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badbadwolf's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Moderate: Blood, Terminal illness, Violence, Suicide attempt, Sexual content, Grief, Colonisation, Genocide, Alcohol, Confinement, Suicide, Death, Car accident, Gun violence, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, and War
gabrielofthe14th's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Death, Violence, and War
wispy_reviews's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Gaslighting, Suicide, and Death
mar's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
christ.
Graphic: Gun violence, Murder, Death, Car accident, and Misogyny
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, War, and Suicide
maddie_can_read's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This novel was a lot less hard scientists fiction (which I struggled a bit with the first one not understanding all of the physics concepts), and goes much more into speculative fiction and examines a lot of different perspectives re the aftermath of the first novel (like psychology, economics, etc).
It is meandering in the beginning and a bit in the middle but I really enjoyed the meandering, I like the writing style and I enjoyed the literary wandering we were doing.
And then what a build up the whole first 2 parts are to the third! The buildup really pays off.
Female characters non-spoiler rant:
The one thing that almost held me back from giving this book a five stars is the writing of it's female characters. In my opinion, it really drops the ball on this especially given that I thought the portrayal of women in the first was pretty good! Especially given the context of that story. Female characters in this story do not have their own goals, motivations, or desires that exist beyond the male characters they interact with. Just so disappointing.
I almost stopped at around 30% because I was offended by what the actual fuck was happening with a female character lol. The way a specific woman was described just felt nauseating, weird, patronizing and too child-like. I'm hoping that maybe the descriptors were lost in translation a bit. Because I did notice near the beginning it said something like a character "had a naughty problem" and naughty did not make sense to use there at all.
But I'm really glad I pushed through because the scenes that are like this don't last that long and I loved the rest of the book.
Spoilers:
And I enjoyed Luo Ji having an imaginary girlfriend! I thought it was weird and fun and I thought it worked in the story because it shows the reader that he is able to have an extremely complicated inner world that would make him a good candidate to be a wall facer. But then the fact that he makes someone find him a real girl who fits his imagination is like gross-weird not fun-weird. And then it feels really uncomfortable before you find out much later that this woman is like in on the plan and apparently had her own motives. Because at first you're like, did this woman get kidnapped? Why is she so fucking chill about being kidnapped?? Like where did they find her and why does she not seem to have any agency or care wtf is happening to her!!
Graphic: Suicide, Violence, Xenophobia, War, Death, and Gore
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Car accident, Blood, and Vomit
blau_elmo's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
Of course, the book's characters aren't exactly the deepest, but they act more as assets to build upon the true protagonist of the novel, the world itself. Politics, theory, physics, astronomy, sociology, ethics - they all play a role in the way things unfold in this book. But it does not simply feel like a mish mash of concepts, it is a comprehensive and very enthralling story, that although can be highly technical at times, is attractive in its relative plausibility and sheer magnitude.
Moderate: Death and Violence
Minor: Suicide
emnime's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Suicide, Blood, Death, War, Violence, Genocide, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Car accident, Alcoholism, and Alcohol
stacyaj's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Death and War
runefactories's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Graphic: Death, War, and Violence
Moderate: Misogyny
zone_a3's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Body horror
Moderate: Car accident, Genocide, Misogyny, Death, and War
Minor: Suicide