Reviews

Second Self by Una McCormack

cami5ado's review

5.0

Always a delight to read this author's work. Not where I expected the story to go from the summary - a pleasant surprise!

bibliocatts's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring mysterious reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

3.25

olegx's review

dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Уна МакКормак снова показывает насколько лучше "Пикард" мог бы быть.

gingerreader99's review

4.0

I'm really torn I'm not sure why I'm apprehensive about giving it 5 stars. I'm gonna sleep on it. And mark spoilers.

I'm gonna sleep on it because I'm not sure how I feel about the end to Garaks story. Particularly because, as a DS9 fan I feel like those characters have had little to no story post-end of DS9 in canon (shoutout to LD for actually bringing DS9 back)

But aside from that the story itself was quite emotional and moving. Impactful and intense in a relatively short package.

jedijake's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

5.0

spillie's review

adventurous funny mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

While there was lots I enjoyed about this book, something just didn’t click. It is always enjoyable to learn more backstory of favourite characters and this novel provided that. Perhaps my challenge was not watching DS9 regularly. Like the show Picard, there is a missed opportunity to further develop Elnor.  Recommended for Star Trek fans. 

grimorie's review

emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

I really enjoyed this book and finding more about Raffi and her time as an intelligence officer before washing out. It's a reflective book about who you are now and who you are then. 

There is a few things though that keeps it being a 5 and that's

for a book that's supposed to be about Raffi, the central figure of the show <i>isn't</i> Raffi but Garak. Don't mistake me, I love Garak, he's one of my favorite and his story is strong here. And that's the thing, <i>his</i> story and not Raffi. The moment Garak arrives the focus shifts solely on Garak.

 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: War and Drug use

taaya's review against another edition

dark sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I had a hard time following the plot. And somehow it made Garak less fun. The character was always somewhat good-hearted presenting, even though he probably was NOT good-hearted. Here he was mostly an arse. Without any humour, without the smirk that seemed to always be there. Hell, it even made him seem like on DS9 during the show he was a jerk in hindsight.

While it was nice to see Raffi and Elnor grow closer, and I enjoyed the local Romulan on the planet, the portrayal of Garak overshadowed the rest.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Drug abuse, War, and Violence

Moderate: Alcohol

ripley1992's review

adventurous emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• 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

3.75

I enjoyed this book by the author but sadly not quite as much as the previous one. There are parts where I was massively engrossed, and then parts where I was a little confused. This confusion makes sense in the end, and the conclusion is immensely satisfy and finally unveils the mystery. But sometimes the process of getting there can lag. I will say however the writing of some of the key characters is stellar, especially in some of the newly introduced ones. 

mr_sosotris's review

adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5