Scan barcode
legs_n_chins's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I’m honestly blown away. This book is absolutely stunning and I definitely will be thinking about it for possibly the rest of time. It’s so good I want to eat it. Everything about it really ticked so many boxes for me, I truly can’t get over it.
I think this is the sort of sci-fi that I do enjoy. It’s very much still grounded in the familiar of what we know, but spooled out in predicting the potential future of our world. I like what Liu had in mind and I love how she took concepts we already have and updated them to fit her view of the world a couple decades into the future. I particularly love how she then included small elements in the footnotes to take us just a step further into the future beyond the events of the books and show a more expansive view of how technology and science has continued to develop. It’s hard to articulate the difference I feel with other sci-fi media I’ve consumed, but this really worked for me.
The style was so fascinating and utterly arresting. Structuring the story as a series of pieces from multiple sources put together as a retelling of the events was so incredibly creative. I love the choices Liu made for which sort of source she wanted to use for which parts, choosing where to add in a lot of depth of emotion and where to leave it in a very objective perspective. It was haunting sometimes when the perspective suddenly was just objective dialogue without any indication even of body language or tone of voice. Everything was so carefully chosen and placed within the narrative and I’m obsessed with it. Plus, Liu’s prose is gorgeous. The way she describes physical feelings and the metaphors she uses that connect to this visceral body and bone sort of theme that she’s woven throughout. It’s so beautiful and impactful. Some of my favorite lines were those metaphors of viscera. Additionally, just the way Liu wrote those POVs. How Felicia's all came from a self reflective look at the events, Hayden's were all written in present tense, the inhuman artificial intelligence perspective of Horatio's. She really managed all of those writing styles so well and made them flow together in a way that seemed so effortless. It was never jarring going between POVs.
I’ve personally only seen Hamlet performed once and I haven’t actually read the play through in one go myself, so I’m not extremely well versed in the story, but I do know enough of it to see the contours of what Liu was building as I went along. Of course I knew the ending going in, and I think it was incredibly effective for Liu to write the book with the assumption that the readers knew. It really aided in the immersion of the story, bringing us in as if we already knew exactly what happened in the labs. Moreover, because the starting point was a presumed familiarity with the bare bones of the play, it really lent itself to how the events unfolded. The knowledge of what would happen next of what it was all building toward really added to the experience for me. Like, even if I didn’t remember details of the play, I still knew enough to realize with a sinking dread how Liu had decided to work in the mother, and I still knew enough to recognize how each of Hayden’s decisions was driving him further into the tragedy. The major point of a tragedy is the knowledge that the hero is doomed from the start and Liu manipulates that so well to add to the tense, anxious atmosphere. Which was further aided by making it this closed parlor mystery setting. SO smart! Tightening the timeline to a single night and forcing us into this one claustrophobic building to really add to the emotions already present in the story itself. It was so well done, made the emotions stand out that much more and feel that much more real. To the point that I was sobbing by the ending chapters. I love it.
My biggest thing, though, is 100% a personal thing. A trope I am totally obsessed with. The whole one character inside another character’s head? Oh my god I could eat that shit up with a SPOON I tell you. And Liu really did everything I love in this case. The sensory details, the possessive feelings, the possession!! I was going absolutely out of my mind in certain sections, like waving my arms and screaming into pillows out of my mind. And she also did a fantastic job of showing both sides of the connection, as well. How each party felt when sharing the mind and body. With the added element of Horatio being inhuman and the details of how he processed physicality and human emotion. I’m so, so, so into that shit and Liu did it so, so, so perfectly for me. This book just had it ALL for me.
I think this is the sort of sci-fi that I do enjoy. It’s very much still grounded in the familiar of what we know, but spooled out in predicting the potential future of our world. I like what Liu had in mind and I love how she took concepts we already have and updated them to fit her view of the world a couple decades into the future. I particularly love how she then included small elements in the footnotes to take us just a step further into the future beyond the events of the books and show a more expansive view of how technology and science has continued to develop. It’s hard to articulate the difference I feel with other sci-fi media I’ve consumed, but this really worked for me.
The style was so fascinating and utterly arresting. Structuring the story as a series of pieces from multiple sources put together as a retelling of the events was so incredibly creative. I love the choices Liu made for which sort of source she wanted to use for which parts, choosing where to add in a lot of depth of emotion and where to leave it in a very objective perspective. It was haunting sometimes when the perspective suddenly was just objective dialogue without any indication even of body language or tone of voice. Everything was so carefully chosen and placed within the narrative and I’m obsessed with it. Plus, Liu’s prose is gorgeous. The way she describes physical feelings and the metaphors she uses that connect to this visceral body and bone sort of theme that she’s woven throughout. It’s so beautiful and impactful. Some of my favorite lines were those metaphors of viscera. Additionally, just the way Liu wrote those POVs. How Felicia's all came from a self reflective look at the events, Hayden's were all written in present tense, the inhuman artificial intelligence perspective of Horatio's. She really managed all of those writing styles so well and made them flow together in a way that seemed so effortless. It was never jarring going between POVs.
