Reviews tagging 'Car accident'

A Thousand Small Explosions by John Marrs

30 reviews

challenging dark fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I read this book for a book club, and while it wasn’t what I usually read, I tired to be optimistic. However, this book ended up just being weirder and more messed up than I would have even guessed. When the serial killer doesn’t have the darkest and  most messed up plot, that’s saying something. If the darkness was my only issue, I would have ranked it higher, but I felt the plot had many holes, the characters were hard to love, and it relied to much on telling the audience what was going on / what to think then letting the plot show them. All in all, it just felt flat. The shock factors of the last 20 chapters was the only highlight to me. 

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emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
dark tense fast-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

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
challenging emotional mysterious tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

This one had a slow start...so much so that I almost put it down. Once I got through maybe 30% I was hooked!

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
dark tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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reflective tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

This is a mix between sci-fi, speculative fiction and thriller. This book has an interesting concept that makes you reflect. This feels like a black mirror episode. It also reminded me a bit of The Measure by Nikki Erlick. 

In this book we follow multiple people who have taken the Match Your DNA Test. As a result they end up in various interesting situations. I think the author did a great job depicting different possible scenarios people could end up with if the test would have been real. The concept is easy to understand which makes it an easy and fast read. 

I read this book in audio format and I sometimes found it difficult to remember the characters especially in the beginning. The book alternates between the five characters but because there are many main characters (five) I was often confused and needed to remember again what was going on in their story. Because there are five characters you also need some time to get familiar with all of them but don't have time enough to get truly attach to the characters.

Every POV ends with a small cliff-hanger which keeps you interested and all of the POVs got a plot twist I didn't expect. This made it feel like you are reading a thriller. Overall, an enjoyable, reflective and fast read.

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emotional sad tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

This was a fun book but also provocative. In my day job, I deal a lot with what's in this book - digital ethics, cyber crime, data integrity, data privacy, among other things. So this book had an extra layer of interest for me, but I think most people would find all these topics fascinating to ponder.

The book was wedged against something everyone wants in life - true love. We are programmed to believe in it and yearn for it and chase it since we are little with fairytales (though they are way toooooo sexist for my comfort). I think most people would be glad to pay a fee for a guaranteed answer. I might. Actually, I probably would - assuming it would be affordable. But that's why I don't think it would ever be true or work even if it was - because aside from all the consequences explored in this book, I am also sure capitalist greed would completely drive the market and would either make it unaffordable and/or some form of corruption would occur and this book would be prescient. The science could be flawless, but humanity would get in our own way. We always do.

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

No thanks, I hated it.  Cringey romances, predictable plots, and yet unbelievable circumstances...

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous dark emotional tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

The story was well-written and definitely a page turner. I loved seeing how each characters story unfolded and the book explored some deep and unsettling themes. However, I don't know if I love the ending for a couple of characters
(Mandy - this is creepy to me, Ellie - is everything she learned about opening up just forgotten?)
I also wish the science was explored more especially about genes being passed down/sharing genes with someone (think about twins - how would their matches work?), but I understand this was just a story and not everything has to be 100% logical and fact based. 

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