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victoriabooklover 's review for:
The Genesis of Misery
by Neon Yang
The Genesis of Misery is insanity.
And I devoured every second of it.
(Thank you so very much TorBooks for sending me over a physical ARC to now cherish until book 2/3 are in my sights. I appreciate you guys as always.)
Anyways, this book was a ride. I’m definitely going to miss some points in my review because there’s so many potential topics I could bring up.
The prose, the use of gender pronouns, the science fictional world, the prophetic/religious aspects all blended together so seamlessly which is not what I would have expected going into this book. I was delighted that Yang ALSO managed to maintain all of these elements while giving us such a likable protagonist. The talent.
So to put it plainly, I was a massive fan of Misery; their internal struggle of experiencing a thing called “void sickness” whilst also having to come to terms with the idea that they might just be the Ninth Messiah was so captivating. Watching them battle those dichotomies made for such a good story, they couldn’t tell if they was one or the other, and neither could we.
Another cool element of this book was the writing device Yang used to tell parts of this story. They used a narrator set far into the future who reflected back on the events of Misery Nomaki’s role as the Ninth Messiah, and it made the story THAT much more intriguing.
The one downside I personally had—which is why this didn’t get 5 stars—were the supporting characters; Namely Alodia Lightning and their relationship with Misery. While I wanted to LOVE them and the dynamic constructed by Yang, they felt very stereotypical in a book that seemed like it was much too unique for such a rudimentary character with seen-before anger issues. Their entire personality for a good chunk of the book boiled down to an angry standoffish princess. And not that there’s an issue with that necessarily, but for some reason I didn’t personally appreciate it because everyone else felt so…unique. To add, Misery felt an instant urge to chase after her following ONE quick interaction and for me it wasn’t enough. Furthermore, when they begin to soften towards Misery…it felt rushed and not truly earned via their journey throughout the book. So, when very crucial moments occurred between them later on I was not as excited as I wanted to be, as I should have been.
Alodia aside, I had such a good time devouring this book and the world Yang has created. It’s delectable and unique and stands out from other sci-fi’s I have read. If you’re a Locked Tomb fan I would HIGHLY recommend this as something in that same vein!
And I devoured every second of it.
(Thank you so very much TorBooks for sending me over a physical ARC to now cherish until book 2/3 are in my sights. I appreciate you guys as always.)
Anyways, this book was a ride. I’m definitely going to miss some points in my review because there’s so many potential topics I could bring up.
The prose, the use of gender pronouns, the science fictional world, the prophetic/religious aspects all blended together so seamlessly which is not what I would have expected going into this book. I was delighted that Yang ALSO managed to maintain all of these elements while giving us such a likable protagonist. The talent.
So to put it plainly, I was a massive fan of Misery; their internal struggle of experiencing a thing called “void sickness” whilst also having to come to terms with the idea that they might just be the Ninth Messiah was so captivating. Watching them battle those dichotomies made for such a good story, they couldn’t tell if they was one or the other, and neither could we.
Another cool element of this book was the writing device Yang used to tell parts of this story. They used a narrator set far into the future who reflected back on the events of Misery Nomaki’s role as the Ninth Messiah, and it made the story THAT much more intriguing.
The one downside I personally had—which is why this didn’t get 5 stars—were the supporting characters; Namely Alodia Lightning and their relationship with Misery. While I wanted to LOVE them and the dynamic constructed by Yang, they felt very stereotypical in a book that seemed like it was much too unique for such a rudimentary character with seen-before anger issues. Their entire personality for a good chunk of the book boiled down to an angry standoffish princess. And not that there’s an issue with that necessarily, but for some reason I didn’t personally appreciate it because everyone else felt so…unique. To add, Misery felt an instant urge to chase after her following ONE quick interaction and for me it wasn’t enough. Furthermore, when they begin to soften towards Misery…it felt rushed and not truly earned via their journey throughout the book. So, when very crucial moments occurred between them later on I was not as excited as I wanted to be, as I should have been.
Alodia aside, I had such a good time devouring this book and the world Yang has created. It’s delectable and unique and stands out from other sci-fi’s I have read. If you’re a Locked Tomb fan I would HIGHLY recommend this as something in that same vein!