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3.9 AVERAGE
3.9 AVERAGE
challenging
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
A very decent detective novel with a wildly imaginative dystopic premise. The exposition of its strange world of two "crosshatched" cities is executed really well, with its reality surrealistically unfolding before my eyes throughout the book. Honestly, I do think the detective portion (especially the "big reveals" by the end) can feel a bit clunky, maybe somewhat forced in dialogue, but it never bothered me enough to lose its sense of intrigue.
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
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
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
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
i don’t know how to feel about this book. i really liked it when i first started reading it and I love the idea of two cities on top of each other— i think it’s really creative and I’ve seen it before or thought of it before. some of my five star reads are noir/crime stories and i love sci fi so that made me drawn to this book more. it definitely had some flaws though. the writing style could be weird at times. though i did like how it kind of read like a movie. the ending wasn’t completely satisfying - but at the same time i didn’t feel like anything was unanswered or anything. i was disappointed with the truth of breath and the fact that orciny wasn’t real. i had to read it for class so that definitely makes my experience different. bascialyl everyone in my discussion, including my TA hated this book so i don’t know if that makes me hate it more or be more inclined to defend it. i definitely wasn’t invested in any of the characters at all but i loved the world and thought the mystery aspect was pretty good and the reveal was unexpected.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Mieville loves his weird cities. Structured as a procedural mystery, the book steadily shifts into more metaphysical territory as the detective tracks a killer through two cities that occupy the same space at different perceptions. I won't say that I 100% "got it", but I did enjoy the ride.