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mollymadworld's review against another edition
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
This is one of the worst yet compelling books I have ever read. I enjoyed it but it was awful.
The main characters are ridiculous charicatures of people whilst the sci-fi elements feel like an alien was told to write science fiction. The worst part is the Stephanie Meyer brand of lolita that she slips into every book. WHY is the character at the end 17 but pretending to be 18 so that her new boyfriend doesn't feel weird.
The ending is literally the worst and I probably should have DNF'd this at page 80, I read 600 pages of almost no plot development or character development.
The main characters are ridiculous charicatures of people whilst the sci-fi elements feel like an alien was told to write science fiction. The worst part is the Stephanie Meyer brand of lolita that she slips into every book. WHY is the character at the end 17 but pretending to be 18 so that her new boyfriend doesn't feel weird.
The ending is literally the worst and I probably should have DNF'd this at page 80, I read 600 pages of almost no plot development or character development.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pedophilia
Moderate: Violence, Death, Sexual assault, War, and Torture
dirtandtrees's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.5
This was my first Stephenie Meyer book and I think I can safely say it will be my last. It was just…not good. To be fair, I am definitely not the target audience for this book and based off the plot I should have known I wouldn't like it. I don't really like sci-fi, and aliens as a concept really freak me out. I read this book because a friend told me it's her favorite book, so I thought it must have something going for it.
I knew going into it that I probably wouldn't like the plot, but I expected such a famous writer to be better at writing. Stephenie Meyer is not a good writer. None of the characters felt like real people. Even as an autistic person, the dialogue felt unrealistic and pretty much always made me cringe. Also random capitalization of improper nouns is annoying.
This might just be me because I am very asexual and very not the target audience for this book and probably not for Stephenie Meyer's work in general, but I really hated the love triangle. I thought it was very unnecessary and only took away from the plot. Knowing what little I know about Twilight, I feel like the love triangle was just copied and pasted. It felt like the classic trope of two huge, massive, gigantic, muscular hunks fighting over a weak, helpless girl. They literally had several arguments about who got to carry the main character. Poor character development made both of the men pretty unappealing in my opinion. I also thought it was stupid how the physical body, not Melanie, had so much impact on the Wanderer's actions and desires. I feel like the point of the book is that a person's physical body and what they look like externally is irrelevant to the core of who a person is. At least that should have been the point of the book. It would have been much more interesting.But anyway I thought it was stupid that the Wanderer was in love with Jared because the physical body wanted him, even though the Wanderer herself wasn't attracted to him and didn't want to be attracted to him.
The plot also bothered me. I thought it was an interesting concept and had potential, but Stephenie Meyer just didn't really do anything with it. This book could have been really tense and action-packed, but nothing really ever happened. Throughout the entire book there was this huge looming threat of the seekers finding the cave or the humans when they go out on raids, but every time something remotely interesting happened the whole issue was resolved in like half a page. Or at least that's what it felt like. Sure there were a couple deaths and a couple fights, but it never felt like anything was ever actually at stake.
The ending was way too convenient and way too happy. Completely unrealistic. The main character was so close to doing the right thing at the end. Just when I thought Stephenie Meyer had an ounce of self-respect, she completely changed the direction of the plot and it made it feel like there was no point to the whole story.A good chunk of the book leading up to the end was centered around the ethical implications of taking free will away from an entire species, and the main character slowly realized that this was horrifically wrong and she was not exempt from this issue even if a small group of humans liked her. She was about to set a really important precedent in an act of self-sacrifice, and then the humans took that away from her, basically just said "fuck it," and decided it was fine to take away someone else's free will for personal gain. Stephenie Meyer justified it by saying there was no human left to occupy the host, but it just didn't have to be like that. They could've made an actual impact on the human race, but the author decided it was fine for humans to die out to an invasive alien race as long as a few of the aliens were somewhat likable. Even if the Wanderer had been allowed to do the right thing, it was heavily implied that it was just fine for the souls to continue to do the exact same thing to all of the other alien races they've taken over. Just as long as they didn't do it to humans because humans are *special and deep and emotional.* The ending knocked the rating down at least a full star.
The main character was repeatedly described as being very tan, which didn't make sense given that she was underground with no exposure to sunlight for the majority of the book. Just bothered me.
As an important side note, pedophilia is low-key used as a kink in this book and it was really unnecessary to the plot. Bad vibes.
I knew going into it that I probably wouldn't like the plot, but I expected such a famous writer to be better at writing. Stephenie Meyer is not a good writer. None of the characters felt like real people. Even as an autistic person, the dialogue felt unrealistic and pretty much always made me cringe. Also random capitalization of improper nouns is annoying.
This might just be me because I am very asexual and very not the target audience for this book and probably not for Stephenie Meyer's work in general, but I really hated the love triangle. I thought it was very unnecessary and only took away from the plot. Knowing what little I know about Twilight, I feel like the love triangle was just copied and pasted. It felt like the classic trope of two huge, massive, gigantic, muscular hunks fighting over a weak, helpless girl. They literally had several arguments about who got to carry the main character. Poor character development made both of the men pretty unappealing in my opinion. I also thought it was stupid how the physical body, not Melanie, had so much impact on the Wanderer's actions and desires. I feel like the point of the book is that a person's physical body and what they look like externally is irrelevant to the core of who a person is. At least that should have been the point of the book. It would have been much more interesting.
The plot also bothered me. I thought it was an interesting concept and had potential, but Stephenie Meyer just didn't really do anything with it. This book could have been really tense and action-packed, but nothing really ever happened. Throughout the entire book there was this huge looming threat of the seekers finding the cave or the humans when they go out on raids, but every time something remotely interesting happened the whole issue was resolved in like half a page. Or at least that's what it felt like. Sure there were a couple deaths and a couple fights, but it never felt like anything was ever actually at stake.
The ending was way too convenient and way too happy. Completely unrealistic. The main character was so close to doing the right thing at the end. Just when I thought Stephenie Meyer had an ounce of self-respect, she completely changed the direction of the plot and it made it feel like there was no point to the whole story.
The main character was repeatedly described as being very tan, which didn't make sense given that she was underground with no exposure to sunlight for the majority of the book. Just bothered me.
As an important side note, pedophilia is low-key used as a kink in this book and it was really unnecessary to the plot. Bad vibes.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Pedophilia
cowboylikestoread43's review against another edition
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Significant age gap between protagonist and love interest, 17-26. Pedophilia.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation, Gore, Grief, Stalking, Injury/Injury detail, Drug use, Violence, Death, Medical content, and Pedophilia
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