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A review by schnaucl
Dark Matter by Blake Crouch
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
I really appreciated that POV Jason (Jason Prime?) was happy with his life and knew it. This wasn't one of those stories where the main character goes through a bunch of alternate realities only to realize they place they started in was their best version of reality all along. Looking at you, The Midnight Library.
The way the machine works was interesting. It's hard to know how the options would be shaped with multiple people.
While I appreciated that Jason started out being happy with his reality, it seems from the few POV chapters we get from Daniela that she wasn't as content. It's hard to say from just a few short glimpses, but she seemed to wonder more about the road not taken and feel like her life has stagnated whereas Jason had some mild curiosity about it but was generally content.
Compounding the problem, Jason really did treat his original life as a sort of prize to be won. Daniela even calls him out on it once he comes up with the lottery idea. It's good that she gets to make a decision at the end, but it does feel like she doesn't have much agency. It's not like she gets to really meet the other Jasons (other than the one who took the place of her husband, that is). Neither did their son.
I'll admit, it didn't occur to me that there would be other non POV Jasons who made it back to his original reality, although it makes perfect sense that would be true.
Fleeing to somewhere new probably was the only solution, though it would have to be some kind of pristine world because otherwise they'd have to explain duplicates of people and figure out how to obtain legal ID. Of course, if some world without people they'd have to figure out how to provide for themselves.
The way the machine works was interesting. It's hard to know how the options would be shaped with multiple people.
While I appreciated that Jason started out being happy with his reality, it seems from the few POV chapters we get from Daniela that she wasn't as content. It's hard to say from just a few short glimpses, but she seemed to wonder more about the road not taken and feel like her life has stagnated whereas Jason had some mild curiosity about it but was generally content.
Compounding the problem, Jason really did treat his original life as a sort of prize to be won. Daniela even calls him out on it once he comes up with the lottery idea. It's good that she gets to make a decision at the end, but it does feel like she doesn't have much agency. It's not like she gets to really meet the other Jasons (other than the one who took the place of her husband, that is). Neither did their son.
I'll admit, it didn't occur to me that there would be other non POV Jasons who made it back to his original reality, although it makes perfect sense that would be true.
Fleeing to somewhere new probably was the only solution, though it would have to be some kind of pristine world because otherwise they'd have to explain duplicates of people and figure out how to obtain legal ID. Of course, if some world without people they'd have to figure out how to provide for themselves.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Murder, Violence, and Gun violence
Minor: Abortion, Medical content, and Pandemic/Epidemic