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waterbear0821's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Pros:
-well-executed, unique sci-fi time travel
-twisty and brain-expanding
-captivating description of dystopian future; good world-building
Cons:
-truly how many racial slurs and homophobic slurs and how much violent misogyny must I read?
-so, so many content warnings
-the author is a musician and the droning, pretentious descriptions of the songs and music characters are playing or listening to throughout the book are cringe and insufferable
-high on aesthetics, light on plot. I’m curious what this author will write in the future
Graphic: Sexual assault, Murder, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicide, Transphobia, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Homophobia, and Cultural appropriation
hfrancesh's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Violence, Transphobia, Sexual violence, Rape, Racism, and Racial slurs
Moderate: Dysphoria, Colonisation, Murder, and Medical content
Minor: Animal cruelty
talonsontypewriters's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.25
The most interesting elements of that world, like an "instant sex change" injection, are treated effectively as set dressing, never really explored in depth. Instead, the meandering plot follows uninteresting, indistinct characters through events and timelines that are equally difficult to differentiate. Despite parts of their backstories being recounted in detail, I have no sense of who most of the characters are as people... other than their bigoted attitudes.
Such views being expressed by characters is one thing, but they're present in excess and never treated with especial gravity or challenged meaningfully by the narrative, and if anything seem reinforced by it. Black characters are invariably treated with disdain, to say nothing of the constant use of the N-word (by a non-Black author and translator), and the trans protagonist is only appropriately gendered after undergoing full physical transition, with no real conscious examination of his identity and experiences. Perhaps these are purposeful qualities of the setting, but if so it's never communicated well.
Could have probably been very interesting in a different format, but the combination of dense writing and gratuitous racism/homophobia and sexual violence made it far from an enjoyable read.
Graphic: Drug use, Violence, Sexual violence, Racism, Medical content, Misogyny, and Racial slurs
Moderate: Sexual content, Animal death, Murder, Death, Homophobia, Transphobia, Body horror, Gore, and Gun violence
Minor: Antisemitism, Incest, Pedophilia, Fatphobia, Vomit, Ableism, Abortion, and Child abuse
valpal77's review against another edition
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Animal death, Racism, Sexual content, Suicide, Addiction, Drug abuse, Lesbophobia, Mental illness, Murder, Racial slurs, Drug use, Homophobia, Misogyny, and Death
Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Dysphoria
femmenova's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? No
Between that and finding out that the author is a whole ass non-Black person, which immediately made me reading the work uncomfortable because of the casual N-word being thrown around and how every Black supporting person in the book is hated by the main character(s).
Listen, I have read a lot of dark literary books that does not have a single redeeming character in them. Books like The Black Cathedral are of a similar tone to this one but the writing was far more simplistic and the millions of characters that were written were developed in a Show-Not-Dump way.
Not for me at all which sucks because I was excited to read this!
Graphic: Pedophilia, Homophobia, Addiction, Fatphobia, Sexual assault, Racial slurs, Sexual violence, Murder, and Drug use
jelka_theclimatereader's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Violence, Sexual content, Racism, and Homophobia
Moderate: Sexism and Sexual assault
Minor: Animal cruelty, Deadnaming, Drug use, and Murder
morebedsidebooks's review against another edition
Moderate: Child abuse, Murder, Sexual assault, Racism, Drug use, and Animal death
This book also features sex work, slurs and religious cults.