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3.7 AVERAGE
3.7 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I wanted to love this because the premise is interesting, but couldn’t. I didn’t enjoy the writing style, with unnecessary parentheses and a confusing timeline. Felt like it would have made a better episode of Black Mirror than a novel.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
mysterious
tense
medium-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
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-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
I really liked this book for most of it but felt a little eh about the end for reasons I’m not sure of yet.
Five stars isn't enough for this masterpiece. Raises important questions, has great insights. But the best part is the confident unapologetic storytelling, the way the author controls the story and weaves the threads together. Truly exceptional.
August Book club read. 3.5 ⭐️ Overall, the concept was great. The execution was good. I really enjoyed the thought provoking exploration of memory and it’s implications, as well as the acknowledgment of its fallibility. (Also, super exciting to see a shout out to flash bulb memory research, which some of my colleagues worked on!)
In terms of writing/style/etc. This had so many story lines that it was hard to get invested in any one of them. By the time we circled back around I had forgotten where we left off with the character(s). It really took something away from the narrative. There were also a lot of time shifts within story lines, which was disorienting, distracting, and unnecessary. At times, during these remembered conversations, there were no freaking quotation marks around conversations, which was infuriating. It seemed completely inconsistent which conversations did and did not have them and ultimately became so frustrating that I switched to audiobook. Some of the characters were endearing, but others were very one dimensional and I just could not get invested in them or their story line. The pacing was uneven; it moved so slowly in the beginning and was very rushed at the end. While things tied together beautifully, it felt so hurried that I didn’t feel like I had enough time to absorb it all, and days later I still feel that sense of whiplash.
In terms of writing/style/etc. This had so many story lines that it was hard to get invested in any one of them. By the time we circled back around I had forgotten where we left off with the character(s). It really took something away from the narrative. There were also a lot of time shifts within story lines, which was disorienting, distracting, and unnecessary. At times, during these remembered conversations, there were no freaking quotation marks around conversations, which was infuriating. It seemed completely inconsistent which conversations did and did not have them and ultimately became so frustrating that I switched to audiobook. Some of the characters were endearing, but others were very one dimensional and I just could not get invested in them or their story line. The pacing was uneven; it moved so slowly in the beginning and was very rushed at the end. While things tied together beautifully, it felt so hurried that I didn’t feel like I had enough time to absorb it all, and days later I still feel that sense of whiplash.
This is a very good book.
It's almost like I've been tricked into reading literature, with a thin veneer of Sci-fi, or at least future science that might as well be sci-fi.
The stories surrounding the plot are beautifully and interestingly told. Harkin never drops the ball on any of the main tales, and keeps them all connected in cool and interesting ways.
In the end you have and emotion packed novel that deals with major themes of love, loss (in more than one way), relationships, parents, work and on and on.....
It's almost like I've been tricked into reading literature, with a thin veneer of Sci-fi, or at least future science that might as well be sci-fi.
The stories surrounding the plot are beautifully and interestingly told. Harkin never drops the ball on any of the main tales, and keeps them all connected in cool and interesting ways.
In the end you have and emotion packed novel that deals with major themes of love, loss (in more than one way), relationships, parents, work and on and on.....
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes