Reviews

I really enjoy Seanan McGuire/Mira Grant and this isn't really an exception to that rule. I have read enough of her books to see her telltale hooks. A problem with authors who write in the same universe or in the same vein (intense sci-fi with emotionally damaged strong female leads, anyone?) is that everything starts to become similar.
You could take the main characters from this and replace them with the lead from most of her other books. I have a feeling that these books all appeal to the bookish females dreaming of doing something big. I am one of those females most days. The other days I'm actually doing my something big, so there's that.
I felt that Seanan has been inserting herself into her books. This time it was painfully obvious that this was a self fulfilling need for her. There's was clearly something she had to work through and got paid to do this.

Despite this, it was an enjoyable ride and there were a few things in there I felt made it somewhat unputdownable.
I don't know that I'll keep picking up the short stories that she puts out unless there's a new hook. To be honest, I'll probably settle for the same hook with a new paint job.

bookish_withsky's review against another edition

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3.0

It definitely has Grant's amazing writing style and an intriguing premise. However, there are a few things that don't feel like they quite add up? We have a character who we're told is at odds with another, yet she agrees to go into this situation without any argument in the slightest, only a bit of hesitation. The 'at odds' aspect only lasted the first few pages of the book, which wasn't bad. The book went on to be even more interesting. It just felt like two possible ideas combined and it didn't work out in every aspect.

rebelkiss's review against another edition

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4.0

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for a copy for an honest review.

I wanted to read this book just for the title and author. I knew nothing about the book going in. The narrator was delightful and I would listen to more books from her.

This book had a mix of sci-fi and horror. A gal, with guilt about her dad, goes to a place that VR therapy place. She goes in and sh!t hots the fan. I enjoyed the ‘scary’ element but wish there had been more with the ending.

jessicarose's review against another edition

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4.0

3.5 stars

czoltak's review against another edition

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dark fast-paced

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

2.0

“We’re not monsters. We just make imaginary ones.”

⭐️⭐️

Sci-fi isn’t really my thing so I’m not that surprised I didn’t enjoy this more. The concept was super intriguing: virtual reality horror scenarios as a form of therapy. However, this is a case in which I actually wish this would’ve been a full fledged novel. It was hard to truly understand the technology and follow two different storylines in such a truncated amount. If we had gotten more background information and more time with these characters I think I would’ve enjoyed the story more and had a better understanding sooner.

kookykoi's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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? It's complicated

4.0

alligracestory's review

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.0

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