A review by emilyrandolph_epstein
The Lives of Tao by Wesley Chu

4.0

Extremely entertaining and well-characterized. I enjoyed this book thoroughly and will definitely read the rest of the series. The main character follows a very clear arc from zero to hero, in a classic wish fulfillment scenario. Except our underdog actually suffers the emotional consequences of going from office drone to secret agent, which I appreciated. I also enjoyed the fact that the aliens symbiotes each had their own personalities distinct from the personalities of their hosts. As a woman I appreciated the effort the author made to include a female presence in the book. There are a total of three female characters with names and dialogue, two of whom are pretty bad ass and not all of them were falling over themselves to attract the main male character's attention. That said, I would have liked to see a little more of an emotional build between Roen and Jill.