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A review by amber_lea84
Attack Surface by Cory Doctorow
3.0
Uhh, this feels incredibly difficult to review. I kind of feel the same way about this that I felt about Mr. Robot where I was excited by it at first because I thought it was something truly different, and then I realized I kind of hate it.
One issue is that while Cory Doctorow writes good tech, he writes insufferable characters who don't feel like real people. Masha feels like two different people who have nothing in common, and this is explained as her "compartmentalizing." But compartmentalizing doesn't mean you have multiple personalities. It just means like, you don't take work home with you. Or you can be a different version of yourself when different situations call for it. And sure, that can include putting on a persona, but we're inside her head and Masha legit switches between different world views.
I also really hate it when Cory Doctorow tries to demonstrate wokeness via minority characters. It's so painful. I was cringing so hard whenever activist Masha (or anyone else) started monologuing about social issues.
This book also wasn't well structured and became confusing at times. Every time I got turned around I felt like it wasn't my fault because I wasn't given important bits of information that would have allowed me to follow along.
This is just one of those situations where I felt like there was a good book here struggling to get out. I feel like Cory Doctorow could really benefit from a writing partner who's strong where he is weak (characters, plot, organization) and who can tell him to tone it down when he wants to write a female character complaining about the patriarchy or something.
One issue is that while Cory Doctorow writes good tech, he writes insufferable characters who don't feel like real people. Masha feels like two different people who have nothing in common, and this is explained as her "compartmentalizing." But compartmentalizing doesn't mean you have multiple personalities. It just means like, you don't take work home with you. Or you can be a different version of yourself when different situations call for it. And sure, that can include putting on a persona, but we're inside her head and Masha legit switches between different world views.
I also really hate it when Cory Doctorow tries to demonstrate wokeness via minority characters. It's so painful. I was cringing so hard whenever activist Masha (or anyone else) started monologuing about social issues.
This book also wasn't well structured and became confusing at times. Every time I got turned around I felt like it wasn't my fault because I wasn't given important bits of information that would have allowed me to follow along.
This is just one of those situations where I felt like there was a good book here struggling to get out. I feel like Cory Doctorow could really benefit from a writing partner who's strong where he is weak (characters, plot, organization) and who can tell him to tone it down when he wants to write a female character complaining about the patriarchy or something.