Reviews tagging 'Cursing'

Prophet by Sin Blaché, Helen Macdonald

6 reviews

dreareads_'s review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny mysterious fast-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

3.5

This is the most 3.5 book I have read in a long time.

This is a fun scifi buddy cop(soldiers?) story about nostalgia and governmental propaganda. I think it is a book that is trying to do a lot, but at times forgets the logic of its own world building. I appreciated the anticapitalist, US military propaganda motifs, but they often times felt vague and repetitive.  Towards the end of the book I was left with more questions than answer, and not in the fun interpretation kind of way, but in the "I don't think the story understand its own rules" kind of way.

Fortunately, the book centers around two main characters that you cannot help but fall in love with. I am obsessed with Rao and his unapologetic queerness and large personality. A personality that is deepened by his own personal trauma and insecurities. Pair him with a character like Adam, whom in the surface may seem serious and unfeeling but on the inside is warm and precious, and you simply have the perfect recipe for a captivating relationship. Even if the ending did not fully work for me, I was just happy to be with them.

For a 500+ pages book it was fun and fast paced enough that you do not feel fully bogged down by the lack of world building. But if you stop and think about it too much you will discover holes that not even prophet could fill.


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emmiej's review against another edition

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challenging informative tense medium-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

4.75


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letopotato's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced
  • 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? Yes

3.75

This is a spy-thriller, a sci-fi novel and a love story at the same time. It's incredibly odd, often a little all over the place, yet very entertaining. The dynamic between the chaotic Rao and the seemingly stoic Adam is typical and nothing new, but still kept me interested. The combination of the urge to get to know those two characters and their relationship better and wanting to find out what the hell is going on with those objects being created out of nowhere was absolutely perfect. There was enough time for the characters to breathe, but also enough urgency for the plot to continue. This is the first novel in a while where I didn't dislike the main characters – which is very refreshing. "Prophet" is definitely a recommendation from me!
My only point of criticism is that there are many unanswered questions at the end as to how Prophet actually worked or where it came from. It got a little too confusing, even considering the sci-fi aspect of this novel.
In the end, it seemed to me like Prophet could do whatever was 'useful' or interesting in certain points of the story, and that this was more or less decided on a whim. The way Rao was handled at the end of the novel seemed a little disconnected from the abilities of Prophet before.

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scifi_rat's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix

3.75

Plot: 3★
Prose: 4★
Pace: 4★
Concept/Execution: 5★/3.75★
Characters: 4.75★
Worldbuilding: 3.5★
Ending: 3.5★

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pphector's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25


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displacedcactus's review against another edition

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The premise seemed cool and the writing was fine, but the characters did not feel like people I wanted to spend 400~ pages with after all the recent mediocre to bad books I've read.

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