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jmpitchford's review against another edition
2.0
While the action at times was exciting, most of the book focused on relationships which seemed to lack real depth. Each character was dealing with an identity struggle mostly in isolation with the other characters, but everyone came together as if they were soulmates. There were definitely some strong ties to feminism in the book, and some question as to how much was too much, but even that question was only brought up at the end without exploration. An ok, quick read.
beastreader's review against another edition
4.0
I have not read anything by this author before. Instantly I was transported to Hope City. I got a clear picture of what the city looked like and could feel the icy, cold of the Artic. I think I would go out of my mind living in a place like Hope City during the long winter months. One I don't like winter and two having to ration my supplies all winter and worry that if the power went out how long would it be before everything started to freeze, is not my idea of a good life.
Right from the beginning I connected with Eliana and her boyfriend, Diego. They are a good couple but at the same time they could be like fire and ice. Marianella and Sofia are another story altogether. It did take me a while to slowly build up to them. In fact for the first third of the story, it was a blur what I read about them. It really was not until Marianella's secret was revealed and this happened later in the story that I than became intrigued by her and Sofia.
As I was reading the story, however it did feel like there were two sides of the story...Eliana and Diego and Marianella and Sofia. Yet the second half of the story was stronger and where I felt that all four of these characters stories came together and became one.
Right from the beginning I connected with Eliana and her boyfriend, Diego. They are a good couple but at the same time they could be like fire and ice. Marianella and Sofia are another story altogether. It did take me a while to slowly build up to them. In fact for the first third of the story, it was a blur what I read about them. It really was not until Marianella's secret was revealed and this happened later in the story that I than became intrigued by her and Sofia.
As I was reading the story, however it did feel like there were two sides of the story...Eliana and Diego and Marianella and Sofia. Yet the second half of the story was stronger and where I felt that all four of these characters stories came together and became one.
sbreemsdiekevers's review against another edition
4.0
Pretty good at world building and character building.
nightowlreview's review
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
sunscour's review against another edition
4.0
Enjoyable Dystopian Fiction with a Mystery driven plot. Gumshoe meets the androids, mafia type crimeboss and science!!
ginnikin's review against another edition
2.0
Neat concept, but I didn't love the story that was told.
Eliana frustrated me. She was a terrible investigator: no curiosity at all. She left the Juan Gonzalez question unanswered far too long. Also, she's dangerous with a gun and not so great with thinking things out in advance.
Everyone ignored the question of the blackouts for too long also. Sure, Sofia was in her ivory tower and not affected, but after she made her move, she should have cared more.
Overall, there was too much reacting and not enough acting.
Eliana frustrated me. She was a terrible investigator: no curiosity at all. She left the Juan Gonzalez question unanswered far too long. Also, she's dangerous with a gun and not so great with thinking things out in advance.
Everyone ignored the question of the blackouts for too long also. Sure, Sofia was in her ivory tower and not affected, but after she made her move, she should have cared more.
Overall, there was too much reacting and not enough acting.
lexiscee's review against another edition
4.0
I managed to win this book when I entered a Goodreads giveaway before it was officially released! So, many thanks to Goodreads and Saga Press. I was super excited, even though I knew I would have to wait until I came home during break from college to read it.
First things first, I love the front cover. It was one of the reasons I wanted to read the book. However, before I read it, I expected the book to be like a teen dystopian novel. But once I started to read it, I realized that it was much more original. I loved that the book was plot driven, since so many books are character driven. It felt more like a mystery than a dystopian novel, though it's definitely heavily sci-fi, as well.
My favorite character was Marianella. I felt like her backstory and emotions were developed the best. I also sympathized with her the most since she was stuck between two worlds. I was also pleasantly surprised by all of the twists and turns of Sofia's character, though I won't spoil anything here! But below, instead.
All in all, I really enjoyed this book and read it two sittings, as I tend to do when I get drawn into a book!
SPOILERS BELOW
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Marianella and Sofia's relationship also surprised me, though I ended up loving their complicated and raw relationship.
