Reviews tagging 'Kidnapping'

The Circle by Dave Eggers

10 reviews

theloveroflovers's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging reflective 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

2.25

The characters are so unlikable that at some point you get the urge to keep reading to see them realise their stupidity. The writting stile is good but to detailed, slow-paced. The book was too long and the end wasn't sadisfying.

If you wanr to read the book, listen to the audibook instead.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

ottercorg's review

Go to review page

dark funny mysterious reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Usually it's hard for me to read a book with a main character that makes me so mad, but for this plot to really work, Mae had to play that role. 

I love considering at which moment any given reader would finally say The Circle had gone to far. At which new implement does any given reader lose hope? 

I read this book thinking about Meta, and now that I've finished I think about it in the context of Ai in this current world. 

Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed it. As always, I like books to neatly tie off all plotlines at the end and this one doesn't do that - but apparently this is a series, which means there's still hope...

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

lizzieberry's review

Go to review page

2.25

This book is a cautionary utopian/dystopian tale about surveillance, social media, monopolies, and the breach of personal information, data, and liberties. Not fun to read knowing a lot of these breaches are happening today. I think the ideas in the book are interesting, although it's pretty obvious it's written from the cishet white male perspective. Lots of content warnings that made the book generally not great to read, they were so unnecessary: fatphobia, sexual violence, misrepresentations of the U.S. criminal legal system. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

skeptic_hecate's review

Go to review page

challenging dark reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

This book went really dark really fast, but in a very subtle way, which I appreciate. The author could really pull of the mental gymnastics and the self brainwashing the protagonist went through. If anything, this book is a great study on cult mentality and guilt culture. I sincerely hope humanity is not down that path. It is a modern version of Orwellian dystopia. It definitely wrinkled my brain, the writing style is subtle enough for one to really imagine seeing themselves in a similar situation. The ending was a bit predictable, but no less frightening because of that. I highly recommend this read.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

greatexpectations77's review

Go to review page

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

1.25

God, what a trainwreck. This book misses all of the eeriness that would have made it memorable. Also the author used the word "ebullient" like 5 times. And there was intense fatphobia toward the ex-boyfriend. And I hated the main character - I just hated her. She felt very much like the author had never met a human woman before and thinks that all women are fat-shaming brats who are SO ANGRY when their parents have a medical attack and then get better??? because they had to drive to see them?? Damn, am I sorry that I finished this. As a brilliant reviewer of the movie (also apparently terrible) wrote online, the plot is "*clears throat* what if facebook but more." Also def characterized schizophrenia incorrectly. Like, google a thing once, dude. How am I supposed to give a single dried fig about a character who can't respect a single boundary???

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

iridaceae's review

Go to review page

challenging dark reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

elodie_melodie's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark reflective tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

trashwithanh's review

Go to review page

slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

I absolutely hated this book. We were made to read it in my English class and our teacher is really convinced that this is where we're headed. The characters are all either annoying or naive or evil. The writing threw me off completely, sometimes it just seemed like the author wanted to sound smart so he googled for fancier words to use.  
There are several disgusting sex scenes and women are generally described by their looks (especially Mae's doctor, who's just a perfect example for the "boobily she boobed down the stairs" cliché)  What most annoyed me was how unrealistic everything seemed. There were almost no people who pushed back against the circle, even though the tech that was put out by the Circle was clearly invasive and not even intruiging. I also wanted to punch Mae in the Face for most of the read. (did I mention the disgusting sex scenes? I did not want a description of Mae watching her parents do the dirty)
 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

morganperks's review

Go to review page

challenging dark mysterious slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

librarikay's review

Go to review page

challenging informative reflective tense medium-paced
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

**pardon my french but, this is all so fucked up**

this rating is in part as a result from my discussions in the class where i was assigned to read this book, and then partly just from my pure enjoyment and actual fear reading and note-taking by myself. 

so! there’s that

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
More...