Reviews tagging 'Police brutality'

Linn ja linn by China Miéville

10 reviews

rebecca_harley's review against another edition

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mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

This book has a really interesting premise, two cities occupying the same physical space "grosstopically" and how criminal jurisdiction is handled in these places. I've never read anything like it before and while it was confusing at first the worldbuilding was excellent. 

The main drawback I would say is that none of the characters were particularly interesting or likeable, except the victim, in my opinion.
I also felt the ending was a little anti-climactic if I'm being honest.


As a bonus I liked the formatting. Each new chapter starts at the top of the next page, no wasted space!
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ixris's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Mieville's police procedural has a spare, dry voice and a small love affair with the letter Z that made my early progress very slow. The twisting bureaucracy can lead only one place, and while the ending is satisfying, I found it ultimately very pat. An extremely imaginative pair of cityscapes, though, and definitely worth what felt like a slog in the beginning. 
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sarah984's review against another edition

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challenging mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

I thought the setting was fascinating, and the way the thought processes of the characters navigating the city are handled was really well done. However the actual mystery wasn't that interesting or surprising, and I felt like the story kind of fell apart once more information about
Breach
was revealed.
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fermentedsorcerer's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Incredibly elegant and exciting plot with a mystery that makes it hard to put down. There’s nothing else like this book, it’s perfect. Easily in my top 10.
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franceshh's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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hauban's review against another edition

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challenging mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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sapphicbookdragon's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious tense 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? No

2.75

This is a somewhat-good book which I deeply disliked. It's about power and control over people in a very bizarre Orwellian way: just call "Breach" a "Big Brother [Is] Watching You." (I started rooting for the unificationists and "breaching" foreigners and locals.) It's well-written, but the main themes are depressing. Without spoiling the ending with specifics, I will say the ending is unsatisfying and frustrating (to me, personally). There's little to no character development, and the protagonist stays in his box. Seeing and "unseeing" are large-scale brainwashing upon the population(s) and any visitors (who must complete "trainings" before being allowed entry to either city-state). I couldn't believe the level of acceptance and adherence to their rules or understand why it all matters, other than to control and isolate people - and, possibly, to get away with murder.
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lynxpardinus's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious

4.0

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runefactories's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious reflective medium-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

4.5

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memories's review against another edition

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dark mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

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