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A review by allonsythornraxx
Cobalt Blue by Matthew Reilly
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.0
22/08/2022
1 ⭐
Thank you to Pan Macmillan Australia for providing me with a review copy of Cobalt Blue
I genuinely cannot believe I'm saying this right now but Matthew Reilly, this was not it. If you know me at all you know how much I adore Matthew Reilly's books but oh boy, my most anticipated book of 2022 is not only Reilly's worst book (that I've read so far) but, it might also be one of my least favourite books that I've read all year. It's a great action story because of course it is, Matthew Reilly wrote it after all. If you're a fan of the tv show The Boys then I'm sure you'd love this bloody action-full superhero story. But, that's really all this book has going for it.
Every character in this book is a glaring stereotype, with two, in particular, being quite egregious and very uncomfortable. The villain is, of course, Russian which means he rapes women, is a serial killer and is just an absolutely atrocious guy. Ya know because he's Russian so duh, right? & the other is that the only gay character in the book is "gay and fabulous" *insert hand flick and pose here* and that's basically their only character trait. I couldn't even tell you their name because they were mostly just mentioned as 'the gay one' who only talks about clothes and being gay.
I love MR's books and usually don't mind if a lot of his characters (particularly his male main characters) feel the same or act as cardboard cutouts. But, he tried something new with this one and it was an absolute flop for me. Mostly this was just a confusing mess of flashbacks and short present-day scenes until around the 80-ish% mark when the main character finally does something. This felt really rushed (probably in part, because it's a novella) and was absolutely not the vibe.
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1 ⭐
Thank you to Pan Macmillan Australia for providing me with a review copy of Cobalt Blue
I genuinely cannot believe I'm saying this right now but Matthew Reilly, this was not it. If you know me at all you know how much I adore Matthew Reilly's books but oh boy, my most anticipated book of 2022 is not only Reilly's worst book (that I've read so far) but, it might also be one of my least favourite books that I've read all year. It's a great action story because of course it is, Matthew Reilly wrote it after all. If you're a fan of the tv show The Boys then I'm sure you'd love this bloody action-full superhero story. But, that's really all this book has going for it.
Every character in this book is a glaring stereotype, with two, in particular, being quite egregious and very uncomfortable. The villain is, of course, Russian which means he rapes women, is a serial killer and is just an absolutely atrocious guy. Ya know because he's Russian so duh, right? & the other is that the only gay character in the book is "gay and fabulous" *insert hand flick and pose here* and that's basically their only character trait. I couldn't even tell you their name because they were mostly just mentioned as 'the gay one' who only talks about clothes and being gay.
I love MR's books and usually don't mind if a lot of his characters (particularly his male main characters) feel the same or act as cardboard cutouts. But, he tried something new with this one and it was an absolute flop for me. Mostly this was just a confusing mess of flashbacks and short present-day scenes until around the 80-ish% mark when the main character finally does something. This felt really rushed (probably in part, because it's a novella) and was absolutely not the vibe.
Letterboxd | Instagram | Bookstagram | Tumblr | Twitter