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dark
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A fine concept for a book, but The Troop definitely pulls through as the strongest of Nick’s work.
This novel started off great, a plot line made intriguing with an incurable disease, the deep dark ocean, a cognisant Ambrosia and a man with some trauma. Clearly though, all this potential got left at the surface once it started because after the first 1/3rd of the book it spiralled into something trivial.
The concept of the Ambrosia was INTERESTING, so whyyy did we abandon all this just to rant about his mummy issues and a dead son that frankly I have no emotional connection with? None of these characters are dealt with in present day and half the book relies on flashbacks to paint the picture.
I think this book also got lost in what it was trying to do: on either being a lovecraftian/high entity thought piece on survival and grief, or a scientific thriller on the Ambrosia and incurable disease. Either direction could have been really strong if it just focused on one.
Also, minus a few stars for animal cruelty, because fuck that, horror can be good without being unnecessarily mean to animals. LEAVE THE DOGS ALONE NICK
This novel started off great, a plot line made intriguing with an incurable disease, the deep dark ocean, a cognisant Ambrosia and a man with some trauma. Clearly though, all this potential got left at the surface once it started because after the first 1/3rd of the book it spiralled into something trivial.
The concept of the Ambrosia was INTERESTING, so whyyy did we abandon all this just to rant about his mummy issues and a dead son that frankly I have no emotional connection with? None of these characters are dealt with in present day and half the book relies on flashbacks to paint the picture.
I think this book also got lost in what it was trying to do: on either being a lovecraftian/high entity thought piece on survival and grief, or a scientific thriller on the Ambrosia and incurable disease. Either direction could have been really strong if it just focused on one.
Also, minus a few stars for animal cruelty, because fuck that, horror can be good without being unnecessarily mean to animals. LEAVE THE DOGS ALONE NICK