Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.76 AVERAGE
3.76 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
tense
fast-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
This is my second Stuart Turton book (my first was evelyn hardcastle) and I loved this one just as much, if not moreso.
What’s really compelling about Turton is the worlds he builds around the staple murder mystery, and how much forethought and intentionality he puts into these worlds. This isn’t a dystopia for the sake of writing a dystopian murder mystery, Turton has been very deliberate in the stakes, the isolation, the fog, the amnesia. It creates a very compelling narrative.
This I think is most evident in the storytelling point of view - ABI, the artificial intelligence. She was completely terrifying and equally heartwarming, and it was utterly ingenious to make her the focal point in which the audience explores this world. It’s a third person narrative but not, because the ‘voice of god’ in this case is defined, has it’s own motives and arguably its own feelings. It makes it nearly voyeuristic in how it feels to read, particularly in how ABI describes the thoughts and feelings of all the characters, and I was utterly obsessed.
As an aside, the amnesia as a plot device aspect was very impressive. It’s very difficult to pull off amnesia without making it feel lazy and contrived, but Turton weaves it into the plot with such ease, and wraps the stakes around it so expertly that it feels very necessary to the story at large.
This was surprising to me as it’s not just a murder mystery, or a dystopian sci-fi, it’s also very much a physiological thriller, and grapples with really intense questions, what makes us human, how do we define our own humanity? Granted, most good sci-fi books should do something like this, but so often I find this falls short. Here, it doesn't
In this, I really appreciated the focus on Emory and Clara’s relationship. Its so rare in media to find a such a nuanced but heartwarming exploration of a mother and daughter who have both failed each other, but who deeply love each other, and so whose failures do not define their relationship.
So far this year I’ve read over 100 books, and this by far is one of my favourites. I’m going to be recommending this to so many people.
What’s really compelling about Turton is the worlds he builds around the staple murder mystery, and how much forethought and intentionality he puts into these worlds. This isn’t a dystopia for the sake of writing a dystopian murder mystery, Turton has been very deliberate in the stakes, the isolation, the fog, the amnesia. It creates a very compelling narrative.
This I think is most evident in the storytelling point of view - ABI, the artificial intelligence. She was completely terrifying and equally heartwarming, and it was utterly ingenious to make her the focal point in which the audience explores this world. It’s a third person narrative but not, because the ‘voice of god’ in this case is defined, has it’s own motives and arguably its own feelings. It makes it nearly voyeuristic in how it feels to read, particularly in how ABI describes the thoughts and feelings of all the characters, and I was utterly obsessed.
As an aside, the amnesia as a plot device aspect was very impressive. It’s very difficult to pull off amnesia without making it feel lazy and contrived, but Turton weaves it into the plot with such ease, and wraps the stakes around it so expertly that it feels very necessary to the story at large.
This was surprising to me as it’s not just a murder mystery, or a dystopian sci-fi, it’s also very much a physiological thriller, and grapples with really intense questions, what makes us human, how do we define our own humanity? Granted, most good sci-fi books should do something like this, but so often I find this falls short. Here, it doesn't
In this, I really appreciated the focus on Emory and Clara’s relationship. Its so rare in media to find a such a nuanced but heartwarming exploration of a mother and daughter who have both failed each other, but who deeply love each other, and so whose failures do not define their relationship.
So far this year I’ve read over 100 books, and this by far is one of my favourites. I’m going to be recommending this to so many people.
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Definitely an improvement from his last book but the ending felt a bit rushed to me. Overall enjoyed the concept and world building
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-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:
No
Will Stuart Turton ever disappoint me? I believe not. That was EXCELLENT (crazy thing to say for someone who doesn’t like sci fi)
Honestly overall a really incredible book that sucked me in on my holiday to Korea. Some bits and bobs weren’t 100% but overall? A really enjoyable read.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Very well paced book, I thought the mystery unraveled at just the right speed, kept me hooked and guessing while also asking thought-provoking questions about predeterminism and nature vs nurture and community and power
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I have mixed feelings about this book. It was entertaining to the point where I read it entirely without it feeling like a burden. The characters are interesting and complex. They’re basically the highlight of the book in my opinion. However, the plot falls flat mainly because I couldn’t connect with the narrative style. It is messy, chaotic, all over the place. Many phrases, metaphors, or analogies didn’t do it for me. This makes the plot equally messy and all over the place. Even after the third act reveal and explanation the story felt unevenly paced, bland and unsatisfying. It also didn’t help that the plot takes a huge detour from the expectations the book itself built. It’s almost as if the story described in the back cover is something entirely different than the actual plot of the book.
Despite these criticisms I still believe it’s a decent book and there’s a lot of potential to the author’s narrative style. It needed a better editing in my opinion.
Despite these criticisms I still believe it’s a decent book and there’s a lot of potential to the author’s narrative style. It needed a better editing in my opinion.
challenging
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Murder