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cinemazombie's review against another edition
Lures you in with the promise of Westworld-meets-D&D, and delivers something more along the lines of a Netflix romance/comedy. Not that that's a bad thing, but would have liked to have seen little more 'Mercs take on orc replicants'and what I got was a lot of internal monologuing on trauma and whole bunch of pop culture references. Enjoyable nonetheless, much in the way an amusement park is - easy thrills in a fantasy world that is just a smidge to shallow to truly sink into.
lunalele's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
jennkei's review against another edition
3.0
I really wanted to like it but even though I did enjoy it, it fell short and the ending seemed kinda rushed to me.
bookph1le's review against another edition
1.0
This book...
Prepare yourself for a spoiler-filled rant-o-rama. The TL;DR spoiler-free version of my review is this: The entire problem with this book is Addie is a classic example of that character type we all love: Too Stupid To Live.
And now let the rant-o-rama begin!!
How stupid is Addie, you ask? So stupid that every bad thing that happens in this book is all down to one factor: her stupidity. Had she not wandered off from her group, none of what happens in the last sections of the book would have happened. But why wouldn't Addie wander off? Because despite that she knows she's in a potentially dangerous situation, Mirabilis is just way, way too cool for a giant geek like her to resist.
I am also a geek. Addie is an insult to us all.
Addie is a survivor of a school shooting, which we know because the book keeps telling us about it. Why show it when you can tell it, am I right? Also, if the book did try to show it instead of tell, Addie wouldn't have done a fraction of the idiotic things she does because she would have had at least some *shred* of a sense of self-preservation. Instead, all Addie can do is marvel at how super cool everything is, even if it's trying to kill her. I mean, she throws herself in front of a bunch of animatronic animals when her soldier buddies point guns at them. Let that one sink in for a few.
Fact: one of Addie's biggest issues is her inability to distinguish between fantasy and reality, despite that she's constantly reminding herself that things on Mirabilis aren't real. Every time she does this, she ignores the part of her that operates within the confines of reality and decides the stuff she sees IS real. The problem is, the stuff on the island is as real as the country jam band at Chuck E. Cheese. It's just more high tech and looks better. This would be disturbing enough if it weren't for the fact that Addie constantly puts things that ARE real--such as her companions--in danger because of her inability to differentiate, case in point being the fake animals she saves by using her own body as a shield.
I'd like to take a moment here to address something. This island makes no sense to me. I mean, sure, I have no doubt that there are people who'd be willing to pay big bucks in order to LARP at this hardcore level that includes the possibility of actually dying by being roasted alive by an animatronic dragon that breathes literal, actual fire. But do I think a LOT of people would pay for that? No, no I do not. Granted, there are more vanilla levels of tourist options planned for the island that would certainly have much wider appeal, but while this book is so eager to show off its geek cred, I think it misses something essential: many of us geeks do NOT want this actual level of danger. I love video games and play all kinds. I do not want to live in a video game. I also do not want to actually go to Hogwarts because the possibility of getting eaten by a three-headed dog is just not my jam. I'm willing to accept that I may have an unusually low tolerance for risk, as far as geeks go, but I firmly believe that the big reason many of us love video games and books and movies and shows so much is because of the disconnect. Yes, those worlds look really cool and pretending to be the hero is fun, but how many people actually want to take on slogging across Middle Earth while battling orcs in order to pitch a ring into an active volcano? I'd venture to guess that not many of us do.
The whole fake aspect bugged me so much because the whole reason Addie gets herself into the scrapes she does is because she's entranced by how real this world is. I get it, it's high quality, but it's still a theme park, Addie. It worries me that you don't understand that. It worries me that when the dude you broke up with, who may be the villain of this entire piece, shows up, you jump right into bed with him because he's had his ears surgically altered to make them pointy.
Yep, you read that right. Addie sleeps with Dom, who clearly has major issues, because she keeps thinking he's Elrond. And despite that he kidnaps her, despite that he puts her life at risk, despite that his actions help get another character killed, despite that he's severely burned because of his alt-universe view of the world, at the end of the book, Addie is not sure if she wants to see him again. Not sure? Is it possible to be any more sure of anything?
The fact of the matter is Rucker deserved better. He dies because Addie is stupid. Worse yet, he doesn't blame her, even though his death is most certainly a direct result of her idiotic actions. Nor do any of the other military-types blame her. I guess that also makes Addie something of a Mary Sue, since she can apparently do no wrong as far as the other characters are concerned.
Look, this book had an interesting concept and it could have worked had it been handled well. Had the author shown us how appealing it is to Addie to fall into this fantasy of a kinder, gentler, more magical world as a result of her trauma, the book could have worked. Instead, we get Addie making repeated geek-culture references and literally deciding she can be the hero at the end of the book because she rolled a natural 20 with her lucky d20. What?
I am so over these terrible scifi books that are really nothing more than an author geeking out over their expansive fandoms. Creating a shaky plot that's propped up by nothing more than a bunch of insider references strung together into sentence form does not a good book make.
Prepare yourself for a spoiler-filled rant-o-rama. The TL;DR spoiler-free version of my review is this: The entire problem with this book is Addie is a classic example of that character type we all love: Too Stupid To Live.
And now let the rant-o-rama begin!!
