Reviews tagging 'Classism'

The City Inside by Samit Basu

5 reviews

ceilidhwilliams's review

challenging reflective slow-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

4.0

On one hand super intriguing and well rounded characters and atmosphere, but on the other the story end abruptly just as the action begins, if this was a series that would be understandable but its a standalone. The story's just unfinished

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Xenophobia, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Religious bigotry, Gaslighting, Racism, and Rape

saucy_bookdragon's review

challenging dark slow-paced

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

3.0

The City Inside is intensely focused on world building. Set in a near futuristic (next like 10-20 years) India struggling with fascism, climate change, and pandemics, so people escape through the internet (or "Flow") and virtual reality. It's realistic terrifying world building and the perspectives it was shown from were interesting as Joey and Rudra are by all means normal people. However, the book is heavy on exposition, the prose mainly long paragraphs explaining the world that made it a slog to get through and difficult to connect to the characters. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Gaslighting, and Misogyny

Moderate: Classism, Racism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

uranaishi's review

adventurous emotional funny hopeful informative mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Gaslighting, Misogyny, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Cultural appropriation, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Rape, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Racism, Bullying, Toxic friendship, Xenophobia, Mental illness, Police brutality, Panic attacks/disorders, Stalking, Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, Violence, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Sexual content, Child abuse, Death, Grief, Classism, Colonisation, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Trafficking, Forced institutionalization, Infidelity, Blood, Body shaming, Alcohol, Deportation, Fatphobia, Medical content, Cancer, Islamophobia, and Pedophilia

smoakwithwifi's review

challenging dark reflective tense slow-paced

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

3.25

I have very complicated thoughts about this book. On the one hand, there were some very interesting worldbuilding concepts and perspectives of a near-future India. On the other, characters were rather unlikeable and the author used a dialogue-heavy writing style tending toward stream of consciousness—building up a feeling almost of doomscrolling, which may have been intentional but set my teeth on edge nevertheless.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment and Sexual assault

Moderate: Infidelity, Religious bigotry, Gun violence, Gaslighting, War, Classism, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Trafficking, Emotional abuse, and Drug use

Minor: Stalking, Death, Genocide, Islamophobia, Bullying, Hate crime, Police brutality, and Drug use

kindra_demi's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

 For fans of Black Mirror, 1984, and any other future, dystopian, and/or totalitarian story fans, read this book!!! (Caveat when you are in a good headspace because things felt like they could easily be our potential future too). As someone who loves studying the influence media has on global issues (including how it can distract from), as someone who obsessed over the quote "Ignorance is Strength" from 1984, as someone who has had some experience in social media management, I couldn't get enough of this story.

We begin in a near future India, where Flowstars (the next influencer) are the next capitalistic investment to keep the average person entertained while the world continues to fall apart and abuse around them. From here, we are immersed into a very similar world to ours, where pandemics, wars, climate change, and more are all swept away by what the latest trending Flow (similar to a live stream/reality tv show). It takes some time to learn the worldbuilding of this book as you'll go through and relearn what we already have terms for, but because we already have similar terms, it's not the most complicated world building.

My primary complaint is we spend almost the entirety of the book building up to the choice of Joey and Rudra, but then we get Rudra's choice and then just accept that

he's gone mia

and Joey we barely see her plans forming in the deleted scenes. As I mentioned in the beginning though, I couldn't get enough of this story!! 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gun violence, Sexism, Classism, Racism, and Rape