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jayisreading's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
3.0
I really wanted to like this one more than I did. I really liked the characters, the premise was fascinating, and it had other elements that made me think, "Wow, this might be one of my favorite books this year." Unfortunately, I found the execution rather messy, especially towards the end when too many perspectives started coming into play.
I understand authors who just want to tell the story and leave it up to the reader to figure things out themself, but I felt that Candon needed to give the reader a little more to work with. I found that I was confused more often than I would have liked. I stuck with it, though, because I was really drawn to the world (at least what I was able to make sense of it) and the characters. The characters were wonderfully complex in all their flaws, and I especially loved the disability representation.
But to return to my issues, I found that I was mostly frustrated while reading this book, which isn't exactly the mood you want to be in. When certain ideas were introduced, I wanted to learn more about them, but Candon often moved on and left me hanging. I felt that I was given a lot of fragments but they didn't quite fit together to create a full picture. Maybe I wasn't as engaged as I should have been (even though I'd say I was in my attempt to follow what's happening), but things didn't pan out the way I hoped.
This book might work better as a reread, so I might give this one another try in the future, especially if it turns out this book is part of a series.
I understand authors who just want to tell the story and leave it up to the reader to figure things out themself, but I felt that Candon needed to give the reader a little more to work with. I found that I was confused more often than I would have liked. I stuck with it, though, because I was really drawn to the world (at least what I was able to make sense of it) and the characters. The characters were wonderfully complex in all their flaws, and I especially loved the disability representation.
But to return to my issues, I found that I was mostly frustrated while reading this book, which isn't exactly the mood you want to be in. When certain ideas were introduced, I wanted to learn more about them, but Candon often moved on and left me hanging. I felt that I was given a lot of fragments but they didn't quite fit together to create a full picture. Maybe I wasn't as engaged as I should have been (even though I'd say I was in my attempt to follow what's happening), but things didn't pan out the way I hoped.
This book might work better as a reread, so I might give this one another try in the future, especially if it turns out this book is part of a series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Violence, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Confinement and Cannibalism
devynreadsnovels's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Drug use, Gore, Self harm, Torture, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and War
rowanbg's review against another edition
challenging
tense
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
more friends at the table fans should write books
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Violence, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Cannibalism
Minor: Sexual content
library_rift's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Thank you to Tor for the ARC of this book I received in May.
This book was heavy - at least to me - and one of the reasons why it receives the rating it does. Because while this book is a great read, the fact that it took me so long to get through it when it normally doesn’t take me this long to read a book this size, really frustrated me.
The learning curve isn’t steep, it’s probably easier if you read a lot of sci-fi with a similar type of world building, but it certainly took me some time to get an understanding of what was what. The author does a really good job of gradually fleshing their world building out, revealing the relationships between things/terms and what that means to the overall world and Sunai in particular.
The prose is excellent, and sometimes poetic. The balance Candon has to maintain between technological mumbo-jumbo, a dysfunctional universe, and an incredibly dysfunctional main character who refuses to acknowledge what’s right in front of him until someone else forces him to - and to make me still enjoy reading, really worked for me.
I wouldn't necessarily say I loved any of the characters, as they're all dysfunctional in ways that are brought to the forefront, but they are likable, diverse, and interesting. They are characters I want to read about in future books.
Definitely something for anyone to consider reading, especially if you like your books to have blends of other genres mixed in.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror and Murder
Minor: Sexual content
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