Reviews

Something New Under the Sun by Alexandra Kleeman

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alisha247's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.5

‘something new under the sun’ is essentially an elevated literary cli-fi mystery. i really enjoyed the sub-themes in this: the hollywood noir, the famous child actor to troubled celebrity pipeline, the investigation into WAT-R and its side effects, the mental and emotional devastation attached to the the climate crisis. all things i love to read about!

the only downside to my reading experience was the overwritten descriptions of nearly everything, and the meandering and philosophical dialogues that were interspersed between characters. it really disrupted the flow of the novel.

catherineneeds's review

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mysterious medium-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

victoriathuyvi's review against another edition

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dark mysterious medium-paced

3.5

kh4dijah1rha's review

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challenging mysterious tense 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

3.5

gracehourigan's review

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adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

lost me towards the end but written in a beautiful style

vikreads's review

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3.5

This book follows a writer who is in a future LA assisting in his book becoming a movie - however much like any Hollywood based work of fiction, there’s drama and conspiracies, cover ups, and a “good guy” tryna get the bad guys to listen to him.
The twist is the dystopian aspect - they live in a society in which there no longer is water, and they had to manufacture a new way to survive, they call it WAT-R
But as the novel goes on, you realize there’s something heinous about this new concoction. Definitely pointing towards our own society and all the things we put into our bodies without even realizing it. (Shoutout to the FDA for not caring as much as they should).
But even with the world collapsing around them in this novel, capitalism and money still run it all. Sounds about right. It was a decent book and I enjoyed it, but probably not one that I’ll remember for the long haul.