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3.61 AVERAGE
3.61 AVERAGE
DNF @25%.. I tried so hard to get into this. Orca whale are my favorite animal and the whole concept sounded so interesting. Hence 1 star because there was so much potential that when I decided I couldn’t go on it was devastating. By the way, by 25% all I know is a woman with an orca came to town and an AIDS type virus is an epidemic, that’s it.
Delectably intricate world-building in a future dystopia, told through alternating perspectives.
It's a slow burn beginning, eventually introducing multiple characters that a slower paced read might make it harder to follow each thread. Some characters and conflicts I enjoyed or appreciated more than others.
Likes
*intricate world-building in a sort of apocalyptic future. You've got climate change, political upheaval, artificial intelligence software running a city-state, totally new and scarily believable potential future. Especially eerie and interesting was the new disease "the breaks," which breaks down identities and merges memories of previous carriers.
*Alternating perspective chapters built suspense without cliff-hangers. Characters were connected slowly then (see dislikes) rapidly
*Occasional chapters/broadcasts of City Without a Map - although (see dislikes)
*Diverse cast - after countries break down, of course some social constructs break down and all kinds of people live together. A little odd that the most frequent description was how light or shiny "brown" people were? Also, an openly gay character and a non-binary character were in the main cast of protagonists, although (see dislikes)
Dislikes
*Some connections between characters felt forced or too pat. Those last reveals were a tad much for me.
*The non-binary character had a few necessary moments of asserting their preferred pronouns (they/their), but then there were a few unnecessary moments of people being jerks or overly fascinated by it. You are not telling me that 1) in the future people aren't more aware of the gender spectrum and 2) you want a cookie for including a non-binary character?
*Of courseeeeee I figured out who the Author of the City Without A Map and who some of these characters were and their importance to each other. Maybe it's because I read this in two days but it could have been more subtle. Or more convoluted.
In Sum
Imaginative, intricate, but lacking in some subtleties. An author to watch.
It's a slow burn beginning, eventually introducing multiple characters that a slower paced read might make it harder to follow each thread. Some characters and conflicts I enjoyed or appreciated more than others.
Likes
*intricate world-building in a sort of apocalyptic future. You've got climate change, political upheaval, artificial intelligence software running a city-state, totally new and scarily believable potential future. Especially eerie and interesting was the new disease "the breaks," which breaks down identities and merges memories of previous carriers.
*Alternating perspective chapters built suspense without cliff-hangers. Characters were connected slowly then (see dislikes) rapidly
*Occasional chapters/broadcasts of City Without a Map - although (see dislikes)
*Diverse cast - after countries break down, of course some social constructs break down and all kinds of people live together. A little odd that the most frequent description was how light or shiny "brown" people were? Also, an openly gay character and a non-binary character were in the main cast of protagonists, although (see dislikes)
Dislikes
*Some connections between characters felt forced or too pat. Those last reveals were a tad much for me.
Spoiler
Often family is not people you are blood related to, and the people you are blood related to aren't necessarily the ones you feel immediately bonded to.*The non-binary character had a few necessary moments of asserting their preferred pronouns (they/their), but then there were a few unnecessary moments of people being jerks or overly fascinated by it. You are not telling me that 1) in the future people aren't more aware of the gender spectrum and 2) you want a cookie for including a non-binary character?
*Of courseeeeee I figured out who the Author of the City Without A Map and who some of these characters were and their importance to each other. Maybe it's because I read this in two days but it could have been more subtle. Or more convoluted.
Spoiler
Oh look they're all related! Snooze.In Sum
Imaginative, intricate, but lacking in some subtleties. An author to watch.
challenging
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I'm not one for rebels vs. empire apocalyptic dystopias and I was disappointed that the story revolved around the fictional disease "The Brakes" instead of a lady riding an orca with a polar bear at her side but I came to like the characters and world quite a bit. Additionally this book has handled multiple character narration the best out of all the books that I've read so far.
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
adventurous
medium-paced
I had a hard time getting through this one. The characters were interesting from the first page, and the setting is as well realized as anything I've read since 2016. But it still took a while for anything of substance to happen. Once it did, the story clipped along at a good pace. It was just a struggle to get there, and it took about half the book.
Even though this book is set in a dystopian city ruled by AI in a post-climate apocalypse setting, I found myself deeply charmed by this story of family and community.
adventurous
challenging
dark
informative
mysterious
tense
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
adventurous
dark
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