I’ve personally only seen Hamlet performed once and I haven’t actually read the play through in one go myself, so I’m not extremely well versed in the story, but I do know enough of it to see the contours of what Liu was building as I went along. Of course I knew the ending going in, and I think it was incredibly effective for Liu to write the book with the assumption that the readers knew. It really aided in the immersion of the story, bringing us in as if we already knew exactly what happened in the labs. Moreover, because the starting point was a presumed familiarity with the bare bones of the play, it really lent itself to how the events unfolded. The knowledge of what would happen next of what it was all building toward really added to the experience for me. Like, even if I didn’t remember details of the play, I still knew enough to realize with a sinking dread how Liu had decided to work in the mother, and I still knew enough to recognize how each of Hayden’s decisions was driving him further into the tragedy. The major point of a tragedy is the knowledge that the hero is doomed from the start and Liu manipulates that so well to add to the tense, anxious atmosphere. Which was further aided by making it this closed parlor mystery setting. SO smart! Tightening the timeline to a single night and forcing us into this one claustrophobic building to really add to the emotions already present in the story itself. It was so well done, made the emotions stand out that much more and feel that much more real. To the point that I was sobbing by the ending chapters. I love it.
My biggest thing, though, is 100% a personal thing. A trope I am totally obsessed with. The whole one character inside another character’s head? Oh my god I could eat that shit up with a SPOON I tell you. And Liu really did everything I love in this case. The sensory details, the possessive feelings, the possession!! I was going absolutely out of my mind in certain sections, like waving my arms and screaming into pillows out of my mind. And she also did a fantastic job of showing both sides of the connection, as well. How each party felt when sharing the mind and body. With the added element of Horatio being inhuman and the details of how he processed physicality and human emotion. I’m so, so, so into that shit and Liu did it so, so, so perfectly for me. This book just had it ALL for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Body horror, Death, Confinement, Grief, Gore, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Self harm, and Blood
talonsontypewriters's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Gore, Death of parent, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Murder, Violence, and Medical content
Moderate: Sexual content, Grief, Gun violence, and Confinement
Minor: Suicide and Infidelity
rafritz1's review
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Blood, Death, Murder, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Sexual content, Gun violence, and Confinement
Minor: Abandonment
hazel_oat's review
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Self harm, Blood, Murder, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Confinement, Panic attacks/disorders, and Death of parent
Moderate: Violence, Gun violence, Abandonment, Suicide attempt, Physical abuse, and Body horror
Minor: Medical content, Gaslighting, and Toxic relationship
temperamentalprotagonist's review
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Self harm, Death of parent, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Death, and Violence
Moderate: Sexual content
tifftastic87's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
A retelling of Hamlet set in the future. Hayden finds his father dead in their lab where a major breakthrough in the study of extending life has just been made. The lab goes into lockdown, everyone suspects Hayden and his Uncle Charles, both accusing one another. The story is told through excerpts of memoirs, transcripts, camera footage, and letters all compiled and put together by a researcher.
Honestly, I was bored through most of it. If the story had stayed being through Felicia's PoV I think I would have enjoyed it more. But Hayden's perspective was convoluted and confusing. I also was not the biggest fan of Horatio being an incorporial AI who is in love with Hayden. But that could just be me. The writing was lovely though and kept me from DNFing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and Gun violence
cryptofauna's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
it was pretty strong! idk if it lived up to my expectations because the concept is incredibly cool, but i generally still enjoyed reading it. as usual, obsessed with a sentient ai and also gay people so a win for me. i thought i knew the plot of hamlet better than i did, so i feel like i for sure missed some references and allusions, but it was still strong without me knowing the hamlet lore. honestly i just don’t really have very strong feelings on this one in any direction
this is a dumb criticism because it’s literally a retelling but the plot felt a little boring and predictable? i also had problems keeping the characters straight even though there’s like five total
this is a dumb criticism because it’s literally a retelling but the plot felt a little boring and predictable? i also had problems keeping the characters straight even though there’s like five total
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Gun violence and Mental illness
cassie7e's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
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
One of my best reads for 2024 so far! The plot is not at all straightforward and consisntely kept the tension. The main characters felt complex and believeable and I loved the AI getting POVs. I also loved the format of the story being told through snippets of interviews, articles, and playbacks of the system recordings.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Murder, Violence, Blood, and Death
Moderate: Grief, Body horror, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Gun violence, Gore, and Death of parent