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milliemudd's review
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Death, and Violence
heidi_mcj's review
4.0
Excellent book. I liked the world building and but it did leave me with wanting more!
ohclaire's review
4.0
this was a good book but the ending... kinda devastated me in a bleak way. I really think that this is a book about the present as much as the future and the brutality of the ending kinda broke me tonight.
mimmareads's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
3.75
Interesting, though not really original dystopian view of the future. Felt like it ended too early, like part of the story was left untold, perhaps for sequal?
s_sheppard18's review
4.0
"It's a beautiful spring morning. The air smells like flowers and blood." -Mallory, the narrator of Firebreak by Nicole Kornher-Stace
I wasn't sure about this book at the beginning; it opened into an action-packed playthrough of the VR game the narrator, Mallory, streams as one of her jobs. I don't typically get engrossed in thrillers for the action, but the author uses Mallory's stream-of-consciousness narration as a tool to introduce her characters and world to us in an authentic way. The fact that Mallory is familiar with real-world weapons of war via gameplay, in a game sold and modeled on the same war that took her parents from her, makes the real-world violent scenarios she survives much more believable (and that much more of a mindf*ck).
I adored the relationships in this book, and the strength of Mallory's found-family. The way her friends rally around her and surprise her is heartwarming in the best way. I love the quiet aro/ace representation. The trauma, outrage, and resilience the characters experience is written with understanding and care, but also unflinching honesty.
This is a must read for people who enjoyed [b:Ready Player One|9969571|Ready Player One (Ready Player One, #1)|Ernest Cline|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1500930947l/9969571._SY75_.jpg|14863741] or [b:Feed|169756|Feed|M.T. Anderson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327891005l/169756._SY75_.jpg|163928]- and if you liked Firebreak, but haven't read those, put them on your list!
I wasn't sure about this book at the beginning; it opened into an action-packed playthrough of the VR game the narrator, Mallory, streams as one of her jobs. I don't typically get engrossed in thrillers for the action, but the author uses Mallory's stream-of-consciousness narration as a tool to introduce her characters and world to us in an authentic way. The fact that Mallory is familiar with real-world weapons of war via gameplay, in a game sold and modeled on the same war that took her parents from her, makes the real-world violent scenarios she survives much more believable (and that much more of a mindf*ck).
I adored the relationships in this book, and the strength of Mallory's found-family. The way her friends rally around her and surprise her is heartwarming in the best way. I love the quiet aro/ace representation. The trauma, outrage, and resilience the characters experience is written with understanding and care, but also unflinching honesty.
This is a must read for people who enjoyed [b:Ready Player One|9969571|Ready Player One (Ready Player One, #1)|Ernest Cline|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1500930947l/9969571._SY75_.jpg|14863741] or [b:Feed|169756|Feed|M.T. Anderson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327891005l/169756._SY75_.jpg|163928]- and if you liked Firebreak, but haven't read those, put them on your list!
tricapra's review
3.0
All the fun of Ready Player One with none of the exhausting 80s nostalgia references and pesky misogyny.
In a very-near future dystopia where two warring corporations control everything and everyone via water and electricity rationing, a thoroughly dehydrated girl just wants to get by.
It was nice to see a dystopian revolution book where things aren't magically better or fixed just because the protagonist stood up and did the right thing. It acknowledges that people will suffer, and die, for the cause and change will be slow. Despite that, the book was hopeful and quite the page-turner. Check it out.
In a very-near future dystopia where two warring corporations control everything and everyone via water and electricity rationing, a thoroughly dehydrated girl just wants to get by.
It was nice to see a dystopian revolution book where things aren't magically better or fixed just because the protagonist stood up and did the right thing. It acknowledges that people will suffer, and die, for the cause and change will be slow. Despite that, the book was hopeful and quite the page-turner. Check it out.
kleonard's review
3.0
This is a solid book about resistance and group action. Set in a dystopian world where two enormous corporations that control everything including water, housing, and food are always at war, a professional gamers and gig workers uncover the secrets of one of the corporations and decide to make them public. While the characters were basically just names and had no real development or even descriptions, the story is compelling and the tech believable enough for the setting to make this an enjoyable read.
bleepbloop's review
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
4.5
also not sure why this is tagged as LGBTQ. there is one (1) tangential character who is non-binary but it's not a queer story.
stormwhisper's review
3.0
I was provided an ARC by NetGalley and Gallery Books in exchange for an honest review.
Firebreak is set in a dystopian 22nd century society, where corporations fill the role of an ineffectual government and dehydration is a constant companion. The main character, Mal, is just trying to keep herself afloat by working multiple jobs and scraping together enough subscribers by streaming a video game to keep her water account full enough to stave off kidney failure. When a chance encounter in her virtual reality side hustle leads to attention from an unexpected source, Mal is thrust into the middle of a vast conspiracy, forced to question everything she thought she knew about the world she inhabits and to wonder just how far she'll go to restore justice to a broken world.
Firebreak started out strong, with a well-realized dystopic world, a compelling main character, and a well fleshed-out supporting cast. The initial revelations were well-crafted and kept the story moving, and helped to create emotional interest in the story.
Unfortunately, the book faltered in its third act. Most of the reveals seemed to be used up by that point, and the story unfolded predictably without major fireworks or surprises. While the characters were placed in danger, the conclusion seemed foregone and ultimately the the ending was without anything more than the illusion of high stakes.
I also would have loved to have heard more about 22 and 06's backstories. The book hints early on that they may become more fleshed-out characters, and indeed much of the plot revolves around the treatment of real human beings as two-dimensional avatars, but ultimately fails to deliver anything more than surface-level personalities for these two characters. Given the main thrust of the plot, this felt like a particularly severe missed opportunity.
Firebreak is set in a dystopian 22nd century society, where corporations fill the role of an ineffectual government and dehydration is a constant companion. The main character, Mal, is just trying to keep herself afloat by working multiple jobs and scraping together enough subscribers by streaming a video game to keep her water account full enough to stave off kidney failure. When a chance encounter in her virtual reality side hustle leads to attention from an unexpected source, Mal is thrust into the middle of a vast conspiracy, forced to question everything she thought she knew about the world she inhabits and to wonder just how far she'll go to restore justice to a broken world.
Firebreak started out strong, with a well-realized dystopic world, a compelling main character, and a well fleshed-out supporting cast. The initial revelations were well-crafted and kept the story moving, and helped to create emotional interest in the story.
Unfortunately, the book faltered in its third act. Most of the reveals seemed to be used up by that point, and the story unfolded predictably without major fireworks or surprises. While the characters were placed in danger, the conclusion seemed foregone and ultimately the the ending was without anything more than the illusion of high stakes.
I also would have loved to have heard more about 22 and 06's backstories. The book hints early on that they may become more fleshed-out characters, and indeed much of the plot revolves around the treatment of real human beings as two-dimensional avatars, but ultimately fails to deliver anything more than surface-level personalities for these two characters. Given the main thrust of the plot, this felt like a particularly severe missed opportunity.
wavesturneddown's review
adventurous
challenging
hopeful
inspiring
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5