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stacyaj's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
hopeful
reflective
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Death, and Child death
count_zero's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment and Violence
Moderate: Death, Gun violence, and War
Minor: Death of parent
anxiousnachos's review
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.75
Machinehood is a dark picture of our future, a future where gig work dominates, where AIs and robots do most jobs and where people can design drugs in their own kitchens. The worldbuilding in this is phenomenal and absolutely the best part of this book. I am absolutely loved that though this is set 100 years in our future, little tidbits are dropped (e.g. the line about Arizona abortion law) to see how we got from where we are now to where the world in Machinehood is, making it all the more terrifying and realistic. The world itself is also just fascinating, this world where funders hire people to design drugs in their own kitchens, the reliance on pharmaceuticals to do anything. There are hints dropped about a pandemic era that occurred that led to this which was particularly eerie and unsettling now.
What I was less sure of was Welga, one of the POV characters. She was a bit too “pro US/our military is the most ethical even though they abandoned me and my team and left us for dead” for me (not a spoiler). I will say, it’s definitely a novel that makes you uncomfortable and will make you think regarding the worldbuilding around military and protest and pharmaceutical companies though I’m not sure it always felt *intentional*.
But altogether, a very interesting read with an absolute fascinating world!
Content warnings: abortion, forced pregnancy, miscarriage, gore, drug use, addiction, withdrawal, violence, gun violence, war, racism, death, assault, body modification
What I was less sure of was Welga, one of the POV characters. She was a bit too “pro US/our military is the most ethical even though they abandoned me and my team and left us for dead” for me (not a spoiler). I will say, it’s definitely a novel that makes you uncomfortable and will make you think regarding the worldbuilding around military and protest and pharmaceutical companies though I’m not sure it always felt *intentional*.
But altogether, a very interesting read with an absolute fascinating world!
Content warnings: abortion, forced pregnancy, miscarriage, gore, drug use, addiction, withdrawal, violence, gun violence, war, racism, death, assault, body modification
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abortion, Pregnancy, Miscarriage, Gun violence, Violence, Drug abuse, Addiction, Gore, and Death
Moderate: Racism, Sexual assault, and War
madarauchiha's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
0.25
❤️ 🧡 💛 💚 💙 💜 my about / byf / CW info carrd: uchiha-madara 💜 💙 💚 💛 🧡 ❤️
Do you ever enjoy something, and then later on you find out the author is a sexual abuser, or a homophobe, or something like that? And then you look at the first thing you read and go ah! So that's why the themes and portions of the book felt off in a bad way.
That's this book. I thought the author was really horny in a bad way for the military. I also thought they were really weird about personhood and organic bodies not in a way relating to the plot.
I enjoyed this book. I sought out other media form this author, and one short story called 'Runtime' confirmed it. Divya has some fucked up racist ideas about trans people, and race / ethnicities in general. They're also really horny for the military. Combines these together or with anything, and you get a real bad time. The book came out long after that short story. Whether Divya has matured in their views of trans people or not I'm unaware.
I wrote about the transphobia, transmisogyny, racism in 'Runtime' here, briefly. https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/d277a718-169f-4d59-b32c-c826c4a6b03b
This book is great. It's fun. It's an interesting, unique plot--if you can get past the idea we're rooting for private military soldiers and assisting governments in suppressing civilians. If you are socially aware, then the ending makes absolutely no sense and comes off like a fairy tale wand wave.
The writing is lovely and mature. If you read YA you won't like this. If you read Hard Science Fiction, this is probably more softer than what you usually enjoy. It gets a star because it's competently written, but I can't justify liking or promoting it beyond this single review. I have no interest in engaging with Divya's works any more.
content warnings
minor child abuse, religion catholicism, sexual content,
mediums abortion, body horror, gun violence, kidnapping, sexual content, suicide, vomit
major abortion rights, addiction, child death, claustrophobia, death, drug abuse, drug use, explosions, gore, injuries, murder, outer space, pregnancy, religion catholicism, suicide bombers, violence, gun violence
Do you ever enjoy something, and then later on you find out the author is a sexual abuser, or a homophobe, or something like that? And then you look at the first thing you read and go ah! So that's why the themes and portions of the book felt off in a bad way.
That's this book. I thought the author was really horny in a bad way for the military. I also thought they were really weird about personhood and organic bodies not in a way relating to the plot.
I enjoyed this book. I sought out other media form this author, and one short story called 'Runtime' confirmed it. Divya has some fucked up racist ideas about trans people, and race / ethnicities in general. They're also really horny for the military. Combines these together or with anything, and you get a real bad time. The book came out long after that short story. Whether Divya has matured in their views of trans people or not I'm unaware.
I wrote about the transphobia, transmisogyny, racism in 'Runtime' here, briefly. https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/d277a718-169f-4d59-b32c-c826c4a6b03b
This book is great. It's fun. It's an interesting, unique plot--if you can get past the idea we're rooting for private military soldiers and assisting governments in suppressing civilians. If you are socially aware, then the ending makes absolutely no sense and comes off like a fairy tale wand wave.
The writing is lovely and mature. If you read YA you won't like this. If you read Hard Science Fiction, this is probably more softer than what you usually enjoy. It gets a star because it's competently written, but I can't justify liking or promoting it beyond this single review. I have no interest in engaging with Divya's works any more.
content warnings
minor child abuse, religion catholicism, sexual content,
mediums abortion, body horror, gun violence, kidnapping, sexual content, suicide, vomit
major abortion rights, addiction, child death, claustrophobia, death, drug abuse, drug use, explosions, gore, injuries, murder, outer space, pregnancy, religion catholicism, suicide bombers, violence, gun violence
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abortion, Addiction, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Pregnancy, Violence, Gun violence, and Suicide
Moderate: Abortion, Body horror, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Sexual content, Suicide, and Vomit
Minor: Child abuse and Sexual content
kukushka's review
adventurous
challenging
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Abortion, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Medical content, Pregnancy, and Terminal illness
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