Reviews tagging 'Trafficking'

The City Inside by Samit Basu

4 reviews

tacanderson's review

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

Disclaimer: I'm an American who has worked in tech for decades and worked with a lot of Indians both in India as well as in America and England. I've spent several weeks in India, but my review is ignorant of the realities of India and is only presented as an outsiders view. Normally that's fine, books open up new worlds to us, that's the beauty of books. But this book obviously has a specific message for and about India and reading this book feels a little bit like you're eavesdropping on a long-standing family discussion. 

That being said, I've long enjoyed Samit Basu's books and readily recommend him to people. The near-future sci-fi ideas in this book are some of the best I've read in a long time. The City Inside definitely shares some DNA with William Gibson's Pattern Recognition. India is the perfect setting for the new wave of cyberpunk. I've read quite a few books by local Indian authors and I always find new compelling ideas. India is this fascinating mix of post-colonial western with a core that is staunchly Indian. They proudly hold on their heritage and traditions but can't escape their 3,000 year old caste system. This book brings all of that to the forefront while highlighting the struggles in a future context. 

---

Content Warnings

Minor: Sexual harassment, Trafficking, and Sexual assault

sarah984's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

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

3.0

This was a really interesting story with an all too plausible dystopia and a great sense of place. Unfortunately I don't think the dual POV worked (the guy character was boring and considering what happened with him I think his parts could have been communicated through Joey) and I didn't really like the way the "sex scandal" (if you can call it that) plotline was handled.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Mental illness, Police brutality, Rape, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Gun violence, Pandemic/Epidemic, Racism, Xenophobia, and Trafficking

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

---

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.

---

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