Reviews tagging 'Rape'

The Regional Office is Under Attack! by Manuel Gonzales

1 review

sunbathingturtle's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny lighthearted mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

What! A! Book! 

Female assassins! Spunky characters! Conflicting accounts! Mystery! World building that doesn’t interrupt the plot! Really, what more could you ask for?

I almost abandoned the book in the first chapter because of the hyperbolic teenage narration, but sticking it out was more than worth it. 

The only reason this is not 5 stars is because
the ending disappointed me. Was it realistic? Sure. But if it had to end like that, then I wanted more about the character’s motivations, specifically Emma’s motivations. Plus, I thought it was nonsensical that Wendy and the mercenaries tortured Sarah. Why would they waste valuable time in a coup to do that, when there was no information to steal? That seemed completely implausible to me. Unless Sarah imagined it? Which also seems doubtful. That entire little bit seemed like a plot hole to me.
Also, if you’re not okay with unanswered questions in your books, this one might frustrate you (conflicting accounts and unreliable narration abound). You also have to be onboard with superpowers and interdimensional evil and robots and the like. But if you do like that stuff, you’ll love this! I see some reviews complaining that the depiction of women by a male author veered on caricature. I can see where they’re coming from, but I think that was simply the style of the book irrespective of gender. Characters were riffs on common archetypes (rebellious teen, Type A revenge-seeker, universally loved boy-next-door) but they went deep. They never felt one-note to me. Campy? Sure. Over-the-top? Of course! The same way a well-loved pop culture supervillain might be. They were characters that could weather many canon arcs (should that ever be required of them). I did not find them trite or hastily-fastened. 

Also, the audiobook narration was 10/10. Highly recommend.

This book scratched so many thematic itches. The prose was unlike anything I’ve ever read before. Simply a delight.
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