Reviews

The Archive Undying by Emma Mieko Candon

ainsleym's review

4.0

B tier version of Ancillary Justice by way of Exordia and This is How You Lose the Time War... but like B isn't a bad grade I really liked this!!!

Complaints: the first half dragged and the second half prioritized style over clarity to the point that I couldn't tell whose POV we were in (but also shifting identities is a major plot point so I kinda get it? but also also I should've had at least some idea)

Positives: the world is immaculate!!!!!! perfect amount of detail/vibes for you to fill in the rest, if you get it you get it! obsessed with the writing style, it's clever in a fun way that's such a delight to read! the concepts in this book are ones that I love, and I will absolutely be reading anything Emma Mieko Candon publishes in the future

lahela42's review

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad 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

5.0

peskilanim's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.0

danawfaith's review

challenging mysterious reflective tense slow-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

4.0

This might have been the greatest book I've ever read but I'm not quite sure I understand it enough to say. As someone who loves the sort of spec fic that throws you in and doesn't explain anything, this is probably the very edge of my limit before I'm like dude. What are you talking about. It crossed over a couple times there.
That being said, the structure and writing style is gorgeous, I love the characters, Sunai was made in a lab to appeal to me specifically. Creative use of pronouns is one of my favourite story tools and this book is probably the best I've ever seen it. 

gekkogi's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

rosecoloredlove's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

4.25

katsmedialibrary's review against another edition

Might come back to it but couldn’t keep up w current brain fog levels 

tamerlorika's review

adventurous challenging emotional tense fast-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? It's complicated

3.75

Things I loved:

The world and the backdrop were what I can only describe as lush. The cultures, the posts apocalyptic, the life out of the brokenness - delicious. The characters were all incredible, and I kept reading for them.

Some god tier old man toxic romance, for a certain value of 'old'

 

I may not have been art enough for the plot, though. The first 75% is complex, toothsome, and really exciting. You have to pay attention, but the payoff is there. The last 25%, however, was far too difficult to folks. All of the narrators are unreliable, which I don't mind, but they were unreliable about exposition as well, which made it that much harder to follow.

Then, with so MUCH head hopping and brain sharing, the pronouns got completely impossible to keep straight, and I had no idea what might have happened.

Ultimately, the ending was somewhat satisfying, if a bit hard to tell what loose ends were wrapped and which weren't. Could have used a longer last chapter. 

The vibes were immaculate, the characters rich, the plot was just a bit much for me to fully immerse myself in. Enjoyed it, though.

trinforeman's review

3.0

This is likely one of the hardest books to review.

Thank you to NetGalley for an audio review copy of this book.

1. The prose in this book is absolutely beautiful. There were definitely times that, had I had the ebook, I'd be highlighting like crazy.

2. The characters are very interesting.

3. The world-building is wild and engrossing.

However, this book is entirely confusing. There is so much going on that it's difficult to keep everything straight. It definitely kept my interest from start to finish, but I can't even tell you if there was a plot or what that plot was supposed to be. It's an adventure story but the adventure is full of these bits of reflection from the AIs (gods) of this world. The concepts are very cool. That's a large reason I kept reading. Much like A Memory Called Empire, I found myself intrigued by these things enough to keep going.

The ending is confusing and open ended, so I don't think people will like that much. However, it didn't really bother me, as I found most of the book a bit confusing.

solhibou's review

mysterious slow-paced

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

3.0