I did expect Diego's death, though that didn't make me any less sad about it. I only wished that he had more of a change of heart or mind before he died. I also wished that Eliana and Diego's relationship had been developed a little more, though it didn't bother me too much since their relationship seemed to fit with their personalities. I did want to see more of Diego's relationship with Cabrera, since it was so vital in shaping Diego's character.
I loved the ending, how Eliana focused on Luciano's memory of the rainstorm. It was such a powerful and real image in the book.
First things first, I love the front cover. It was one of the reasons I wanted to read the book. However, before I read it, I expected the book to be like a teen dystopian novel. But once I started to read it, I realized that it was much more original. I loved that the book was plot driven, since so many books are character driven. It felt more like a mystery than a dystopian novel, though it's definitely heavily sci-fi, as well.
My favorite character was Marianella. I felt like her backstory and emotions were developed the best. I also sympathized with her the most since she was stuck between two worlds. I was also pleasantly surprised by all of the twists and turns of Sofia's character, though I won't spoil anything here! But below, instead.
All in all, I really enjoyed this book and read it two sittings, as I tend to do when I get drawn into a book!
SPOILERS BELOW
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Marianella and Sofia's relationship also surprised me, though I ended up loving their complicated and raw relationship.
I did expect Diego's death, though that didn't make me any less sad about it. I only wished that he had more of a change of heart or mind before he died. I also wished that Eliana and Diego's relationship had been developed a little more, though it didn't bother me too much since their relationship seemed to fit with their personalities. I did want to see more of Diego's relationship with Cabrera, since it was so vital in shaping Diego's character.
I loved the ending, how Eliana focused on Luciano's memory of the rainstorm. It was such a powerful and real image in the book.
delaneybull's review against another edition
5.0
SO GOOD. So complex, amazing characters and a plot that draws you in then gets so complex and political, but never overly weighty or boring. I rooted for and hated characters simultaneously, and there are TWISTS, MAN. So good, and not at all what I was expecting from a one-off book!
leelah's review against another edition
3.0
Our Lady of the Ice takes a bit of [b:Under the Dome|6320534|Under the Dome|Stephen King|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1268982908s/6320534.jpg|6760952] and the bit of Fortitude, with a touch of Äkta människor thrown in. City under the dome in the middle of Antarctica, crime in such closed community and robots with artificial intelligence developed just enough to start questioning their role of servitude- when you look at parts of this novel, they all sound individually great, but somehow put together, story just isn't as interesting as I hoped it would be and not that memorable.
I'll start with good: Setting. Hope City is self-sustained city in Antarctica under the control of Argentinian government. How can a town set there be self sustained? Well, it started as an amusement park, but with establishing atomic power plants it became a considerable source of energy that's supplying not just Hope City but mainland as well. Maintenance of plants and other systems in HC is done by drones and robots, simple pieces of machinery purely developed to perform that duty. But in early time of Hope City there were more advanced machines like androids with intelligence and human appearance... and not all of them are destroyed. At the time our main character Eliana is hired by one of the most recognizable and important people, Marianella Luna, to retrieve papers that can destroy her, Hope City is facing frequent power outages which makes members of Independents, a political current advocating independence of Hope City from Argentina louder than ever. I liked that we are starting the story at the moment where this project of HC is starting to show its cracks. Everything is more suspenseful because whatever is happening with our characters, whatever they have to do in short timeframe, you can never look at it out of the bigger,dome picture. Lack of power leads to lack of heat which is a disaster there and you have no idea when it's going to happen or who's behind it.
But other side of the coin, characterization, didn't really work for me. Eliana, a PI who knows what her bf is doing and for whom, gets reckless af even after warnings, not to mention that the way she retrieved papers is more suited to hungry orphan walking past fruit stand in 18 century novel, than a licensed PI. And to be clear,
Spoiler
I think it's very clumsy done because they can find her right away...only by checking licensed female PIsThere was such a strong potential here, a promising setting, but characters were lacking which ultimately didn't let me fully connect with story.