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tayloryoung91's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
jaibee's review against another edition
3.0
I really wanted to enjoy this; I liked the premise, but I had NO desire to pick it up even when I was 80% through. I didn’t need to know what happened, I didn’t care enough about the characters. As with lots of dystopian/alternate reality-set novels, there felt like there were too many ideas, which overcomplicated an already twisty-turny story
reader19861978's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual violence
skiddlebosh's review against another edition
Had to return the book to the library
zenithharpink's review against another edition
3.0
2.5 stars. I really, REALLY didn't enjoy this book. One full star of my rating is due to the originality of the premise. I really didn't know what to expect from this read, but I thought it would be a bit more light-hearted and less...gritty. This book didn't match what I was expecting/hoping for AT ALL.
I really didn't enjoy the prose, it was weird for the sake of being weird, and served no purpose. The word mash-ups were bizarre and annoying, and the ungrammatical sentence structure and misspellings made no sense to me. Here's a question I was forced to ponder: If you're illiterate, when you're thinking in a language, does your mind spell things incorrectly? I don't think it does. Mr. Andrews disagrees.
I found the plot to meandering, with violence and heartbreak inserted just to break up the monotony, but it didn't serve any actual purpose. The ending was unsatisfying on virtually every level, and none of the characters held any real appeal-partly because they were under-developed, partly because they were subpar characters.
I only recommend this book based on the originality of the premise. I think the story construction could have been a lot better, the characters could have been enhanced, and the context could have been much better explained. Read at your own peril, but I do believe it is worth reading. Once.
I really didn't enjoy the prose, it was weird for the sake of being weird, and served no purpose. The word mash-ups were bizarre and annoying, and the ungrammatical sentence structure and misspellings made no sense to me. Here's a question I was forced to ponder: If you're illiterate, when you're thinking in a language, does your mind spell things incorrectly? I don't think it does. Mr. Andrews disagrees.
I found the plot to meandering, with violence and heartbreak inserted just to break up the monotony, but it didn't serve any actual purpose. The ending was unsatisfying on virtually every level, and none of the characters held any real appeal-partly because they were under-developed, partly because they were subpar characters.
I only recommend this book based on the originality of the premise. I think the story construction could have been a lot better, the characters could have been enhanced, and the context could have been much better explained. Read at your own peril, but I do believe it is worth reading. Once.
dlberglund's review against another edition
4.0
What a weird book! Like reading MT Anderson's Feed, reading Munmun is a completely immersive experience. Our narrator Warner's rambling, slang-filled explanation of life as he knows it is both confusing and insightful, both frustrating and intriguing. And a lot of the time, just super weird.
It's a world where money = literal size. If you have enough money in your scale account, you can go to the bank and they will scale you up to the appropriate size. Get into debt? Smaller it is. Things like schools and hospitals don't get made for people the size of rats, so being poor is pretty horrible. Though I can't imagine it would be a picnic being the size of a barge, the 1% don't seem to mind.
Warner and his sister Prayer are likable enough, and some of their adventures are worth the investment. There were a few turns that I had a hard time sticking with, and I still can't decide if it's a fault of the writing or if it's just my personal taste.
Worth the read for the economic commentary and flashbacks to other books with characters the size of rats...
It's a world where money = literal size. If you have enough money in your scale account, you can go to the bank and they will scale you up to the appropriate size. Get into debt? Smaller it is. Things like schools and hospitals don't get made for people the size of rats, so being poor is pretty horrible. Though I can't imagine it would be a picnic being the size of a barge, the 1% don't seem to mind.
Warner and his sister Prayer are likable enough, and some of their adventures are worth the investment. There were a few turns that I had a hard time sticking with, and I still can't decide if it's a fault of the writing or if it's just my personal taste.
Worth the read for the economic commentary and flashbacks to other books with characters the size of rats...
anna_of_green_gables's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
reflective
fast-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? No
3.5
mzdeb's review against another edition
2.0
DNF'd halfway through (I was listening to the audiobook.)
Maybe it was because Warner and his sister Prayer's circumstances kept changing so much--which, when you think about it, is a common predicament among society's poorest. And then I got to the point where things were suddenly looking up--not even halfway through the book--I thought "this is going to get worse, right? This won't last. God, if it gets worse again I'm going to be so pissed." And then I got busy and POOF went all desire to keep listening. Sorry :(
Maybe it was because Warner and his sister Prayer's circumstances kept changing so much--which, when you think about it, is a common predicament among society's poorest. And then I got to the point where things were suddenly looking up--not even halfway through the book--I thought "this is going to get worse, right? This won't last. God, if it gets worse again I'm going to be so pissed." And then I got busy and POOF went all desire to keep listening. Sorry :(