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jmoses's review against another edition
4.0
A super weird journey into our collective psyche and that of the narrator. I'm not even kidding this is strange as hell. It would have been interesting if it was just the setting of The City, and the extra twists and turns only made it more so. A bit hard to follow in the later chapters, but otherwise good.
hank's review against another edition
4.0
No wonder this won the Philip K. Dick award. First it is weird but understandable with a fun little adventure. Then it gets weirder, you can still wrap your head around it and follow the story. The MC gains some depth the quest gains some purchase. Then at the end it gets PKD weird. I am still not entirely sure what happened at the ending or what I am supposed to think but I enjoyed it. There was a bit too much "tell" and not enough "show" at the end or it would have been 5 stars.
I will probably read the next one.
I will probably read the next one.
suzemo's review against another edition
4.0
I thought I was going to hate this book, and initially, I didn't care for it. The slow build up or explanation of the world that is not-quite-ours was a little tedious and boring. A little too cliche, until the cliches worked.
It's a (murder?) mystery-thriller-psychological horror -thing. It is very imaginative, and once I got past the fact that it wasn't a real world (as far as I'm concerned), it got interesting. I think the p-sychological bits of it were the most interesting, and I did end up loving the book.
As for a proper review? Look elsewhere, because I am just not up to the task.
It's a (murder?) mystery-thriller-psychological horror -thing. It is very imaginative, and once I got past the fact that it wasn't a real world (as far as I'm concerned), it got interesting. I think the p-sychological bits of it were the most interesting, and I did end up loving the book.
As for a proper review? Look elsewhere, because I am just not up to the task.
rocketiza's review against another edition
1.0
The first third of this book was fantastic, then takes a hard nonsense turn to a terrible ending.
casualdarings's review against another edition
5.0
It's sci-fi magical realism, a genre I didn't realize even existed except I've now read two books that fit that very description and loved them both. Just like with The Gone Away World, I went in knowing next to nothing about it and ended up enjoying every last bit.
ewc's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
fl00dl1ght's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
tense
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? It's complicated
4.25
bramboomen's review against another edition
4.0
This is a very strange book, not only because of the absolutely weird setting but also because of the story telling. I think I have never read a book in which the narrator was actively holding back information and telling me things that turned out not to be true. This made the book seem a little "alive" and made the mystery very interesting.
I wasn't really into the book at first, even though I really liked the writing style, but when the story started heating up I was hooked and read through to the end in one go.
I wasn't really into the book at first, even though I really liked the writing style, but when the story started heating up I was hooked and read through to the end in one go.
readabookorfive's review against another edition
4.0
"Did something like that happen to you? You'll never know because you'll never remember. Most people don't. I did."
cdurbzz's review against another edition
1.0
there's a distinction between a book i don't like and a book that's poorly written; the mark of a true one-star novel is that it satisfies both conditions.
anyway this sucked. the goofy irreverence really wore thin after 30 pages, but it was fucking relentless (had a similar problem with catch-22). the narrative takes so many illogical, poorly established turns into utter nonsense - first half is a snatch-and-grab caper that veers wildly into an end-times fantasy about stopping a malevolent supervillain from wreaking havoc on the dream world (not kidding). the bad guy, by the way, is introduced halfway through the novel and doesn't actually make an appearance in the story until the penultimate page, following multiple chapters of pure expository drivel that completely derails any momentum generated up to that point.
i wrote a short story in grade 2 that opened with my main character, speaking directly to the reader, giving his name and home address. this writing reminded of that.
anyway this sucked. the goofy irreverence really wore thin after 30 pages, but it was fucking relentless (had a similar problem with catch-22). the narrative takes so many illogical, poorly established turns into utter nonsense - first half is a snatch-and-grab caper that veers wildly into an end-times fantasy about stopping a malevolent supervillain from wreaking havoc on the dream world (not kidding). the bad guy, by the way, is introduced halfway through the novel and doesn't actually make an appearance in the story until the penultimate page, following multiple chapters of pure expository drivel that completely derails any momentum generated up to that point.
i wrote a short story in grade 2 that opened with my main character, speaking directly to the reader, giving his name and home address. this writing reminded of that.