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iam's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
I especially liked the AI aspect, though as someone who knows a bit about the topic I personally would have liked more details about the AI part.
Hester's mental, emotional and physical trauma gave the story and intriguing point of view, though I also feel like there were some missed opportunities with her various cybernetic limbs (though they were also never forgotten which I appreciated!)
The casual queerness was also an aspect I liked, together with the various characters.
The plot was intriguing, though took a bit to get really started in my opinion. Due to the investigator aspect it felts almost more than a crime mystery than pure horror though.
While I enjoyed the plot, I didn't think the pieces fit together as smoothly as they could have been, and in my opinion there is one bit plothole.
Graphic: Violence, Gun violence, Vomit, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Gore, and Cursing
terrorism, amputation, prosthetics,urs's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Blood, Death, Violence, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Body horror, Gore, Medical trauma, Murder, and Cursing
Minor: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Medical content, and Suicide
dollawog's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
The cast is extremely diverse. If you are looking for queer representation you will find it here in spades. I loved the characters!
World-building is fantastic. This is the space-future, after a nasty war-crime riddled war between Mars and Earth/moon. Dystopian; Hester lives in the asteroid belt that is owned by The Company (who pretty much own her). The dystopia is not the main feature of this book but it creates a sense of realism that grounds the book in an easily-believable reality.
Mystery is A+. I had figured some things out myself; there were still surprises. Pacing was great, I was never bored or skipping pages. Wallace does a great job of giving just enough detail that you understand the world and have context without info-dumping you to death. The science stuff is great. Explained simply enough to understand without needing a degree, but complex, interesting, and believable. There's robotics, AI, and data-analysis.
Conclusion was satisfying. No loose ends, no plot holes.
Graphic: Xenophobia
Moderate: Gore and Death
There are parallels to the Holocaust. One character is marked in the same manner as Holocaust victims, and there are mentions of how he was treated without going into too graphic of detail.raechel's review
- 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
4.0
This book is a sci-fi "locked room" murder mystery with a disabled queer main character and a side cast that includes poc, queer, and non-binary people. It covers war, terrorism, class, evil corporations, and disability.
This book got me out of a month-long reading slump and it was fantastic.
Moderate: Blood, Cursing, and Gore
spiritedfaraway's review
4.0
An absolutely engrossing ride! This book is part murder mystery, part thriller and it was difficult to put down, I had to know what happened next.
“My contractual commitment to ensuring the safety and security of Parthenope Enterprises and its facilities, operations, and employees did not extend to searching through fluid-stained sheets beneath the bare ass of a twenty-something kid reckless enough to think that paying somebody to drill into his head was a good idea.”
Dead Space follows Hester Marley, a disillusioned AI expert who has survived a horrific tragedy and unimaginable loss and is now injured, indebted, and stranded in the far end of space. Stuck in place until she can pay off her debt, everything changes when a former friend and fellow survivor contacts her.
“This isolated rock in the outer system, this thankless job helping a rich company make itself richer, the pain in my joints where metal met flesh, the medical debt that grew every day, this was it, this was all I had, until I could work my way out.”
I’m not going to say anymore for fear of spoilers, but this book had my heart pounding and me flipping the pages long into the night. Definitely for fans of science fiction thrillers, intrigue and suspense.
Also, the main character is queer and a side character is non-binary, so you know I loved that representation.
However, as I am a white non-disabled individual, I can’t speak towards how the representation of characters of color or a person who is disabled was handled, I’m definitely hoping to read own voices reviews to see what they think.
Graphic: Ableism, Blood, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Gore, Grief, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Violence, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Confinement
Minor: Hate crime, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Suicide, and Torture
fetishization of a person with a disability (the main character has prostheses), stereotyping, bigotry, talk of war, war crimes, famine, attempted genocide, and sterilization. I definitely might have missed something, if I did please tell me!jamesflint's review
5.0
Moderate: Gore and Body horror