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A review by benny_g
The Raw Shark Texts by Steven Hall
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
⭐️⭐️⭐️
Steven Hall had me in the first half and then… he kind of lost me. The Raw Shark Texts was a great read don’t get me wrong, but out of all of its meta-laden pages and pop culture connections what we have here is something I and many others have seen before in other mediums. Once we get past the whole intrigue of Eric Sanderson’s total amnesia and search for the truth, what we’re left with is just ideas thrown at a dartboard but with Spielberg’s Jaws thrown into the mix. Having the titular Shark or Ludovican be an unstoppable threat to our MC was fantastic! The dread it brought was palpable and the pages in the story where you could see the physical creature inching towards you was pure genius. It just sucks that the fear and tension was muddled by a lukewarm plot and honestly unlikable MC. Next time, give me more strange and cool ideas like the shark, but hold all the Jaws references for sometime else please.
Steven Hall had me in the first half and then… he kind of lost me. The Raw Shark Texts was a great read don’t get me wrong, but out of all of its meta-laden pages and pop culture connections what we have here is something I and many others have seen before in other mediums. Once we get past the whole intrigue of Eric Sanderson’s total amnesia and search for the truth, what we’re left with is just ideas thrown at a dartboard but with Spielberg’s Jaws thrown into the mix. Having the titular Shark or Ludovican be an unstoppable threat to our MC was fantastic! The dread it brought was palpable and the pages in the story where you could see the physical creature inching towards you was pure genius. It just sucks that the fear and tension was muddled by a lukewarm plot and honestly unlikable MC. Next time, give me more strange and cool ideas like the shark, but hold all the Jaws references for sometime else please.