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molly_s_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
jubaju's review against another edition
3.0
Everyone gets what was coming for them, we wrap up in a hurry, people die in gruesome ways. Weird happy ending. All the books in this series follow the same pattern, and I can’t give any of them more than 3 stars because of that.
Also, this author is extremely horny. A lot of he descriptions were overly sexual (even in situations that weren’t sexual in the slightest), and a lot of gratuitous sex scenes were peppered here and there, when they did nothing for the plot or general development.
In war, there are of course many horrors, and they can usually be categorised into main boxes (death, gore, madness, rape...), but Michael Grant took it too far. Burnovsky being aroused every time he thinks about shooting his daughter? Too far, too explicit, too descriptive, brought up too many times, as if it were something the author enjoyed writing about. We got shown how even the good guys did terrible things, questionable things, but some stuff only needs to be written about once, if done well. How many times will we read about a man jacking off to his daughter’s murder before we start the question the author’s motives? Burnovsky was wired to enjoy it, the readers were not. The author seemed to be, though. Grey morality is a fascinating thing to read about, humans making terrible decisions in war is something that needs to be discussed, but there needs to be a sense of condemnation coming from, if not the author himself, at least through the characters. In this case, it came across as a sexual thing, not psychological warfare, something to enjoy reading about.
The deaths of the main cast seemed pointless, thrown in for shock value, something for Sadie to be sad about and ruminate over after she’s settled down in the future and rebuilt her life. The romance seemed secondary, until it served the plot for it not to be. Everything was jumbled, minor things blown out of proportion to further development, important points pushed back when they became too much of a hindrance.
As usual, we got an info dump of science facts once new things were added to the plot, written as though explained to an illiterate child, and repeated over and over throughout the book. It made the world building exhausting, frustrating, and way too long winded.
I did enjoy Lear’s genius, her madness, the discussion over good and bad, how you can spiral from one side to the other, the descent into madness, putting on a facade to hide the crazy. She was a very good character to talk about morality, but she was only brought in in the last book, then dumped unceremoniously in favor of Sadie’s heartbreak. She was not built with the series, we weren’t given the chance to unmask her as the plot progressed in previous books, and the fact that she had 400 pages to be developed, descend into madness, then defeated made that plot feel like a rushed afterthought.
Overall, good writing, meh characters, and a study on sanity that felt superficial and immature.
Also, this author is extremely horny. A lot of he descriptions were overly sexual (even in situations that weren’t sexual in the slightest), and a lot of gratuitous sex scenes were peppered here and there, when they did nothing for the plot or general development.
In war, there are of course many horrors, and they can usually be categorised into main boxes (death, gore, madness, rape...), but Michael Grant took it too far. Burnovsky being aroused every time he thinks about shooting his daughter? Too far, too explicit, too descriptive, brought up too many times, as if it were something the author enjoyed writing about. We got shown how even the good guys did terrible things, questionable things, but some stuff only needs to be written about once, if done well. How many times will we read about a man jacking off to his daughter’s murder before we start the question the author’s motives? Burnovsky was wired to enjoy it, the readers were not. The author seemed to be, though. Grey morality is a fascinating thing to read about, humans making terrible decisions in war is something that needs to be discussed, but there needs to be a sense of condemnation coming from, if not the author himself, at least through the characters. In this case, it came across as a sexual thing, not psychological warfare, something to enjoy reading about.
The deaths of the main cast seemed pointless, thrown in for shock value, something for Sadie to be sad about and ruminate over after she’s settled down in the future and rebuilt her life. The romance seemed secondary, until it served the plot for it not to be. Everything was jumbled, minor things blown out of proportion to further development, important points pushed back when they became too much of a hindrance.
As usual, we got an info dump of science facts once new things were added to the plot, written as though explained to an illiterate child, and repeated over and over throughout the book. It made the world building exhausting, frustrating, and way too long winded.
I did enjoy Lear’s genius, her madness, the discussion over good and bad, how you can spiral from one side to the other, the descent into madness, putting on a facade to hide the crazy. She was a very good character to talk about morality, but she was only brought in in the last book, then dumped unceremoniously in favor of Sadie’s heartbreak. She was not built with the series, we weren’t given the chance to unmask her as the plot progressed in previous books, and the fact that she had 400 pages to be developed, descend into madness, then defeated made that plot feel like a rushed afterthought.
Overall, good writing, meh characters, and a study on sanity that felt superficial and immature.
delaneybull's review against another edition
3.0
Wasn't as huge a fan of this one. I think the transition from BZRK being the "noble but questionable" organization into this corrupt, morally horrible organization within like 20 pages was too abrupt, and the Lear reveal happening totally in the third book was off-putting. The tone of the whole book differed from the previous two, and Lear's reason behind the chaos and madness (apocalypse, hence the title) was never fully explained. It wasn't horrible, but it was a total world destruction with not a ton of logic behind it. Also, the focus totally shifting from the Armstrong brothers to Lear didn't make a whole lot of sense since at the end of the previous book, they were all gung ho to take down the Armstrongs, so I think a gradual shift (or perhaps a fourth book after this one) to smooth the transition into the setting of Apocalypse would have been more helpful.
aira_reads's review against another edition
5.0
How do you come up with such brilliant descriptions damnit ! Love the series, love the author, love/hated the ending. It's war. People die, I get it
Like
Her brain floated like a giant sponge, the sponge crisscrossed with throbbing arteries and veins like the tangle of rivers in tributaries in a delta
------
She was aiming for the hippocampus, a deep structure, and part of the evolving brain. It was the router of the mind.
