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3.61 AVERAGE
3.61 AVERAGE
This was a fun ride! Baseball, murder mystery, organ transplants and body upgrades — what a unique combination of subjects. The characters were done well enough but not terribly memorable; it's the storyline itself — which got better as the book went on — that brought it up from a 3.5 to a 4 for me.
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
There were so many great ideas in this book but I felt the author was trying too hard, trying to include every single thing he could think of to add to the world building or plot but without really adding any depth. It seemed superficial and like he was checking off a list of what sounded good.
It was hard to like any of the characters; the main character wasn’t particularly sympathetic and other important characters seemed likable up until they really weren’t. The only really sympathetic character was Lila and she wasn’t fully developed.
The whole feeling was of smarminess. I know this was intentional but it didn’t make it enjoyable. I’m very liberal but this was just too strong an analogy of how the white conservatives are stifling and crushing anything non-white and non-conservative. More subtlety would have been more effective.
I found the issue of cloning better developed in Richard K Morgan’s book Altered Carbon, and body swapping more creatively shown in Kathryn Bigelow’s movie Strange Days. As I said, lots of good ideas here but I didn’t care for the presentation.
It was hard to like any of the characters; the main character wasn’t particularly sympathetic and other important characters seemed likable up until they really weren’t. The only really sympathetic character was Lila and she wasn’t fully developed.
The whole feeling was of smarminess. I know this was intentional but it didn’t make it enjoyable. I’m very liberal but this was just too strong an analogy of how the white conservatives are stifling and crushing anything non-white and non-conservative. More subtlety would have been more effective.
I found the issue of cloning better developed in Richard K Morgan’s book Altered Carbon, and body swapping more creatively shown in Kathryn Bigelow’s movie Strange Days. As I said, lots of good ideas here but I didn’t care for the presentation.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Death, Drug use, Gore, Violence, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book was a ride. The world building was so interesting and tone setting. It felt like there were so much hidden behind every tiny detail. I got just enough to be fascinated and not so much as to be overwhelmed or to see the seams. The mystery itself was relatively interesting but the characters and world were what kept me reading.
adventurous
challenging
dark
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
adventurous
reflective
tense
medium-paced
slow-paced
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is an unpleasant, gritty novel, that manages to be pleasant to read. The satirical aspects of the body scout were extremely well done and I enjoyed the novel's slyly comedic edge and wit. Where this book didn't ultimately resonate for me was in its balance of world-building and plot/character development. By the end, I felt bogged down by the book's detailed focus on baseball and the perhaps too heavy emphasis on building the world because the story--despite its unexpected twists--was not giving me great returns on my investment into these details.
dark
funny
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes