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audreypalz's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
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? No
2.0
Interesting premise that was pretty easy to predict and was essentially The Prestige but WHATEVER , but overall the execution annoyed me. The clearly written by a white man of it all, the odd character that felt juuust a tad racist, the over the top villains who literally shout “you fool!”, the lack of character traits in the characters besides “snark.” (And liking stuff from the 1980s, which does not count as a personality.) Generally, bleh.
songofmysoul's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
reflective
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
2.25
Die Bewertung des Buches muss man in zwei Teile teilen:
Das 1. Drittel:
Ich mochte den Schreibstil nicht besonders, die Charaktere waren eher langweilig und flach. Aber ich war begeistert vom Plot und vor allem von dem Worldbuilding / technischen Infos.
Plot:⭐⭐⭐⭐
Characters:⭐⭐
World building:⭐⭐⭐⭐
Writing style:⭐⭐
Die letzten zwei Drittel:
Schreibstil hatte ich mich mittlerweile dran gewöhnt. Charaktere unverändert flach. Statt Scifi-Elemente kommen jetzt eher Thriller-Elemente hinzu, bis es irgendwann auch einfach ein gewöhnlicher Thriller sein könnte. Der Plot und das Worldbuilding entwickeln sich von dem guten Beginn nicht mehr wirklich weiter.
Plot:⭐⭐
Characters:⭐⭐
World building:⭐⭐
Writing style:⭐⭐
Das 1. Drittel:
Ich mochte den Schreibstil nicht besonders, die Charaktere waren eher langweilig und flach. Aber ich war begeistert vom Plot und vor allem von dem Worldbuilding / technischen Infos.
Plot:⭐⭐⭐⭐
Characters:⭐⭐
World building:⭐⭐⭐⭐
Writing style:⭐⭐
Die letzten zwei Drittel:
Schreibstil hatte ich mich mittlerweile dran gewöhnt. Charaktere unverändert flach. Statt Scifi-Elemente kommen jetzt eher Thriller-Elemente hinzu, bis es irgendwann auch einfach ein gewöhnlicher Thriller sein könnte. Der Plot und das Worldbuilding entwickeln sich von dem guten Beginn nicht mehr wirklich weiter.
Plot:⭐⭐
Characters:⭐⭐
World building:⭐⭐
Writing style:⭐⭐
sentetia's review against another edition
1.0
What I thought I would get: An awesome science fiction story about the risks of teleporting in a world controlled by one big (evil) company.
What I got: A whole chapter about McDonalds Big Mac, and if you clone them, are they they same or different in some way?
Somewhere I read this was compared to Ready Player One by Ernest Cline, one of my favourite books of all time. - It's not even close to that masterpiece.
The idea behind the book was nice, but it's poorly put into practice.
What I got: A whole chapter about McDonalds Big Mac, and if you clone them, are they they same or different in some way?
Somewhere I read this was compared to Ready Player One by Ernest Cline, one of my favourite books of all time. - It's not even close to that masterpiece.
The idea behind the book was nice, but it's poorly put into practice.
sylw's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
tishywishy's review against another edition
3.0
In the distant future, teleportation is the travel norm and big corporations have replaced governments. Joel's marriage is becoming less of a marriage and more of a living arrangement so he and his wife decide to take a second honeymoon. On his way there (via teleportation) there is an explosion and instead of one Joel, there is now two. Joel's wife works for the corporation that developed teleportation and has been hiding dark secrets which must now come to light in an effort to save them all.
Where this book went right:
1. The sci-Fi was good. It's been of a stretch for me to find sci-fi books that really appeal to me - I like a bit of humor and for the science bits to be explained in terms and descriptions I can relate to.
2. Joel was human and definitely a lazy husband. He wasn't perfect, he expected his wife to do the leg work even when she is swamped with work, he didn't go into superhuman mode, and he essentially had his ass handed to him a few times. I've gotten so used to reading books that make the average person into a professional fighter in two pages that I almost forgot what it was like to roll my eyes at a character.
Where this book fell off:
1. There were some parts in the book that could have taken some more development. It felt too sharp and brief and left me feeling like something was missing.
2. Ending left me with more questions that I'm not certain will be cleared up cause I probably won't read the series.
Where this book went right:
1. The sci-Fi was good. It's been of a stretch for me to find sci-fi books that really appeal to me - I like a bit of humor and for the science bits to be explained in terms and descriptions I can relate to.