Spoiler
Did I mention that Addie is stupid? Because she is painfully, excruciatingly stupid. She is supposedly a woman who I think is 32 but who behaves like a wayward toddler. The minute she sees something sparkly, she's off. I kept thinking that Torres and the other military types with her should have put her on one of those toddler leashes so that she wouldn't be able to get away from them anymore.How stupid is Addie, you ask? So stupid that every bad thing that happens in this book is all down to one factor: her stupidity. Had she not wandered off from her group, none of what happens in the last sections of the book would have happened. But why wouldn't Addie wander off? Because despite that she knows she's in a potentially dangerous situation, Mirabilis is just way, way too cool for a giant geek like her to resist.
I am also a geek. Addie is an insult to us all.
Addie is a survivor of a school shooting, which we know because the book keeps telling us about it. Why show it when you can tell it, am I right? Also, if the book did try to show it instead of tell, Addie wouldn't have done a fraction of the idiotic things she does because she would have had at least some *shred* of a sense of self-preservation. Instead, all Addie can do is marvel at how super cool everything is, even if it's trying to kill her. I mean, she throws herself in front of a bunch of animatronic animals when her soldier buddies point guns at them. Let that one sink in for a few.
Fact: one of Addie's biggest issues is her inability to distinguish between fantasy and reality, despite that she's constantly reminding herself that things on Mirabilis aren't real. Every time she does this, she ignores the part of her that operates within the confines of reality and decides the stuff she sees IS real. The problem is, the stuff on the island is as real as the country jam band at Chuck E. Cheese. It's just more high tech and looks better. This would be disturbing enough if it weren't for the fact that Addie constantly puts things that ARE real--such as her companions--in danger because of her inability to differentiate, case in point being the fake animals she saves by using her own body as a shield.
I'd like to take a moment here to address something. This island makes no sense to me. I mean, sure, I have no doubt that there are people who'd be willing to pay big bucks in order to LARP at this hardcore level that includes the possibility of actually dying by being roasted alive by an animatronic dragon that breathes literal, actual fire. But do I think a LOT of people would pay for that? No, no I do not. Granted, there are more vanilla levels of tourist options planned for the island that would certainly have much wider appeal, but while this book is so eager to show off its geek cred, I think it misses something essential: many of us geeks do NOT want this actual level of danger. I love video games and play all kinds. I do not want to live in a video game. I also do not want to actually go to Hogwarts because the possibility of getting eaten by a three-headed dog is just not my jam. I'm willing to accept that I may have an unusually low tolerance for risk, as far as geeks go, but I firmly believe that the big reason many of us love video games and books and movies and shows so much is because of the disconnect. Yes, those worlds look really cool and pretending to be the hero is fun, but how many people actually want to take on slogging across Middle Earth while battling orcs in order to pitch a ring into an active volcano? I'd venture to guess that not many of us do.
The whole fake aspect bugged me so much because the whole reason Addie gets herself into the scrapes she does is because she's entranced by how real this world is. I get it, it's high quality, but it's still a theme park, Addie. It worries me that you don't understand that. It worries me that when the dude you broke up with, who may be the villain of this entire piece, shows up, you jump right into bed with him because he's had his ears surgically altered to make them pointy.
Yep, you read that right. Addie sleeps with Dom, who clearly has major issues, because she keeps thinking he's Elrond. And despite that he kidnaps her, despite that he puts her life at risk, despite that his actions help get another character killed, despite that he's severely burned because of his alt-universe view of the world, at the end of the book, Addie is not sure if she wants to see him again. Not sure? Is it possible to be any more sure of anything?
The fact of the matter is Rucker deserved better. He dies because Addie is stupid. Worse yet, he doesn't blame her, even though his death is most certainly a direct result of her idiotic actions. Nor do any of the other military-types blame her. I guess that also makes Addie something of a Mary Sue, since she can apparently do no wrong as far as the other characters are concerned.
Look, this book had an interesting concept and it could have worked had it been handled well. Had the author shown us how appealing it is to Addie to fall into this fantasy of a kinder, gentler, more magical world as a result of her trauma, the book could have worked. Instead, we get Addie making repeated geek-culture references and literally deciding she can be the hero at the end of the book because she rolled a natural 20 with her lucky d20. What?
I am so over these terrible scifi books that are really nothing more than an author geeking out over their expansive fandoms. Creating a shaky plot that's propped up by nothing more than a bunch of insider references strung together into sentence form does not a good book make.
gingerhalfling's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
rlhawthorne42's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
fast-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? N/A
5.0
chawthorne's review
adventurous
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
stressicalessica's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
lemonsage's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
fast-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? It's complicated
2.75
The main character has a traumatic background that might be upsetting.
readera's review
adventurous
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Lots of fun nerd references including classic literature, mythology, lord of the rings, larp, d&d and a sprinkling of internet memes. I really enjoyed this book esp the second half.
Despite the fun plot & setting the tone of the book is kept grounded by the main characterShe has Trauma from childhood and it affects her in the present. I don't have ptsd but I am somewhat familiar with it. This seems like decent representation and it results in a nicel layered character.
Despite the fun plot & setting the tone of the book is kept grounded by the main character
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence and Mass/school shootings
Moderate: Violence, Confinement, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Kidnapping