Reviews

I found this book on a list of divisive novels you should read, but found it arduous to read and unfulfilling. The tone is very distracting and only finished by listening to the audiobook on 1.5x. It felt like Zach Snyder wrote a novel, in the worst sense.

secondhandbookshelves's review against another edition

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slow-paced

Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No

3.0

Should have been interesting but I got tired 40% of the way through and just skimmed the rest. Not really sure why I lost steam on it but at least it's done now 👍🏻

readerette's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny tense fast-paced

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

3.0

Weird, pretty original, irreverently funny, and way too long. Lots of time skipping and POV shifting, so if that's not your thing, beware. The excessive length comes from how drawn-out the attack is as well as from lots of things that seem only partially related to the main story.

Content Warnings

nukie19's review

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dark funny tense medium-paced

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

2.5

sam_hildebrandt's review against another edition

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1.0

I didn't enjoy the book because I found the layout distracting. There are two perspectives, Sarah and Rose; plus an objective article-like point of view. Additionally, within each of Sarah and Rose's sections, there are time jumps between the extremely short chapters. It was a little weird, and sometimes hard to keep the story lines straight.

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.

Content Warnings

theangrystackrat's review

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adventurous funny medium-paced

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

4.0

kcreadsthings's review against another edition

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Lost interest, stopped caring about the characters.

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