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A review by secre
If Then by Matthew De Abaitua
2.0
If this book had finished as it started, it would have been a three star book. If it had started in the same fashion as the later half a book then it would have likely been abandoned and a one star. It begins confusing but purposeful; a world which you have to make sense of in which The Process rules all. The second half is disjointed, unconnected and simply fails to engage the reader. In reality either the whole novel should have been the war game or the whole novel should have been the village. It just doesn't work with the focus of the first half being the village and the Institute and the second half being the war game with largely new characters with brief interludes of village. It just ended up purposeless and messy and didn't hold the attention at all.
I will admit that the writing style is well done; there are vivid descriptions and tense story telling aspects throughout. If the thing was less muddled there would be the potential for a strong novel. It doesn't help that very little is actually explained and so the entire thing is distinctly baffling, even in the first section of the novel. The reasons behind and methodology of the Process are only ever hinted at, as indeed are the nature of the post apocalyptic event. But then when it flits to the world war aspects it becomes oddly surreal, with even less rhyme or reason. Even when what little explanation comes to the fore, it still seems oddly purposeless.
I will admit that the writing style is well done; there are vivid descriptions and tense story telling aspects throughout. If the thing was less muddled there would be the potential for a strong novel. It doesn't help that very little is actually explained and so the entire thing is distinctly baffling, even in the first section of the novel. The reasons behind and methodology of the Process are only ever hinted at, as indeed are the nature of the post apocalyptic event. But then when it flits to the world war aspects it becomes oddly surreal, with even less rhyme or reason. Even when what little explanation comes to the fore, it still seems oddly purposeless.