------
She was circling the blue, around the eye that twitched beneath her, making all the minute adjustments that eyes must do. She skimmed the edge of her iris-serried ranks of gristly Russell Phiber waiting to react to light, opening and closing the dark, deep hole of her pupil.
----
She was in the land of muscle bundles now, massive cables seemingly fused into the melting ice of the eyeball and ascending into the dark
Spoiler
But Nijinsky and Noah are baeLike
Her brain floated like a giant sponge, the sponge crisscrossed with throbbing arteries and veins like the tangle of rivers in tributaries in a delta
------
She was aiming for the hippocampus, a deep structure, and part of the evolving brain. It was the router of the mind.
------
She was circling the blue, around the eye that twitched beneath her, making all the minute adjustments that eyes must do. She skimmed the edge of her iris-serried ranks of gristly Russell Phiber waiting to react to light, opening and closing the dark, deep hole of her pupil.
----
She was in the land of muscle bundles now, massive cables seemingly fused into the melting ice of the eyeball and ascending into the dark
scostner's review against another edition
3.0
For those who have read the first two books in the trilogy, this is the grand finale. The Armstrong Twins and AFGC, Lear and Caligula, BZRK, Burnofsky, the Bug Man, Plath and Keats... Everyone is in it for the endgame. What will cause the end of the world? The gray goo? The nanobots? The biots? Nuclear destruction caused by personnel driven insane by bots in their brains? Or perhaps the good buys will be able to stop it in time. Who are the good guys? Just when you think you might have it figured out, another layer gets peeled back and another player ups the ante.
If you haven't read the first two books, there are many references to previous events and many of the characters' motives are linked to those earlier actions and their repercussions. It might be too complicated to come in at this point and fully enjoy the story without that background knowledge. I would recommend reading the books in order. The original foundation of the story will explain how the nanobots and biots were first developed, how something meant as a medical intervention could become a means of terrorism, and the demons driving all the key players to try and remake the world as they wish.
Those who enjoy techno-thrillers, techno-apocalyptic stories, and sci-fi set in the present or very near future will probably want to read the series and try to figure out who the bad guys are for themselves.
I read an e-book provided by the publisher through NetGalley.
If you haven't read the first two books, there are many references to previous events and many of the characters' motives are linked to those earlier actions and their repercussions. It might be too complicated to come in at this point and fully enjoy the story without that background knowledge. I would recommend reading the books in order. The original foundation of the story will explain how the nanobots and biots were first developed, how something meant as a medical intervention could become a means of terrorism, and the demons driving all the key players to try and remake the world as they wish.
Those who enjoy techno-thrillers, techno-apocalyptic stories, and sci-fi set in the present or very near future will probably want to read the series and try to figure out who the bad guys are for themselves.
I read an e-book provided by the publisher through NetGalley.
ryyzap's review against another edition
3.0
By far my favourite of the trilogy. Loved the path it took although didn't fully understand the reasoning as to Lears goals etc.
Great character development in this final book.
There was just a whole lot of crazy going on and it was fun to read.
A really interesting series.
*SPOILERS*
Was really depressing that Sadie didn't tell Noah she loved him. I wish she had in those final moments.
Soooo what was Lears deal. Why bother creating BZRK?
I was so upset when Noah died and same with Billy.
OMG MIND BLOWN WITH LEAR AND HER DAD WOAH. As soon as Sadie said it was like a father daughter relationship I knew.
The twins were barley in this one and I missed that a bit. Also Bug Man always ends up on the evil side one way or another.
Just wish she told him she loved him. Sigh.
Great character development in this final book.
There was just a whole lot of crazy going on and it was fun to read.
A really interesting series.
*SPOILERS*
Was really depressing that Sadie didn't tell Noah she loved him. I wish she had in those final moments.
Soooo what was Lears deal. Why bother creating BZRK?
I was so upset when Noah died and same with Billy.
OMG MIND BLOWN WITH LEAR AND HER DAD WOAH. As soon as Sadie said it was like a father daughter relationship I knew.
The twins were barley in this one and I missed that a bit. Also Bug Man always ends up on the evil side one way or another.
Just wish she told him she loved him. Sigh.
randyribay's review against another edition
3.0
Lots of disturbing violence and action. I don't have a problem with that necessarily, but it started to feel pretty over-the-top.
seachelles7's review against another edition
3.0
Well that was dramatic.
This is very much a tale of 'some people just want to watch the world burn' with strong under currents of 'nobody thinks they're the bad guy, everyone joins for the right reasons'
I wanted better for Keats. He was my favourite.
This is very much a tale of 'some people just want to watch the world burn' with strong under currents of 'nobody thinks they're the bad guy, everyone joins for the right reasons'
I wanted better for Keats. He was my favourite.
reasalic's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Gun violence, Violence, and Death