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3.53 AVERAGE
3.53 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
hopeful
fast-paced
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
Wanted to like this one but just couldn't. The constant time jumps and breakneck pacing ruin any attachment I was starting to feel for the characters and the villains are cartoonishly evil caricatures of capitalists. The worldbuilding is kind of interesting but not worth reading for.
I do feel like I need to spend more time reflecting on why certain parts of the book didn’t work for me. Did I not enjoy the cat-train romantic pairing because of my narrow view of personhood and sexuality? Did I not enjoy the cat-train romantic pairing because they had little chemistry and their relationship felt unequal and forced? Probably a mixture of both? Also in this world, no one is born, biological people are ‘decanted’ and emerge as adults. But the reason behind this absence of sexual reproduction is never explained or discussed. In a book that emphasizes the importance of choice and agency in building an equitable and sustainable society, this feels like a big choice that has been removed for all individuals. I agree with other reviews I’ve read that the big ideas and unique characters in this book would have been better served by a trilogy of novels rather than one novel with three sections (each separated by hundreds of years), allowing more room for the ideas to breathe and the characters to develop beyond sketches that we only get to consider briefly and barely have time to connect with.
adventurous
emotional
funny
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I had my issues with this book, mostly concerning the completely jarring section breaks. I got very invested in the characters in this one, to the point where I was tearing up whenever they went through some traumatic event. That in itself is worth four stars. I read mainly for characters, but too many books have lackluster, boring, half-assed, and/or shallow characters that I can never really muster up a care for. Whereas I was interested in nearly every character in this book, up to and including the Evil Capitalists. So it was actually kind of heartbreaking every time a section ended and the next section picked up centuries later with a whole new cast. Both times it happened I stopped reading for a bit because it killed my investment.
And there were definitely parts that got a bit too silly or a bit too preachy, but I was still having fun reading it. I can't quite give it five stars because of the jarring cast changes (even though I always ended up loving the new cast, too) and the parts of the worldbuilding that never quite made sense (like why were vocabulary limiters installed in people who had low intelligence ratings? What was the point? And why, when the vocabulary limiter malfunctioned, did these "low intelligence" people seem to be as intelligent as everyone else? Were they ever actually low intelligence or was the limiter just making it seem that way? Again I ask, what was the point?). But I was entertained and never bored, and I just can't give less than four stars to a book that has an adorable talking cat journalist as a main character.
And there were definitely parts that got a bit too silly or a bit too preachy, but I was still having fun reading it. I can't quite give it five stars because of the jarring cast changes (even though I always ended up loving the new cast, too) and the parts of the worldbuilding that never quite made sense (like why were vocabulary limiters installed in people who had low intelligence ratings? What was the point? And why, when the vocabulary limiter malfunctioned, did these "low intelligence" people seem to be as intelligent as everyone else? Were they ever actually low intelligence or was the limiter just making it seem that way? Again I ask, what was the point?). But I was entertained and never bored, and I just can't give less than four stars to a book that has an adorable talking cat journalist as a main character.
adventurous
hopeful
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:
Yes
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
I loved the idea of this book: a future that’s a mix of utopia and dystopia in nature. There’s a good question of humanity underlining this book and the age old question of scientists being able to do something and if they /should/ do something. This built a whole world in a very science fiction way that was still interesting - plus basically everyone is basically pansexual and that’s a lot of fun for me.
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
informative
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No