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A review by yas_sezer
Dark Matter by Blake Crouch
3.75
well well well, here we are. eva, i hope you are happy because i read this one for you.
and i had a great time being here. super fast paced despite the long chapters... 3.75 stars.
now i know what youre thinking. 3.75 is not the highest rating in the world BUT do not let that sway your view on how fun this book is. because it is truly a great experience.
i started reading a chapter on my lunch breaks, got to around 50% of the book, then binged the rest in one sitting. do what you will with that information.
this book raises a few BIG questions that got me sitting there questioning my entire existence:
- am i truly happy? what makes me happy?
- what if i didnt make the choices i have made up until now? where would i be?
- am i really grateful for what i have in my life? how much of it flies by without me appreciating it?
quite heavy topics, but going along this journey with jason dessen (<3) was eyeopening and comforting almost. i felt like i was learning with him, and coming to the same realisations as he was. he is a logical, relatively calm-headed, compassionate, loving man. emphasis on loving. i have not read about this type of love maybe ever? this aint even a romance.
INFINITE realities, INFINITE opportunities to start new with someone else, another dani, but no. our jason spent weeks on end looking for OUR dani. because it had to be her. not some other version of her. HER, with all her imperfections and quirks. HER with her mundane regular life which he realised is exactly what he dreams of. its his perfect life. are you kidding me???????????
jason2 coming in and stealing our jasons life was such a shock for me. i did not expect another version of us to be the reason we got in this mess. if anything i expected it to be ryan at the beginning, or another version of leighton. nope, just another version of us who achieved everything in his life in relation to his career and thought "hm, wonder what a family is like, lemme get a taste".
but more than that shock, my heart broke for dani who realised small changes in jason that she couldnt explain, jumping to conclusions like him cheating on her with a young student. there is no way she couldve thought of her jason being yoinked into another universe. i cant imagine her confusion. her realisation at the end that no other jason could ever replace HER jason was heartwarming. unconditional love fr. but also charlie??? 'he is not my father', even he only wants HIS dad. where do i find this type of love.
side note for amanda. girl? i wanted to see her back wdym she just disappears into some alternate reality somewhere. i kinda hoped that the end would be us going into her reality because of jasons subconscious contributing to the reality we open the door to. but nope, we got basically no info.
i was concerned that jason would give up and just go for amanda, and i kept saying that i hope their relationship stays as a friendship, and gets really strong kinda like harry and hermione vibes. well he didnt go for her (woohoo) but also their friendship essentially ended too so i lose.
lets talk about the alternate worlds we went to????? the snow?? the post-apocalyptic world? POOR JASON. first he is stolen from his world, then sees another version of his wife shot in the head, then almost starves/freezes to death in a world where he LOST THE BOX, ANDDD he has to put another dani down bc shes diseased and dying. my god, the trauma this would bring, idk how he would recover. and throughout all this, we dont even know if he is going to find a way home. man
nowww the reason this isnt a 4-5 star for me.
the multiple jasons in our reality? didnt do it for me. hear me out.
personally, i would have found there to be heaps more depth if the conflict was between jason2 and us. i think there couldve been heaps more done with jason2's character since he was the polar opposite to us (science vs family). the main points couldve been achieved with only his character. we didnt need the whole hunt and chase with all of them wanting dani and charlie, it felt messy and pretty random. i couldnt help feeling disappointed when it went down that route instead.
even dani battliing with the concept that all these jasons want her, and she could essentially take her pick. this could have been done without all jasons coming into our reality. if anything, i would have liked to see her battle with dealing with the unknown. finding out theres heaps of jasons out there in other worlds, the curiosity it could spark that maybe SHE could have better, and the potential resentment that couldve built for our jason. i dont know, i wouldve liked to see it go down that route because we watched jason fight till the end to find her, but when it came down to it, would she? couldve been explored without all the jasons.
