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kappafrog's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
The first half of this book was fantastic. I was totally drawn in by the prologue, then interested to see how those characters would turn up once we fast-forwarded fifty years. The worldbuilding was pretty interesting and seemed like a plausible future direction for humanity. I loved the characters of Drow and Crane, and for the first 3/4 of the book I really liked Rubi too. I was definitely interested in Luxe as well and figuring out the mystery of who, or what, he was. The concept of the AI hivemind was also really interesting, and I liked seeing how their interests sometimes intersected with but sometimes ran against the interests of the human characters. I loved Drow's group of weirdo friends and the scene when they were on the "religious retreat" sharing all their conspiracy theories.
The second half of the book, though, really dropped the ball. It became increasingly more difficult to follow all of the plotlines and conflicting character goals and loyalties. The book committed two main offences though that made me drop my rating. Problem 1: Gimlet said something unthinkably disgusting and offensive to Rubi about her father. The character said something so vile about abuse victims I immediately lost all sympathy that I had for them. But then,instead of dropping that sicko like a hot potato, Rubi made out with them??? Even though she didn't know, unlike the audience, that Gimlet had said it prompted by the AI? That was unforgivable for me. Just the whole issue of Gimlet selling out all of humanity to get their dying partner surgery was never addressed properly. For Rubi to just be okay with all that really tanked her character. I was disgusted every time afterwards we had to read from Gimlet's POV and couldn't stomach the romance at all after that point, which was too bad because while Gimlet was never very likable, it had been an interesting dynamic up until that point.
Problem 2: Many intriguing plot questions are never resolved.The two biggest ones for me are: Why did Misfortune end up siding with Neverland? After such a hard-hitting opening from her perspective as a child, we never hear from her POV again. As a reader, I was really invested in the breadcrumbs we got about her life afterwards, but we never got a satisfactory explanation as to why she happily colluded with them. The second unresolved plot point: What was the deal with Luxe's memories about the wasps and the dying professor? It was never clear to me how exactly that plot point played into Luxe-the-body versus Luxe-the-alien. I was very invested in that mystery early on and felt like it just got left behind. And a third less critical one but still weird - why was the plotline of finding Rubi's mother's mass grave dropped?
A few more minor quibbles: The author's attempt at portraying an English dialect by using the word "bloody" everywhere came off as a little inauthentic, especially when paired with a late-in-book description of Crane's "oh so very English" black umbrella... like, what? What is so English about a black umbrella? It made it seem kind of obvious the author wasn't British. The VR game parts were always boring for me - I always felt like they were pulling me away from more interesting plots. And finally, the timeline was sometimes quite confusing - Rubi was fourteen when she got her implants, but was that 4 years ago or much longer?
There were lots of little details in the book that I did love though. I loved the character Malika, who wore a niqab and expressed herself through virtual animations of the henna tattoos on her hands. I loved seeing everyone's e-states and seeing how the virtual and real worlds interacted. Drow's trip across the country brought us to some cool locations like the New York zoos, the only part of the city remaining in this post-apocalyptic world. The way that Drow's perspective as someone with PTSD and on mind-enhancing drugs was written was really absorbing and made me care a lot about him. Robin and Happ were both great dog companions, one real and one virtual. I liked seeing how the world of virtual likes and dislikes (strokes and strikes) functioned, and thought that some of the dissident factions like the Freebreeders were interesting concepts, if a little underdeveloped.
So yeah, the problems outlined above tanked what would have been a solid 4/5 or 4.5/5 book for me. I was totally absorbed in the first half, and the excitement of the mystery of figuring out what Luxe was even made its way into my dreams! I thought I would be writing a much more glowing review for this book when I was deep into the first half. But the second half of the book really let me down. I would still recommend this book to people who are interested in stories with AI characters, dystopian near-future Earth, Virtual Reality, and sci-fi mystery/thrillers.
The second half of the book, though, really dropped the ball. It became increasingly more difficult to follow all of the plotlines and conflicting character goals and loyalties. The book committed two main offences though that made me drop my rating. Problem 1: Gimlet said something unthinkably disgusting and offensive to Rubi about her father. The character said something so vile about abuse victims I immediately lost all sympathy that I had for them. But then,
Problem 2: Many intriguing plot questions are never resolved.
A few more minor quibbles: The author's attempt at portraying an English dialect by using the word "bloody" everywhere came off as a little inauthentic, especially when paired with a late-in-book description of Crane's "oh so very English" black umbrella... like, what? What is so English about a black umbrella? It made it seem kind of obvious the author wasn't British. The VR game parts were always boring for me - I always felt like they were pulling me away from more interesting plots. And finally, the timeline was sometimes quite confusing - Rubi was fourteen when she got her implants, but was that 4 years ago or much longer?
There were lots of little details in the book that I did love though. I loved the character Malika, who wore a niqab and expressed herself through virtual animations of the henna tattoos on her hands. I loved seeing everyone's e-states and seeing how the virtual and real worlds interacted. Drow's trip across the country brought us to some cool locations like the New York zoos, the only part of the city remaining in this post-apocalyptic world. The way that Drow's perspective as someone with PTSD and on mind-enhancing drugs was written was really absorbing and made me care a lot about him. Robin and Happ were both great dog companions, one real and one virtual. I liked seeing how the world of virtual likes and dislikes (strokes and strikes) functioned, and thought that some of the dissident factions like the Freebreeders were interesting concepts, if a little underdeveloped.
So yeah, the problems outlined above tanked what would have been a solid 4/5 or 4.5/5 book for me. I was totally absorbed in the first half, and the excitement of the mystery of figuring out what Luxe was even made its way into my dreams! I thought I would be writing a much more glowing review for this book when I was deep into the first half. But the second half of the book really let me down. I would still recommend this book to people who are interested in stories with AI characters, dystopian near-future Earth, Virtual Reality, and sci-fi mystery/thrillers.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Animal death, Gore, Murder, Violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Kidnapping, Blood, Body horror, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, Child death, Death, Cursing, Mental illness, Suicide attempt, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Abortion, Car accident, Gun violence, Hate crime, Pandemic/Epidemic, Colonisation, Forced institutionalization, Pedophilia, Terminal illness, Medical content, Medical trauma, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Child abuse, Classism, Rape, Trafficking, Cancer, Suicide, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Minor: Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Cannibalism, Infidelity, Mass/school shootings, Genocide, Infertility, Dysphoria, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Police brutality, Sexual content, and Slavery
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