place in the world. Before they became I, no one cared when they died.”
“Don’t look at him. Don’t make eye contact. Because it’s over the moment we do.”
“The sound suits him, fits nicely into the repertoire I’ve collected for the boy-I-think-I-know, a bout whose mysteriousness begins and ends at his lack of memories and who, for the most part, is the opposite of dangerous. The opposite of suave.”
“‘A place in between land and water, where there is power in a single step.’”
“‘I think most choices are made before you reach the edge.’”
“I am vast as an ocean, the only sea I don’t have to cross, and for the first time in a long time, I remember what it feels like to drown in myself.”
“Actinium had met her gaze head-on, and in his, she saw herself—and the fire she was missing.”
“I don’t need saving—but honestly? I wouldn’t mind it, every now and then.”
“We’ve made do, come to know each other the best we can. Imperfectly, incompletely, our conversations like crumbs and yet these are flavors I’ll never forget.”
“‘The thing about stars… is most of them appear close together, but not many actually are. None are meant to pass each other in orbit.’”
“Because it was possible to love someone without fully understanding them. Possible to love parts of them, and not their whole.”
“‘Home is where the mind is.’”
“We are as real as we believe ourselves to be.”
“‘All my secrets, untold and told.’”
“For Actinium, gravity didn’t exist on Earth. Gravity existed in her. It was heady. Overwhelming.”
“The distance between them didn’t change, but the magnetic charge did, Actinium’s every emotion so similar to Kasey’s that they could have physically repelled each other.”
“Her anger wasn’t all of her, but it was a part of her, and she was tired of hiding parts of herself, however inhuman, from people.”
“‘I want you, not everything and more.’”
“We’re nothing as timeless as stars in orbit. More like two grains of sand before the tide rushes in. Here, then not. Human.”
“His rage was a fire, yes, but it only burned bright in the darkness of his self-made coffin.”
“Logic ended where love began.”
“…that I realize no matter what I choose, I will lose a part of me. There is no winning.”
“We’ll see who wins, in a millennium.’”
“It took a certain kind of person to carry out the mission to termination, a person powered by the need to be needed, who took shelter not in a house but in a heart.”
Content Warnings
Minor: Death
ghostlyprince's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, Abandonment, and Terminal illness
Moderate: Child death and Classism
smrj's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
medium-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
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Death, Death of parent, Sexual content, and Terminal illness
eliame_03's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Death, Grief, and Sexual content