Reviews with content warning for Drug use - Altered Carbon

After watching the TV Show I wanted to read the books it was based on, because I thought the book would give me additional information and world building and character development and make the plot less confusing. Unfortunately, I waited a few years and so the book was still confusing at this point. I still loved the world building and the twisty plot, liked the characters and enjoyed the reading overall… when I ignored the protagonist’s cringy thoughts and sex scenes at least. Luckily they were mostly in the first half and the second half was more plot and action focused.

Content Warnings

discerninggm's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Content Warnings

voxvenati's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Please take a look at content warnings before reading this if you have any things you’re even iffy on. It’s pretty graphic on several fronts.

There isn’t exactly a specific content warning tag for this, but it’s going in spoilers for anyone who doesn’t want to know:

It doesn’t get extremely graphic, but there’s moderate depiction of bestiality toward the end of the book. It was disturbing and took me by surprise so I wanted to add that in here. It is not endorsed by the main character, it’s about how fucked up a no-name character is, but still relevant for content warnings beyond just the “animal cruelty” tag.

After all that, I did enjoy the rest of the book. The Netflix show deviated from the book in a lot of respects, but they’re both just as engaging, and I had a good time with both. The world building is phenomenal. I’m obsessed. I enjoyed the characters, especially Kovacs. The plot was solid. I found myself thinking about this book almost constantly when I wasn’t reading it. People hate on the sex scenes, but I found them better written than most of the romance and erotica I’ve read this year.

The most fascinating thing in the book is, of course, the altered carbon. The way Morgan discusses the implications of such a technology - how resleeving affects people psychologically, how the government takes advantage of it, what happens when you can’t afford to bring a loved one back, how organized religion would react to this, how class disparities become so great that the 1% virtually become gods. Really good shit. Chef kiss.

Even so, there were a few negatives for me. First, the above spoiler/content warning was really unexpected. It made its point but the amount of time spent on it hurt me. Second, I’m not sure how I feel about the treatment of sex work in this world. Takeshi seems neutral toward it, but Ortega makes several disparaging comments about the “whorehouses” and people working there. Last, the treatment of the Sharya culture and peoples was distasteful at times.

This book certainly has its issues, but the writing, characters, concepts, and plot really made up for it in my opinion. If none of the content warnings are a dealbreaker, it’s worth a read. Just don’t expect it to be the Netflix show.

Content Warnings

beejay5253's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Content Warnings

fahyhallowell's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

My favorite character is the lonely A.I. hotel inclined to violence and subterfuge.

Content Warnings

ajediprincess's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.75

In an unusual move for me, I actually watched the series on SyFi before I read this book (mostly because I didn't know it was a book to begin with), and while I loved the series, I felt that the book certainly added a new layer of understanding to the character of Kovacs for me. This book was so interesting, so captivating, and I had such a great time with it from start to finish.

This world is so dark and harsh, but Takeshi Kovacs is a good guy in a world of scum, yet he's not too good that he himself doesn't have flaws. Ortegas is also a fantastic supporting character and they make a great detective duo, being at first skeptical of one another and somewhat antagonistic, but eventually learning to trust each other and work together. It was a really intriguing tension and despite covering so many ugly, distasteful topics, this book manages to emphasize the depravity of its setting without rubbing the reader's face in it.

This being said, I actually think I prefer the changes they made to the story in the television series over the book. This review would be impossible to write without spoilers, so I apologize for spoiling things in advance, but I will keep them brief.

The difference between the hotel personified and colored as The Raven and manned by an AI of Edgar Allan Poe himself was so delightful in the show, and I was very disappointed to see that the hotel Kovacs stays at is not called The Raven, but rather The Hendrix and it doesn't even really have a characterized AI to befriend Kovacs. This was just not as fun in the book as it was in the show. Poe was one of the best supporting characters.

Another huge change the show made that is absent from the book is the relationship between Rei and Kovacs.

I thought it was such a cool dynamic for them to be siblings, extremely close and protective siblings, in the show. In the book they aren't related at all,

which loses an interesting and at times toxic and unnerving layer to their relationship as protagonist and antagonist. I personally feel the show did it better.

These small gripes aside, I thoroughly enjoyed this gritty sci-fi, cyberpunk novel set in the far future of our Earth and I hope that others will too.

Content Warnings

mar's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense 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? Yes

1.5

terminal case of "she breasted boobily down the stairs" writing :| honestly if u ever think abt reading this book just watch the Netflix show instead i promise you won't miss out on anything and you'll have more fun too

Content Warnings

abby_reads_books's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

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