A review by momo916
Axiom's End by Lindsay Ellis

adventurous fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

I found the alien backstories a little convoluted and hard to follow at times, but that was likely in part due to the fact that I listened on audiobook rather than reading it as a book. There were some scenes that felt like they had been added in to create a poignant moment rather than resulting from the natural progression of events. I found myself pulled out of the story at times by the quality of the prose, and there are a few phrases that are overused – the first that comes to mind being "at length." There were some open questions that never got answered, e.g.
why the Fremdans stayed at the bunker so long, why the Fremdans tunneled through the mountain to escape instead of using their disc things, when/how exactly the fusion bonding between Cora and Ampersand occurred
. There are probably a few more, but those are just the ones off the top of my head after finishing the book.

That being said, I definitely enjoyed the experience of watching the relationship between Cora and Ampersand develop as the story went on. It was a sort of self-insert kind of enjoyment, since the narrator doesn’t really seem to have any particular characteristics. Perhaps this could be attributed to the high-stress nature of most of the events of the plot, but I wouldn’t say this particularly detracts from the experience of reading the book. In a way, it allows you to look past the other flaws of the book and just kind of live in it.

A complaint I have that is particular to the audiobook is that the reader has this habit of exaggerating the inflections she adds to her voice when Cora is surprised/shocked by something (which, given the subject matter of the book, happens often). I got used to it after a while but it was annoying at first. 
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