existentialhell's reviews
65 reviews

The Archive Undying by Emma Mieko Candon
Did not finish book. Stopped at 24%.

Too much emotional explanation (over demonstration), not enough narrative weight.

The Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jimenez

adventurous emotional reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler
Did not finish book. Stopped at 10%.

Unimpressed by the writing, actively frustrated by how Nayler chooses to talk about/characterize Ha and Evrim. I don't trust him to deliver a naunced narrative — or even a compelling one — centered on consciousness when these early pages are already bloated with Philosophy 101 lecture questions presented as casually profound internal monologues.

He presents Evrim as outside the gender binary by making Ha have an sociolinguistic crisis the first time they say Hello. It's excruciating. It's self-flagellating. It's three pages long. It completely derails the reader's experience.

"Ha was irritated by her brain's gender provincialism..." is so inane.

"If only she let go, pulled away from that desire to slot Evrim like a child's peg into a slot-shaped hole in a board—to resolve them into a gender." 

"Ha began referring to Evrim, in her mind, with the Turkish "O"—round as its form, holistic, inclusive. The gender problem disappeared..."

Over–exposition festers in any paragraph that so much as breathes in the direction of existentialism. What does it mean to be conscious? To be human? These might be helpful questions to ask yourself as you, for example, draft a sci-fi thriller around hyperintelligent cephalopods. They are terrible questions for your brilliant scientist POV character to ask herself, utterly unprompted, barely 40 pages into the book. The story swells and rots.

If you pick it up, I hope the offgassing doesn't kill you.

Network Effect by Martha Wells

adventurous emotional funny hopeful tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

GAAHHHHBBBBJHHHGGDKDBJJ I am inconsolable

Otherlands: A Journey Through Earth's Extinct Worlds by Thomas Halliday
Did not finish book. Stopped at 3%.

Might come back to it later, just not feeling it rn

A Master of Djinn by P. Djèlí Clark
Did not finish book. Stopped at 52%.

I suspect other folks may find this book more enjoyable than me and I encourage you to read it yourself if it interests you. I just couldn't push on any further against some of the writing habits - animesque explanations of the character's every thought, exclamations of incredulity that undermine the characters' purported intelligence and hypercompetency. These things are much more suited to stylized visual storytelling. I'm fascinated by the story concept, and I hope the book ends with some clever finale rather than just giving al-Jahiz the Magneto treatment (ie he makes too many good points for a villain gotta make him genocidal) but I won't be sticking around to find out.

Also the "conflicts" written between Fatma and Siti or Fatma and Hadia are just irksome. Resolved too quickly and too easily, robbed of any character or narrative significance. 

How to Turn Into a Bird by María José Ferrada

challenging emotional funny reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Read it. I know that's not helpful, but read it. It hurts. It's magical.

Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells

adventurous funny tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

The Murderbot Diaries are a fucking joy

The Spanish Love Deception by Elena Armas
Did not finish book. Stopped at 21%.

God it's just so bad. Poor characterization where there is any, lazy caricature of sexism for the "work villain", mis-/noncommunication "conflict", corny dialogue. Disappointing example of the faking-dating trope and romance in general. Check out Talia Hibbert and Kimberly Lemming

Tell Me an Ending by Jo Harkin
Did not finish book. Stopped at 27%.

Neat concept, but irritatingly cliché portrayals of mental health and medication that I'm tired of seeing. "You're not the REAL you on psych meds" "They dull your mind" "They numb you out", all the classics. There's compelling and real and interesting ways to write about being treated w the wrong medications (I'm walking proof), but this ain't it.

The pacing's also frustratingly slow. I'm sure it picks up later in the book (generally how books work, go figure), but I'm well over 100 pages in and have been given virtually nothing for my efforts. Noor's done some bare bones research on RASA and who Louise was secretly calling, the Arizona couple's about to have dinner with the wife's old fling who's also Noor's former doctor neighbor, Mei's just getting on the plane to Amsterdam - but I can't bring myself to give a shit because there's virtually no broader tension. The book seems to think that plot alone is enough to establish the atmosphere and it just falls flat. The Arizona couple's the only one that convinced me to care, and I still don't even remember their names! Just feels like a slog.

If the writing were better, I probably would have stuck it out. Maybe I'll give the book another shot in a year or two with fresh eyes and attitude.