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nenaveenstra's review
dark
reflective
medium-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? It's complicated
3.5
Re-reading this book in 2023 was an interesting experience, because I could see a lot of parallels with current technology and attempts at making a complete online habitat, such as Meta, but at the same time I know how much people value seeing each other in real life and going outside and having privacy. Hell, people value privacy so much that they refused to take a vaccine because it allegedly had chips in it. I don't think something like the Circle would ever exist and that made this story much less terrifying. And I remember being terrified when I read this in 2016.
This time, I was mostly frustrated, because the main character doesn't challenge anything anyone says until she's brainwashed so much that she estranges herself from her family for the sake of transparancy. Considering how much she cared about her family before, it almost felt impossible. It's not impossible, of course, because the Circle is a cult, and its leaders are charismatic and good with words. And cults are very real. So I guess that's the more scary part to me - the way someone can influence you so much that you forget your own morals.
There were some passages in here that I think could be cut, like the aquarium scenes. Like, I understand that Ty uses the shark as a metaphor at the end, and sure, that's poetic and all, but it wasn't necessary in order to make a point and it made the book quite a bit longer than it needed to be.
I'm interested in the sequel, as I believe it's about people rebelling against the system, and that's exactly what I wanted from this book. Hopefully that one will be a little bit less frustrating :)
This time, I was mostly frustrated, because the main character doesn't challenge anything anyone says until she's brainwashed so much that she estranges herself from her family for the sake of transparancy. Considering how much she cared about her family before, it almost felt impossible. It's not impossible, of course, because the Circle is a cult, and its leaders are charismatic and good with words. And cults are very real. So I guess that's the more scary part to me - the way someone can influence you so much that you forget your own morals.
There were some passages in here that I think could be cut, like the aquarium scenes. Like, I understand that Ty uses the shark as a metaphor at the end, and sure, that's poetic and all, but it wasn't necessary in order to make a point and it made the book quite a bit longer than it needed to be.
I'm interested in the sequel, as I believe it's about people rebelling against the system, and that's exactly what I wanted from this book. Hopefully that one will be a little bit less frustrating :)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fatphobia
Moderate: Car accident, Eating disorder, and Terminal illness
Minor: Child death, Sexual content, Ableism, Death, and Sexual harassment
caterpillar's review against another edition
dark
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content, Death, and Car accident
norwegianforestreader's review
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Car accident, Chronic illness, Grief, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Sexual violence, Medical trauma, Suicide, Classism, Medical content, and Panic attacks/disorders
mirajuliee's review
reflective
medium-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
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide and Car accident
rainbo_oks_wreading's review
challenging
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Car accident
Minor: Child abuse and Fatphobia
mordshunger's review
challenging
dark
sad
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? Yes
4.0
Nice: The writer knows how to produce availability clatter so intense it got my teeth grinding.
Not so nice: The protagonist cannot form a single critical thought and has angelic patience. There is no mention of anyone being as annoyed as I felt, inundated by the pings and rings, screens, metrics, inane messages, hurt egos, benign data flooding in.
I have turned off all notifications and deleted a bunch of apps after this, just for my own sake. Don't get an Alexa, people.
Not so nice: The protagonist cannot form a single critical thought and has angelic patience. There is no mention of anyone being as annoyed as I felt, inundated by the pings and rings, screens, metrics, inane messages, hurt egos, benign data flooding in.
I have turned off all notifications and deleted a bunch of apps after this, just for my own sake. Don't get an Alexa, people.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Car accident, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Slavery
elodie_melodie's review against another edition
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
Content Warnings
Minor: Animal death, Car accident, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Kidnapping, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Slavery, Suicide, and Toxic friendship
mona_luisa's review
challenging
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Fatphobia
Minor: Car accident, Death, and Suicide
trashwithanh's review
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)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Child death, Fatphobia, Death, Car accident, Kidnapping, Misogyny, and Terminal illness
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