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indeedithappens's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Addiction, Drug use, and Slavery
Moderate: Mental illness, Self harm, Mass/school shootings, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Police brutality, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Abandonment, Death, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Xenophobia, Addiction, Alcohol, Blood, Confinement, Cursing, Gun violence, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Stalking, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Body horror, Child abuse, Classism, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Torture, Toxic friendship, Trafficking, Bullying, Colonisation, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Gaslighting, Grief, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Gore, Medical content, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, and Rape
samdalefox's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
There are HUGE topics introduced such as intellectual property rights and access to medicines, slavery/indenture, autonomy, robotic intelligence, corporate capitalism, and climate change and none are sufficiently explored. The novel simply needed to be longer with more depth to give us time to immerse ourselves in the jargon-overfilled world and actually get to know these characters and feel the lives they are living and the consequences of their actions. The whole thing came across more superficial that intended, especially considering the moral arguments around literally any one of the topics listed above. Even the goddamn romances were superficial. I found the ending pleasing in some areas, anticlimatic overall, and a bit confusing
Andystone's review sums it up:
"...The plot follows two different sets of characters, switching off every chapter until the climax where they meet… for all of one page. There was no discussion, no one learned anything and nothing was solved. By the time I got through 80% of the story, I worried that there wouldn’t be enough time to do something compelling to give a reason for the trials and tribulations of the previous couple hundred pages. Sadly, those worries were well founded...."
Moderate: Drug use, Homophobia, and Slavery
Minor: Sexual content, Trafficking, Forced institutionalization, Murder, Colonisation, and Violence