Reviews

Axiom's End by Lindsay Ellis

laserjared's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated

mikeylikzit's review against another edition

adventurous dark fast-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? It's complicated

3.0

scorpiobookfairy's review against another edition

It's been a while since I've read writing this tedious... it was dull and cliche alien bs... I mean, let's rip off men in black and write it badly and somehow get published. Not for me...

dothelindyhop's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

meedamian's review against another edition

4.0

I'm not sure how to write this review. The book is interesting, BUT it has a few structural quirks that make it quite weird to go through. The first one is, that it feels to have 2 endings: one quote early on, and then once you think things are just wrapping up and you're done with the book, it picks up and many, many more things happen. Another quirk is the sheer amount of plot twist, I've really enjoyed them first, but the closer Ingot to the end the more often they happened, and for me personally it actually became quite tiresome -I love when unexpected things happen, but here by the end it felt like they were being added just for the sake of continuously subverting expectations. I know it's a bizarre thing to complain about, and yet it's something that I felt warranted a mention

Now, all above being said, I really liked the story, and despite the orgy of plot twists by the end, it still seems like most of them were somewhat foreshadowed, consistent, and quite logical.

I know there are other books in this series, but I think I need a good break before/if I reach for the next one.

timinbc's review against another edition

4.0

I don't really get the Transformers stuff, I didn't like Cora much, and some of the writing is clunky.
But 4 stars anyway, because I liked the Ampersand plot as an exploration of They Are Not Like Us.
Sure, the resolution of the Ampersand arc was predictable, but that's OK.

Just about lost me in the middle when it became clear that we were just getting started on what the Pequods can do - heal, teleport, telekinesis, mind control, ... it's easy to go over the edge with that.

Just about lost me at the end when Cora went all Black Knight "Just a scratch!" while apparently bleeding to death.

But for all that it passed the key test - I wanted to see how it ended. Many better-written books have failed that test.

jkmeineke's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

question's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.5

This book started so slow, and I didn't really like the main viewpoint character. But once we get into the actual plot it got more interesting. 

Mostly I really like Ampersand and the alien culture, but Cora kinds annoys me at various points. I kinda like that she's a bit unlikable I suppose, it's not unrealistic? But it does make me kinda annoyed to be spending time in her head sometimes. 

Also the ending makes me vaguely feel like I got tricked into a weird romance novel where ancient being falls for immature human girl and it makes... some sense in the story but I'm not sure I'm into it.

bulwark's review against another edition

challenging tense medium-paced

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

3.25

trin's review against another edition

3.0

Let me start by saying that I adore Lindsay Ellis' pop culture criticism. She's smart and funny and really, truly insightful--I feel like her YouTube videos take you on journeys that are often unexpected, that make you look at culture in new ways. That's a rare thing in a landscape filled with rehashed opinions and "hot takes."

So I was deeply jazzed to read this, her first novel . . . and ultimately saddened to feel a bit let down by it. Which is in no way to say that it's a bad book! On many levels it's an intriguing first contact story. But I also struggled with it quite a bit. In part, this is because, while Ellis is a brilliant video essayist, I found her novelistic prose to be . . . well, it's fine. "Workmanlike" is the condescending term often used, and that I hate myself for quasi-using. Honestly, I can see her style not bothering most readers: remember, my expectations were high! But to my mind, the writing itself is not great.

It's very fast-paced, however: characters constantly charging from one location to the next, being captured by various forces, escaping capture, being recaptured, capturing their captors. I found it a bit frenetic, and liked the book best when the plot slowed down, and we just got scenes of our main character, Cora, conversing with the alien central to the first contact story, called Ampersand. Their relationship is the highlight of the novel.

(Because it's an obvious play on Beauty and the Beast. Like, especially obvious if you know Ellis' other work. If this makes it sound like I am mad at this aspect of the novel, let me assure you I am not. It was genuinely my favorite part of the story -- I maybe wish Ellis had leaned into it more? But lol.)

However, all around them, there's plot happening, and it's really really complicated plot: lots of alien politics that I think ultimately mostly hung together, but that never interested me. And then there are the Earth politics. The book is set in 2007. George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, and Robert Gates all make cameo appearances, which is either clever or weird, I genuinely cannot decide. One thing I'm fairly firm on: I don't believe for a second that

Spoiler

George W. Bush would instantly resign after getting caught lying about government knowledge of the existence of aliens. Even if you see him solely as the puppet of Cheney, he was a useful puppet, and the Republican Party would have never allowed it. Recent events, let's say, have made it very, very hard for me to buy this plot development. But also: the fact that we have a worse liar in the White House currently should not make us forget that reality's George W. Bush was also a massive and consistent liar, and he completely got away with it.

This is all engineered, by the way, by Cora's estranged father, who is basically Julian Assange but less immediately repulsive. This familial connection played into the plot less than I thought it would; it feels like something that Ellis may be saving for a sequel.

Quite a bit did, and that may be my other big issue. After some dragginess in the middle (I got a bit bogged down during the Cheyenne Mountain section), the book rockets toward its conclusion. And really, all the most interesting stuff happens right at the end! It does make me want to read a potential sequel -- but also ensures that my expectations will be much more tempered for that volume.

Thanks to NetGalley for the advance copy of this book. I've been on GoodReads since 2007 and this was my first NetGalley! I'm finally a real girl!