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secre's review
3.0
This is a fast paced post apocalyptic dystopian novel and pace keeps cranking forward at such a rate that you are continually interested in what happens next. It's also definitely on the creepy side, as though you can feel the bugs crawling on your skin. Where the novel is let down is in world-building and characterisations as there just isn't enough here to fully immerse yourself in the world. The logic of the red bugs doesn't always work, with some of their behaviour being explained and then contradicted. There is no explanation to offer a scientific rationale behind the red bugs and the potential for a cure or even for the symptoms and why some people become nesters and others die.
Characterisation is weak simply because the story jumps and shifts so much, so one moment you are following one set of characters then the next it jumps to focus on someone completely different. Whilst some of the characters show up in later sections, it still left the novel with a somewhat fragmented set-up that left you wondering what was going on. This wasn't helped by the surrealism of the final section of the novel, with its introduction of multiple new characters, none of which you have any time to really engage with.
So whilst it's an action filled ride, I can't help but wonder if this would make a four star novel if it slowed down a bit, savoured some of the details and the characters and took some time to explore the scientific, ethical and moral conundrums that have been placed into this new world. It's not a bad book by any stretch, but it could definitely be significantly better and far more thought provoking.
Characterisation is weak simply because the story jumps and shifts so much, so one moment you are following one set of characters then the next it jumps to focus on someone completely different. Whilst some of the characters show up in later sections, it still left the novel with a somewhat fragmented set-up that left you wondering what was going on. This wasn't helped by the surrealism of the final section of the novel, with its introduction of multiple new characters, none of which you have any time to really engage with.
So whilst it's an action filled ride, I can't help but wonder if this would make a four star novel if it slowed down a bit, savoured some of the details and the characters and took some time to explore the scientific, ethical and moral conundrums that have been placed into this new world. It's not a bad book by any stretch, but it could definitely be significantly better and far more thought provoking.
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