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adventurous
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Terminal illness, Violence, Kidnapping, Death of parent
Moderate: Child death, Rape, Alcohol
Minor: Misogyny, Abortion
Absolute dog shit. Main characters wife is nothing more than a pair of tits acting as a plot device. She gets raped-by-deception but apparently doesn’t seem to mind that much. Main character also cheats on his wife (it’s okay she doesn’t seem to mind about that either). Truly, a book about men written by a man. The moral of the story is that you should focus on family life and personal happiness instead of sacrificing that for your career. This is something all women are socialized to do from birth so I got nothing out of this book. Main character is an annoying ass hat. Honestly the entire book is just annoying. At this point the multiverse in general is just overused and annoying. This book reminds me that the only men’s right I believe in is a mans right to shut the fuck up. This is what I get from reading a book written by a man. Honestly, I was worried I was being unfair to men, but after reading this book I’m worried that I’m not being mean enough. I had to sit down and remind myself that there are good books written by men and then there are men out there that are capable of writing good books with developed female characters who don’t feel mid about being raped.
TL;DR: Terrible book. Absolutely hated it. Female main character gets raped-by-deception but doesn’t seem to care about it. She also gets cheated on by her husband and doesn’t care about it. Female main character is just a plot device with tits.
TL;DR: Terrible book. Absolutely hated it. Female main character gets raped-by-deception but doesn’t seem to care about it. She also gets cheated on by her husband and doesn’t care about it. Female main character is just a plot device with tits.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault
Obsessed, I love this story so much! It's got everything: a mystery, action, a truly bonkers spec fic story, thrills, and one of the best love stories I've read (and listened to) this year. I read the book earlier this month and was like "damn Jason sounds hot, I'm into it," but listening to the audiobook made him even hotter to me (the narrator's voice and performance was perfection)! I mean this dude is so in love with his wife......they way he talks about her...swoon.... This book is wild and you should read it immediately! You'll thank me later.
Also, watch the show on AppleTV+! It's fantastic! But don't watch the trailer for the show before reading the book. The trailer ruins the story.
Also, watch the show on AppleTV+! It's fantastic! But don't watch the trailer for the show before reading the book. The trailer ruins the story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Gaslighting
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Gun violence
Minor: Rape, Sexual content, Vomit, Pandemic/Epidemic
adventurous
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
⭐️⭐️⭐️
I’m struggling if this is 3 or 4 stars leaning. Maybe 3.75.
The concept and plot is excellent: 5 stars. The writing style and execution is okay: 3 stars. The characters are ver poorly written: 1 star.
Plot: There’s a lot of twists but some were predictable (at least from the standpoint that I as a reader figured it all out before the protagonist did (and he’s supposed to be a genius scientist)). I really like the themes, questions and philosophy this sci-fi proposes. What defines you? Regret and doubt and the path not taken. The first 100 pages are a bit slow but the next 240 pages are fast! Like really really fast in both plot and writing style.
Writing Style: Everything is short and punchy which successfully makes a fast page turner. Each sentence is like 5-10 words. Each paragraph is only 1 - 3 sentences. Some paragraphs only 5 words…..and I really liked that for the narrated part of the book. It reads like a movie. I liked that a lot of the details were up to me to decide & I think this writing approach allows readers to feel immersed in the action without being interrupted by over descriptive scenery or adverbs. But the dialogue is written in the same style which makes the characters appear really boring, flat, and uncompelling. Which takes me to my next point.
Characters: Everyone is so one directional. Characters come and go without proper send-offs which created to many unfinished subplots in my opinion. Each character talks in only 3 word replies, reading it honestly felt like trying to flirt with a really dry texter. My biggest issue is that this book is supposed to be a romance between a genius scientist & his artistic wife, but there was no love for each other except for their horniness.
Spoilers:What happened to Amanda? Is there hundreds of her now too? She was a major character and then suddenly forgotten. The reveal of their being hundreds of Jasons back at his home world was awesome (probably my favorite moment of the book) but the fight between them all was just: the Jason that is the most horny shall win (essentially). Jason was so horny in fact that his motive is being angry at Jason2 having sex with his wife when it should be him. Charlie, his son, is practically forgotten for 90% of the book. Also Jason is so horny he cheats on Daniela with another version of her & tries to justify it. Also he’s so horny he comes very close to cheating on Daniel’s with Amanda ….but then he conveniently never tells his wife that.
