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zany25's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-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
4.75
Fun, exciting, and definitely tinged with dramatic flair I had a great time with this book. It was enjoyable and exciting in the slightly pulpy way that got me just anxious enough to propel me onwards once things get running.
I’ve been a fan of the author’s video essays since I was a teenager and I think that lent some nostalgic voice to the narration for me and definitely earns me some bias I’ll have to admit to, but I enjoyed myself throughout. It’s very much like the kind of sci fi I enjoyed when I was younger but with a darker spice at moments.
I’ve been a fan of the author’s video essays since I was a teenager and I think that lent some nostalgic voice to the narration for me and definitely earns me some bias I’ll have to admit to, but I enjoyed myself throughout. It’s very much like the kind of sci fi I enjoyed when I was younger but with a darker spice at moments.
Graphic: Violence and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Car accident, Confinement, Genocide, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, and Classism
Minor: Excrement and Vomit
Existentialist threats—cosmic scale, alien-on-alien racism and eugenics discussedbrnineworms's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This is YA. That’s not a positive or negative judgement, just an observation. It wasn’t marketed as YA fiction as far as I recall but that is absolutely how it reads – a college-age protagonist who needs to learn a lesson or two about responsibility, an intermittently-relevant family, awkward romance, drama, angst, queer rep, etc. I enjoyed it but I can see I’m not the target audience.
Also,I feel like a lot more could have been done with the fact that Ampersand’s knowledge of Earth culture was hundreds of years out of date. He could have spoken Middle English, for example. The point was that he thought humans were violent and backwards, owing to the fervent religious fundamentalism and purges he witnessed in the wake of the Black Death. But then that seems kind of unnecessary, because we’d already seen him horrified by humans eating meat – there was no need to invoke medieval atrocities when there are already aspects of modern life which he finds abhorrent. This may seem nitpicky but it’s superfluous details like this that end up making the book at least a hundred pages longer than it needed to be. Thankfully, the quick pace prevented the story from feeling like a slog.
I’d recommend Axiom’s End to fans of Stephenie Meyer’s The Host. It has a similar vibe.
Also,
I’d recommend Axiom’s End to fans of Stephenie Meyer’s The Host. It has a similar vibe.
Graphic: Blood, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Suicide, Confinement, Self harm, Stalking, and Violence
Moderate: Racism, Death, Antisemitism, Cursing, Drug use, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexual content
Minor: Torture, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Ableism, Car accident, Colonisation, Grief, Gun violence, Islamophobia, Slavery, Vomit, Murder, War, Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Excrement, and Fire/Fire injury
mind control, not having control over one's own body
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