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kaseyd's review
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
abomine's review
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
DNF'd around 50%. The concepts and overall plot summary made this book sound epic as hell. Killer cyborg dolphins? Man playing god and then reaping their own tragic destruction? World War 3? A grimdark take on cetacean intelligence? Sign me tf up.
I ended up getting a little bit of all the cool stuff mentioned above, but what I mostly got were a whole lot of navel-gazing, misery porn, long periods of nothing happening punctuated by the occasional exciting (and/or violent) scene, starring a cast of characters I couldn't care about. I don't even remember their names, just stereotypes: Depressed Russian Protag, Depressed Russian coworkers, Killer Cyborg Dolphins (the best characters in the whole book, yet were barely in it) and Sexy Scientist Lady who just exists to provide the Depressed Russian Protag a good time in bed. The stilted and unnatural dialogue certainly didn't help much.
I might pick this up again in the future, though. Again, the premise is solid and the thoroughly unromantic portrayal of dolphins is interesting, but at this point, reading this felt more like a chore than a pastime.
I ended up getting a little bit of all the cool stuff mentioned above, but what I mostly got were a whole lot of navel-gazing, misery porn, long periods of nothing happening punctuated by the occasional exciting (and/or violent) scene, starring a cast of characters I couldn't care about. I don't even remember their names, just stereotypes: Depressed Russian Protag, Depressed Russian coworkers, Killer Cyborg Dolphins (the best characters in the whole book, yet were barely in it) and Sexy Scientist Lady who just exists to provide the Depressed Russian Protag a good time in bed. The stilted and unnatural dialogue certainly didn't help much.
I might pick this up again in the future, though. Again, the premise is solid and the thoroughly unromantic portrayal of dolphins is interesting, but at this point, reading this felt more like a chore than a pastime.
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