Reviews

Dark Matter by Blake Crouch

ahmedaminea's review against another edition

3.0

Incredibly fast-paced, intriguing, and filled with "OMG" moments all the way through. This book truly messed me up; I finished it in one day. It is however probably full of loop holes, the scope of the story is so immense, that it is quite impossible to resolve the conflict in a way that doesn't disappoint someone, I probably could point out multiple moments when things didn't necessarily make sense, still it didn't matter for me, because I was not really hoping for a perfectly thought out time/universe travel story.

The writing could have been better—it's very bland, and the characters sometimes lack depth.

However, this doesn't change the fact that this book is brilliant and super fun.

meghaha's review against another edition

3.0

Dark Matter was gripping and entertaining but not without its shortcomings. At first, it felt like a book remake of Nick Cage's 2000 film the Family Man: man finds himself in an alternate reality and experiences the life he would've had if he'd made a different choice about having a family versus a career years back. In Dark Matter's case, the main character, Jason, is kidnapped and thrown into a world where he's unmarried and childless, but hey, in this world, he's a ground-breaking physicist that discovered how to tranverse the multiverse, so that's pretty impressive.

Actually, the point at which multiverse travel is introduced is the point at which my brain really started to have a problem with this book. It's not that I don't love the multiverse or the idea of parallel worlds in a story-- I really do. The problem is that Dark Matter's take didn't make logical sense to me. The method of multiverse travel was some next level, handwavey ridiculousness (apparently, all you have to do is build a metal box and inject yourself with some drugs). And if there
are an infinite amount of worlds that branch depending on the choices we make, not matter how small,

Spoiler

I don't understand how 100s of surplus Jasons would end up in one particular world rather than one that was miniscule-y different--just because every version of him would think so slightly differently it would necessarily lead them into a different world, one perhaps where someone didn't miss the buss they needed to catch, but still had Daniella, Charlie, and Jason 2

.

Another thing that bothered me was the sappiness / corniness.

But I'll stop complaining now because really, it's not a bad book.

abhignan's review against another edition

adventurous challenging tense medium-paced

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

5.0

jcampbell338's review against another edition

adventurous fast-paced

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

5.0

emahlee08's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

kleblanc's review against another edition

5.0

Such a phenomenal book! I had a hard time putting it down

samjayn7795's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-paced

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

3.75

philophilli's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

2.75

ryleesorrell's review against another edition

5.0

Number one book for me last year. As an avid romance reader this was really out of my comfort zone, but i think about it almost every day since finishing. Highly highly recommend to everyone and anyone.

maxinevsg's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective fast-paced

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

4.5