Reviews tagging 'Medical content'

Prophet by Sin Blaché, Helen Macdonald

3 reviews

schnaucl's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I really enjoyed this book.   I really liked the dynamic between Rao and Adam and their dynamic with Hunter.  

The idea of something that manifests your nostalgia is an intriguing one, as is the idea of someone who immediately knows if something is true.  I can certainly see why intelligence agencies would want to control a person with such an ability.  Frankly, I'm surprised they'd ever let him in the field given what a valuable resource he would be.  

I did not see it's all a big Libertarian plot to weaponize nostalgia coming as the explanation, although the politics of it, and the reckless disregard for testing it on an unsuspecting populace, certainly tracks.

I feel a little ambivalent about the ending.  I suppose given the government connections, they could officially undo Rao's death, although explaining it to his family would be more of a challenge.    I also wonder if Rao being a recreation, even a perfect one, will start to cause problems down the line.  I would think it would be difficult to not have imposter syndrome.

I think this is a standalone book but I'd definitely read more if they wanted to make it a series.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Death, Body horror, Drug abuse, and Violence

Minor: Alcoholism, Gun violence, Vomit, Animal death, War, Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, Domestic abuse, Suicide attempt, Torture, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Sexual content, and Racism

letopotato's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

This is a spy-thriller, a sci-fi novel and a love story at the same time. It's incredibly odd, often a little all over the place, yet very entertaining. The dynamic between the chaotic Rao and the seemingly stoic Adam is typical and nothing new, but still kept me interested. The combination of the urge to get to know those two characters and their relationship better and wanting to find out what the hell is going on with those objects being created out of nowhere was absolutely perfect. There was enough time for the characters to breathe, but also enough urgency for the plot to continue. This is the first novel in a while where I didn't dislike the main characters – which is very refreshing. "Prophet" is definitely a recommendation from me!
My only point of criticism is that there are many unanswered questions at the end as to how Prophet actually worked or where it came from. It got a little too confusing, even considering the sci-fi aspect of this novel.

In the end, it seemed to me like Prophet could do whatever was 'useful' or interesting in certain points of the story, and that this was more or less decided on a whim. The way Rao was handled at the end of the novel seemed a little disconnected from the abilities of Prophet before.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Violence, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Alcohol, Cursing, Medical content, Child abuse, Blood, Murder, Death, and Gun violence

Minor: Sexual content, Torture, and Racism

scifi_rat's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

3.75

Plot: 3★
Prose: 4★
Pace: 4★
Concept/Execution: 5★/3.75★
Characters: 4.75★
Worldbuilding: 3.5★
Ending: 3.5★

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Medical content, and Violence

Moderate: Physical abuse, Racism, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Emotional abuse, Grief, Murder, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Colonisation, Gun violence, Homophobia, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Mental illness

Minor: Gaslighting, Antisemitism, and Panic attacks/disorders