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kb33's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
5.0
TW/CW: a man’s young child is kidnapped, and he deals with the likelihood that she is dead. Detailed descriptions of his thoughts.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Murder, Grief, Death, Gore, Gun violence, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Suicidal thoughts
blakethebookeater's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
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? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping, Gore, Violence, Gun violence, and Death
Moderate: Vomit, Child death, Sexual content, Grief, Cursing, and Body horror
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders
caryndi's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
We're back for book 2 of The Expanse, this time with a new woman whose main characteristic seems to be the fact that she is Tall and men are Into It! We also have a woman who is not hit on my nearly every man in the book, but never fear: She is a grandmother, so who would do that. It amazes me that despite realizing it was good to have women in roles that do not depend on their relationship with the leading men, we somehow didn't get to the 'not sexualizing every woman' bit. Ah well.
Story-wise, Caliban's War was decent. To be honest, Praxidike was not one of my favorite characters though his storyline was pretty integral to the plot. Bobbie and Avasarala were both great. I felt like we got a tiny bit of insight into Amos' character but pulled the camera back a bit too early.
I was also disappointed by Holden's arc, which was that he apparently had become more like Miller and less like himself, and he didn't want to do this. I feel like we spent a lot of time getting told this and relatively little time actually seeing it play out. There were a couple of good moments based on his fear of the protomolecule and if the book had gone into that more perhaps I would have found it more convincing and fulfilling. Come to think of it, I wasn't super satisfied with Bobbie's emotional arc either, because for someone in denial about having PTSD she sure healed from it awful quick when the story needed her to. So, character development: perhaps not our strong suit here.
On the plus side, this book definitely came through on the promise of weird sci-fi and had some enjoyable political maneuvering. I don't think I could have foreseen the ending (because who could have) but of course it paved the way for the next book in the series nicely.
Recommend? You won't find me raving over this book, but it is a fun read.
Story-wise, Caliban's War was decent. To be honest, Praxidike was not one of my favorite characters though his storyline was pretty integral to the plot. Bobbie and Avasarala were both great. I felt like we got a tiny bit of insight into Amos' character but pulled the camera back a bit too early.
I was also disappointed by Holden's arc, which was that he apparently had become more like Miller and less like himself, and he didn't want to do this. I feel like we spent a lot of time getting told this and relatively little time actually seeing it play out. There were a couple of good moments based on his fear of the protomolecule and if the book had gone into that more perhaps I would have found it more convincing and fulfilling. Come to think of it, I wasn't super satisfied with Bobbie's emotional arc either, because for someone in denial about having PTSD she sure healed from it awful quick when the story needed her to. So, character development: perhaps not our strong suit here.
On the plus side, this book definitely came through on the promise of weird sci-fi and had some enjoyable political maneuvering. I don't think I could have foreseen the ending (because who could have) but of course it paved the way for the next book in the series nicely.
Recommend? You won't find me raving over this book, but it is a fun read.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gore, Body horror, Gun violence, and Death
Minor: Trafficking, Child abuse, Sexual violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, and Child death
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