2. Joel was human and definitely a lazy husband. He wasn't perfect, he expected his wife to do the leg work even when she is swamped with work, he didn't go into superhuman mode, and he essentially had his ass handed to him a few times. I've gotten so used to reading books that make the average person into a professional fighter in two pages that I almost forgot what it was like to roll my eyes at a character.
Where this book fell off:
1. There were some parts in the book that could have taken some more development. It felt too sharp and brief and left me feeling like something was missing.
Spoiler
like when his wife was kidnapped in Costa Rica - that transition of him waking up and not finding her and running to get her was a bit of a stretch, when did she find time to put the message in the game?? You're being kidnapped!2. Ending left me with more questions that I'm not certain will be cleared up cause I probably won't read the series.
huntergoebel's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
joshhall13's review
5.0
100 out of 10. The book. The narrator. The concepts. Wow.
I can't wait to see the movie.
I can't wait to see the movie.
gizmotoy's review
adventurous
dark
funny
informative
lighthearted
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
kramaknome's review against another edition
4.0
It has a wealth of technical sci-fi worldbuilding, technology that is familiar with interesting twists, and characters that were easy to enjoy. The story itself is a fun premise with a conclusion that left me wanting a little more.
theaurochs's review against another edition
1.0
This is a bad, tedious, and stupid book. Please do not read it.
As is always the case with such rubbish, I don't want to waste time talking too much about it, but I will do my best to lay out some of the more major issues.
So we're in 2147, which seems to have pulled a random assortment of sci-fi advances out of the 'standard sci-fi future' random generator, there's really not a single original thing to be found here as far as I can tell.
The whole plot is based around the idea that teleportation is effectively a cut & paste job. That is, you dismantle someone/something atom by atom at one end, and reassemble them at the other. It is clear that the original is pulled apart, and yet the company in charge of the whole process has somehow just said "no it's fine, honest". Even when the characters are told and discover beyond any shadow of a doubt that teleporting will kill the original, they still do it, multiple times! Then at the end of the book they decide maybe they should avoid it...
The characters are... sort of there I suppose. Mostly they all have the same flavour of snarky dialogue, except for the eeeeviiiiil villain, who instead goes from 'annoying boss' to 'monologuing Bond villain' in approximately 2 seconds for no discenable reason other than the plot wants a villain. Joel is a rough trope of lazy, slob of a guy who has attractie, successful girlfriend who still ends up needing saving by him.
And worst element 100% is hey it's 2147 but I'm so quirky I like this old music from the 1980s, bet you haven't heard of this right? Hate this trope so much, and I hate that Ready Player One has made it seem acceptable.
And bloody hell the exposition. There are literal footnotes in this book, because the author is incabable of building world-building into the narrative (and definitely not the dialogue, because that is reserved for snark).
Very rough. Glad to have bashed it out quickly.
As is always the case with such rubbish, I don't want to waste time talking too much about it, but I will do my best to lay out some of the more major issues.
So we're in 2147, which seems to have pulled a random assortment of sci-fi advances out of the 'standard sci-fi future' random generator, there's really not a single original thing to be found here as far as I can tell.
The whole plot is based around the idea that teleportation is effectively a cut & paste job. That is, you dismantle someone/something atom by atom at one end, and reassemble them at the other. It is clear that the original is pulled apart, and yet the company in charge of the whole process has somehow just said "no it's fine, honest". Even when the characters are told and discover beyond any shadow of a doubt that teleporting will kill the original, they still do it, multiple times! Then at the end of the book they decide maybe they should avoid it...
The characters are... sort of there I suppose. Mostly they all have the same flavour of snarky dialogue, except for the eeeeviiiiil villain, who instead goes from 'annoying boss' to 'monologuing Bond villain' in approximately 2 seconds for no discenable reason other than the plot wants a villain. Joel is a rough trope of lazy, slob of a guy who has attractie, successful girlfriend who still ends up needing saving by him.
And worst element 100% is hey it's 2147 but I'm so quirky I like this old music from the 1980s, bet you haven't heard of this right? Hate this trope so much, and I hate that Ready Player One has made it seem acceptable.
And bloody hell the exposition. There are literal footnotes in this book, because the author is incabable of building world-building into the narrative (and definitely not the dialogue, because that is reserved for snark).
Very rough. Glad to have bashed it out quickly.