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A review by rebeltheflow
Dark Matter by Blake Crouch
adventurous
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
⭐️⭐️⭐️
I’m struggling if this is 3 or 4 stars leaning. Maybe 3.75.
The concept and plot is excellent: 5 stars. The writing style and execution is okay: 3 stars. The characters are ver poorly written: 1 star.
Plot: There’s a lot of twists but some were predictable (at least from the standpoint that I as a reader figured it all out before the protagonist did (and he’s supposed to be a genius scientist)). I really like the themes, questions and philosophy this sci-fi proposes. What defines you? Regret and doubt and the path not taken. The first 100 pages are a bit slow but the next 240 pages are fast! Like really really fast in both plot and writing style.
Writing Style: Everything is short and punchy which successfully makes a fast page turner. Each sentence is like 5-10 words. Each paragraph is only 1 - 3 sentences. Some paragraphs only 5 words…..and I really liked that for the narrated part of the book. It reads like a movie. I liked that a lot of the details were up to me to decide & I think this writing approach allows readers to feel immersed in the action without being interrupted by over descriptive scenery or adverbs. But the dialogue is written in the same style which makes the characters appear really boring, flat, and uncompelling. Which takes me to my next point.
Characters: Everyone is so one directional. Characters come and go without proper send-offs which created to many unfinished subplots in my opinion. Each character talks in only 3 word replies, reading it honestly felt like trying to flirt with a really dry texter. My biggest issue is that this book is supposed to be a romance between a genius scientist & his artistic wife, but there was no love for each other except for their horniness.
Spoilers:What happened to Amanda? Is there hundreds of her now too? She was a major character and then suddenly forgotten. The reveal of their being hundreds of Jasons back at his home world was awesome (probably my favorite moment of the book) but the fight between them all was just: the Jason that is the most horny shall win (essentially). Jason was so horny in fact that his motive is being angry at Jason2 having sex with his wife when it should be him. Charlie, his son, is practically forgotten for 90% of the book. Also Jason is so horny he cheats on Daniela with another version of her & tries to justify it. Also he’s so horny he comes very close to cheating on Daniel’s with Amanda ….but then he conveniently never tells his wife that.
I’m struggling if this is 3 or 4 stars leaning. Maybe 3.75.
The concept and plot is excellent: 5 stars. The writing style and execution is okay: 3 stars. The characters are ver poorly written: 1 star.
Plot: There’s a lot of twists but some were predictable (at least from the standpoint that I as a reader figured it all out before the protagonist did (and he’s supposed to be a genius scientist)). I really like the themes, questions and philosophy this sci-fi proposes. What defines you? Regret and doubt and the path not taken. The first 100 pages are a bit slow but the next 240 pages are fast! Like really really fast in both plot and writing style.
Writing Style: Everything is short and punchy which successfully makes a fast page turner. Each sentence is like 5-10 words. Each paragraph is only 1 - 3 sentences. Some paragraphs only 5 words…..and I really liked that for the narrated part of the book. It reads like a movie. I liked that a lot of the details were up to me to decide & I think this writing approach allows readers to feel immersed in the action without being interrupted by over descriptive scenery or adverbs. But the dialogue is written in the same style which makes the characters appear really boring, flat, and uncompelling. Which takes me to my next point.
Characters: Everyone is so one directional. Characters come and go without proper send-offs which created to many unfinished subplots in my opinion. Each character talks in only 3 word replies, reading it honestly felt like trying to flirt with a really dry texter. My biggest issue is that this book is supposed to be a romance between a genius scientist & his artistic wife, but there was no love for each other except for their horniness.
Spoilers:
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gaslighting
Moderate: Death, Kidnapping, and Stalking
Minor: Gun violence and Rape