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A review by liesthemoontells
Mickey7 by Edward Ashton
adventurous
dark
funny
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I read this for book club and was surprised at how much I enjoyed it.
The irreverent tone was a little disorienting at first, but as I got familiar with its rhythm, I was able to appreciate just how funny it was. Ashton puts his characters in a lot of absurd situations, and gives Mickey a strong voice that reflects on this absurdity with humour without it becoming grating.
I also really enjoyed philosophy was constantly threaded throughout the book. Mickey7 is such an appealing character that I bought into his existential conundrums and enjoyed untangling them with him. Overall the philosophical concepts were introduced in ways that felt natural and approachable, without being too preachy (although the repeated references to the Ship of Theseus started to overdo it).
The one thing I would ding the book on is that I struggled to understand the motivations of the female characters. While I can partially forgive this from the context that our narrator is also confused and struggling, I did find it off-putting that the female characters didn't feel fully realised.
That being said, I enjoyed the book enough to dive straight into the sequel, so I can't fault it too strongly for this (and hopefully we see some more character development for women in the sequel!)
The irreverent tone was a little disorienting at first, but as I got familiar with its rhythm, I was able to appreciate just how funny it was. Ashton puts his characters in a lot of absurd situations, and gives Mickey a strong voice that reflects on this absurdity with humour without it becoming grating.
I also really enjoyed philosophy was constantly threaded throughout the book. Mickey7 is such an appealing character that I bought into his existential conundrums and enjoyed untangling them with him. Overall the philosophical concepts were introduced in ways that felt natural and approachable, without being too preachy (although the repeated references to the Ship of Theseus started to overdo it).
The one thing I would ding the book on is that I struggled to understand the motivations of the female characters. While I can partially forgive this from the context that our narrator is also confused and struggling, I did find it off-putting that the female characters didn't feel fully realised.
That being said, I enjoyed the book enough to dive straight into the sequel, so I can't fault it too strongly for this (and hopefully we see some more character development for women in the sequel!)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Murder, Colonisation, Dysphoria, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Moderate: Infidelity, Sexual content