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sallytwibbles's review
4.0
It's seedy and sordid. Stuff I usually avoid (not judging anyone here--it's my baggage from a strict fundamentalist upbringing). I kept going and just over halfway into the book I started to like it and I ending up loving it at about the 80% mark.
There are no heroes in this book--only survivors. This made it hard to cheer for anyone and, as goodreads reviewer "Sierra" put it: "...so I guess you root for the aliens."
There are no heroes in this book--only survivors. This made it hard to cheer for anyone and, as goodreads reviewer "Sierra" put it: "...so I guess you root for the aliens."
Spoiler
Several people were dragged off alive by the "XTs" but we don't learn in the story what happened to them. It might have been interesting to have a few characters in the alien nest have one last petty fight with each other while they are waiting to "give birth."wyrmbergmalcolm's review
2.0
The thing with Aliens stories is that they are all pretty samey to a degree. A bunch of 2d characters get quickly whittled down to the last few 'heroes'. To that end, this story is no different. Unfortunately, in an effort to make the characters a little more flesh out, they're all drug-addicted or emotionally damaged losers. All apart from the pilot, Tommy, who spends the whole tale brooding/sulking about the mess his brother has gotten him into. Needless to say, when it all finally hits the fan (180 pages in with not much in the way of build-up), I just didn't care about what happened to any of them. The focus was mainly on three characters so all the rest were barely a feature.
Simply another retreading of the Aliens formula, but this time with no one to root for.
Simply another retreading of the Aliens formula, but this time with no one to root for.
verkisto's review
2.0
Well, I finally got what I wanted -- an Aliens book that wasn't just a recycled Aliens trope. Instead of making her story about mad scientists or Space Marines on a rescue or Weyland-Yutani trying to capture a xenomorph for research, Perry chose to write a story about a planet of drug-makers. These are illegal drugs, of course, so to stave off the risk of invasion from either rival drugrunners or the law, the guy who runs the planet populates it with xenomorphs. The aliens are really just background, since the real story is about the characters who make up the staff of the lab.
The thing is, the story still isn't that great. It's actually the best of the books I've read so far in this series, but that's like saying I prefer The Phantom Menace to Attack of the Clones; in the end, I'd rather not have to watch either one. It doesn't help that Perry populates her story with people who aren't likable, but I guess that's what one would expect for a drug lab.
If I could do half-stars, I'd probably give this book 2.5 instead of two stars, but this is definitely NOT a three-star book. Breaking Bad it ain't.
The thing is, the story still isn't that great. It's actually the best of the books I've read so far in this series, but that's like saying I prefer The Phantom Menace to Attack of the Clones; in the end, I'd rather not have to watch either one. It doesn't help that Perry populates her story with people who aren't likable, but I guess that's what one would expect for a drug lab.
If I could do half-stars, I'd probably give this book 2.5 instead of two stars, but this is definitely NOT a three-star book. Breaking Bad it ain't.
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