I’m struggling if this is 3 or 4 stars leaning. Maybe 3.75.
The concept and plot is excellent: 5 stars. The writing style and execution is okay: 3 stars. The characters are ver poorly written: 1 star.
Plot: There’s a lot of twists but some were predictable (at least from the standpoint that I as a reader figured it all out before the protagonist did (and he’s supposed to be a genius scientist)). I really like the themes, questions and philosophy this sci-fi proposes. What defines you? Regret and doubt and the path not taken. The first 100 pages are a bit slow but the next 240 pages are fast! Like really really fast in both plot and writing style.
Writing Style: Everything is short and punchy which successfully makes a fast page turner. Each sentence is like 5-10 words. Each paragraph is only 1 - 3 sentences. Some paragraphs only 5 words…..and I really liked that for the narrated part of the book. It reads like a movie. I liked that a lot of the details were up to me to decide & I think this writing approach allows readers to feel immersed in the action without being interrupted by over descriptive scenery or adverbs. But the dialogue is written in the same style which makes the characters appear really boring, flat, and uncompelling. Which takes me to my next point.
Characters: Everyone is so one directional. Characters come and go without proper send-offs which created to many unfinished subplots in my opinion. Each character talks in only 3 word replies, reading it honestly felt like trying to flirt with a really dry texter. My biggest issue is that this book is supposed to be a romance between a genius scientist & his artistic wife, but there was no love for each other except for their horniness.
Spoilers:
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gaslighting
Moderate: Death, Kidnapping, Stalking
Minor: Gun violence, Rape
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Gun violence, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Stalking, Abortion, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I really liked the premise of the book, some in interesting ideas, but didn't love the execution.
I didn't think the characterization was great Wished Jason felt more developed/ more science-y. He felt very dude-bro to me. Didn't like that he didn't feel guilty about Jason 2's Daniella dying. Wished Daniella was more developed, I didn't feel like I knew her at all. Really didn't appreciate that the only other female character, Amanda, was seemingly just chucked in with Jason so that he'd have someone to freak out with/ talk to during his adventure and was not fleshed out as a real character. Like she just gave up her entire world for a colleague? .
The main character felt like he was making really stupid decisions a lot of the time which took me out of the book a bit because it made me think about why tf he wasn't doing something else like him continuing to go into a quarantined world, him and Amanda not trying to find more ampoules - like they can go into any world, so they could've definitely found some more go bags with more ampoules ? Why didn't they ever try to find the friend that made the secret ingredient?
The writing felt a bit clunky sometimes, felt like it was written more to be a screenplay for tv show or movie like when Jason goes into his other self's house and it just goes on and on repeatedly "like this is different in my house" . But this did make the novel easy to visualize.
Pacing was a bit inconsistent, felt like it wrapped up too quickly given how much build up there was.
A bit too predictable.
I was hoping the romance plotline was going to be more engaging/ interesting and felt disappointed.
I didn't think the characterization was great
The main character felt like he was making really stupid decisions a lot of the time which took me out of the book a bit because it made me think about why tf he wasn't doing something else
The writing felt a bit clunky sometimes, felt like it was written more to be a screenplay for tv show or movie
Pacing was a bit inconsistent, felt like it wrapped up too quickly given how much build up there was.
A bit too predictable.
I was hoping the romance plotline was going to be more engaging/ interesting and felt disappointed.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Stalking, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Rape, Abortion
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Like Recursion, Dark Matter is fantastically mind-bending and all too easy to read in a day. It's incredibly violent and thought provoking. If you like your sci fi thrillers tinged with horror, existential dread and romance, this is the book for you.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Child death, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Car accident, Abortion, Death of parent, War
Minor: Cancer, Rape, Terminal illness, Pregnancy
If you struggle with derealisation, dissociation or depersonalisation, or any sort of identify disorder, this book could potentially be incredibly triggering. Proceed with extreme caution.
Violence warning: There is an incredibly detailed description of a gory epidemic/pandemic. There are multiple gory descriptions of dead bodies, murder, and horrific natural disasters. There is a long kidnapping scene. There's multiple instances of stalking.
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Kidnapping, Murder
Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Drug use, Gun violence, Infidelity, Rape, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Stalking, Abortion, Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Forced institutionalization, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Rounding up to five. This is the third of his books I’ve read, and each one hits the sweet spot for me. I love this author’s mind. The way he writes opens up my mind. I’m going to read every one of his books between this year and next.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Rape, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Pandemic/Epidemic