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lynxpardinus's review against another edition
3.75
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Confinement, Dementia, Death, Self harm, Blood, Sexual content, and War
Minor: Sexual harassment, Excrement, Outing, and Gore
starsnstitchin's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
Graphic: Murder, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Confinement, Genocide, Grief, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, and Abandonment
Moderate: Self harm, Animal death, Death, Excrement, Police brutality, Cursing, Bullying, Terminal illness, and War
keya_caivalur's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Fire/Fire injury, Blood, Death of parent, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Dementia, and Murder
Moderate: War, Slavery, Abandonment, and Animal death
Minor: Police brutality, Cancer, Dysphoria, Sexual content, Death, Genocide, Chronic illness, Confinement, Torture, Excrement, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Self harm
gen_wolfhailstorm's review
- 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
Part 1 -
Part 2 -
Thank you to Black Crow PR and Tor for a physical early copy. All opinions remain my own.
This was a fantastic reimagining of Pinnoccio (I liked the inital turning the concept on its head that Victor was already a 'real boy', but boy, was it more than that). I think it taking the more science fiction, dystopian route enabled the story to develop into a much wider discussion of humanity, 'playing god' with AI and the very real potential for what we're so desperate to create (and surpass every other nation in the science for) usurping us and running things...better? ...Maybe. (you can talk amongst yourselves on that one.. )
The romance was very, very slow burn and I loved it. It wasn't the main thread of narration but it somehow felt integral to the plot and was meaningful and impactful too.
The family relationships were absolutely beautiful. The love that this miss-match of loveable characters had for each other was so heartfelt and powerful and I adored reading about the lengths that each and every one of them would go to, in order to keep the others safe. I couldn't help but think that this is what family should aspire to be, and I think this thought is made even more poignant when the reader takes a step back and recalls that the majority of the cast are robot's, machines and AI of some description. If they can do it so profoundly, it makes you really wonder about humanity.
There is so much I could say about all the characters but I'll just stick to Victor. Being the potentially last of his kind, he was even more of a unique individual. His devotion to his loved ones was admirable and his determination to overcome his internal battles was just as inspiring. He made for a complex, challenging and a (learning to be) emotionally aware protagonist that I loved to read about.
I'm sure I've expressed more feeling here and there within my (multitude of) reading vlog(s) already so do feel free to check those out, if you'd like. For now, I will leave this review with this: I loved this book!
Moderate: Dementia, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Forced institutionalization, Slavery, Self harm, Outing, Violence, War, Torture, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Genocide, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Confinement, and Blood
kelseyr713's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Genocide, Bullying, Death, Grief, Murder, Sexual content, Violence, Medical content, Child death, and Confinement
Minor: Self harm, Blood, and Animal death
thaliareads's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Grief, Cursing, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Torture, Kidnapping, Death, Sexual content, and Confinement
Minor: Animal death, Self harm, and Genocide
I put "blood" in graphic because blood and bleeding are frequent topics as they would alert everyone to Victor's existence. Victor does prick his finger which could be seen as self harm since it is intentional, however, it is not due to depression or suicidal ideologies. Victor does have to hunt for food, but it is not described in detail. One of his family members also frequently curses or does the equivalent of cursing and profanity. However, it typically is done to ease tension and add comedy rather than in a way that feels trashy or rude. It does come up that robots have basically commited a mass genocide of the human population, however it is not described in a lot of detail. There are a few scenes with very specific and clearly defined violence, but it is all in support of revealing important information about our main characters. There is a brief period where the main character feels confined and is experiencing massive guilt about not being able to help his family. His family member is kidnapped and torture is implied. Death is interesting in this book, because for androids what is defined as death? Either way, they do contemplate Victor's mortality multiple times throughout the book.