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brandongryder's review against another edition
5.0
I’m not much of a short story fan, but this was excellent. Looking forward to the author’s new collection.
rustbeltredux's review against another edition
3.0
Is there supposed to be a slog in the middle of a short story collection?
This one never really got off the ground for me. It’s a fascinating take on the morality and feasibility of tailor-made baby making and there was a brief glimpse of what this story could be if it was taken out of the constraints of a short story.
This one never really got off the ground for me. It’s a fascinating take on the morality and feasibility of tailor-made baby making and there was a brief glimpse of what this story could be if it was taken out of the constraints of a short story.
wiltar4evr's review
challenging
informative
mysterious
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? It's complicated
3.5
isaacanator's review
3.0
Amor Towles might be my favorite author. This is written so differently from his other work though, it completely threw me off guard. Super interesting though, even if it's not a completely original idea, it was executed in a very fun way.
zea_d_writing's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
I read this story fourth during my read through the Forward collection.
I’ve gotta be honest…when I pulled up goodreads to write this review, I couldn’t remember much of anything about this story other than the MC being drunk in a bar after visiting a fertility clinic. I had to redownload the story and skim it to jog my memory.
It’s not a bad story. I zoomed through reading it initially and generally enjoyed my time doing so. The writing was done well. The fertility clinic was creepy in that dystopian sort of way. While it doesn’t give direct commentary or discussion on the ethics, morality, and humanity (or lack thereof) behind the idea of not only genetically designing your child but also using things like statistics, algorithms, and analytics to determine the life your child will have prior to it even being conceived…it does give a view on what that might potentially look like.
Like I said, I enjoyed the story. It definitely could have delved into the topic more directly. But it was a great concept and well written. It just wasn’t very memorable.
I’ve gotta be honest…when I pulled up goodreads to write this review, I couldn’t remember much of anything about this story other than the MC being drunk in a bar after visiting a fertility clinic. I had to redownload the story and skim it to jog my memory.
It’s not a bad story. I zoomed through reading it initially and generally enjoyed my time doing so. The writing was done well. The fertility clinic was creepy in that dystopian sort of way. While it doesn’t give direct commentary or discussion on the ethics, morality, and humanity (or lack thereof) behind the idea of not only genetically designing your child but also using things like statistics, algorithms, and analytics to determine the life your child will have prior to it even being conceived…it does give a view on what that might potentially look like.
Like I said, I enjoyed the story. It definitely could have delved into the topic more directly. But it was a great concept and well written. It just wasn’t very memorable.
tc_booksandmore's review against another edition
reflective
sad
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
3.5
This short story was part of the Amazon Prime shorts and while I generally enjoyed the previous stories, this one kinda left a meh bland taste. Giving a sad man's woe is me tale of why the woman in his life left him and took the dog. But the premise of the story also lingers in the mind because it is so close to being our reality, being able to genetically engineer (if you have the money) your progeny to give them the best life that you can pay for. Creepy.
3.5 for the story, but 4 for memorability.
3.5 for the story, but 4 for memorability.
kblum15's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
fast-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
3.0