SIDE SIDE NOTE. them both cheating on each other with alternate versions of the other? damn. i agreed with their perspectives, and was sort of worried with what their views were going to be prior to them discussing it. i found their confessions heartwarming to be honest. we love couples that communicate honestly.
anyway, so my enjoyment started dwindling towards the end with the route it took, and also i did not connect with the characters to my core, which to be fair i didnt expect either. but i would have liked to.
overall, id recommend this for a niche group of people. i dont see this being for everyone, but its worth giving it a shot. im happy i read it for sure.
and i had a great time being here. super fast paced despite the long chapters... 3.75 stars.
now i know what youre thinking. 3.75 is not the highest rating in the world BUT do not let that sway your view on how fun this book is. because it is truly a great experience.
i started reading a chapter on my lunch breaks, got to around 50% of the book, then binged the rest in one sitting. do what you will with that information.
this book raises a few BIG questions that got me sitting there questioning my entire existence:
- am i truly happy? what makes me happy?
- what if i didnt make the choices i have made up until now? where would i be?
- am i really grateful for what i have in my life? how much of it flies by without me appreciating it?
quite heavy topics, but going along this journey with jason dessen (<3) was eyeopening and comforting almost. i felt like i was learning with him, and coming to the same realisations as he was. he is a logical, relatively calm-headed, compassionate, loving man. emphasis on loving. i have not read about this type of love maybe ever? this aint even a romance.
INFINITE realities, INFINITE opportunities to start new with someone else, another dani, but no. our jason spent weeks on end looking for OUR dani. because it had to be her. not some other version of her. HER, with all her imperfections and quirks. HER with her mundane regular life which he realised is exactly what he dreams of. its his perfect life. are you kidding me???????????
jason2 coming in and stealing our jasons life was such a shock for me. i did not expect another version of us to be the reason we got in this mess. if anything i expected it to be ryan at the beginning, or another version of leighton. nope, just another version of us who achieved everything in his life in relation to his career and thought "hm, wonder what a family is like, lemme get a taste".
but more than that shock, my heart broke for dani who realised small changes in jason that she couldnt explain, jumping to conclusions like him cheating on her with a young student. there is no way she couldve thought of her jason being yoinked into another universe. i cant imagine her confusion. her realisation at the end that no other jason could ever replace HER jason was heartwarming. unconditional love fr. but also charlie??? 'he is not my father', even he only wants HIS dad. where do i find this type of love.
side note for amanda. girl? i wanted to see her back wdym she just disappears into some alternate reality somewhere. i kinda hoped that the end would be us going into her reality because of jasons subconscious contributing to the reality we open the door to. but nope, we got basically no info.
i was concerned that jason would give up and just go for amanda, and i kept saying that i hope their relationship stays as a friendship, and gets really strong kinda like harry and hermione vibes. well he didnt go for her (woohoo) but also their friendship essentially ended too so i lose.
lets talk about the alternate worlds we went to????? the snow?? the post-apocalyptic world? POOR JASON. first he is stolen from his world, then sees another version of his wife shot in the head, then almost starves/freezes to death in a world where he LOST THE BOX, ANDDD he has to put another dani down bc shes diseased and dying. my god, the trauma this would bring, idk how he would recover. and throughout all this, we dont even know if he is going to find a way home. man
nowww the reason this isnt a 4-5 star for me.
the multiple jasons in our reality? didnt do it for me. hear me out.
personally, i would have found there to be heaps more depth if the conflict was between jason2 and us. i think there couldve been heaps more done with jason2's character since he was the polar opposite to us (science vs family). the main points couldve been achieved with only his character. we didnt need the whole hunt and chase with all of them wanting dani and charlie, it felt messy and pretty random. i couldnt help feeling disappointed when it went down that route instead.
even dani battliing with the concept that all these jasons want her, and she could essentially take her pick. this could have been done without all jasons coming into our reality. if anything, i would have liked to see her battle with dealing with the unknown. finding out theres heaps of jasons out there in other worlds, the curiosity it could spark that maybe SHE could have better, and the potential resentment that couldve built for our jason. i dont know, i wouldve liked to see it go down that route because we watched jason fight till the end to find her, but when it came down to it, would she? couldve been explored without all the jasons.
SIDE SIDE NOTE. them both cheating on each other with alternate versions of the other? damn. i agreed with their perspectives, and was sort of worried with what their views were going to be prior to them discussing it. i found their confessions heartwarming to be honest. we love couples that communicate honestly.
anyway, so my enjoyment started dwindling towards the end with the route it took, and also i did not connect with the characters to my core, which to be fair i didnt expect either. but i would have liked to.
overall, id recommend this for a niche group of people. i dont see this being for everyone, but its worth giving it a shot. im happy i read it for sure.