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kivt's review against another edition
3.0
Decent read. The majority of the book is lead up to isolation and fallout from it, so the blurb is a little misleading. The isolation bits were unpleasant, but I do feel they should have been a larger portion of the book. There's not quite enough material to build up the empathy necessary to carry the second half of the book.
willia4's review against another edition
4.0
Though it has something that approximates a happy ending, this is not a happy book.
In fact, it's quite tricksy. It starts as rainbows and sunshine. Indeed, it starts as extremely well executed rainbows and sunshine. There's an infectious happiness that lasts for pages and pages.
And then suddenly stops. I actually had to put the book down for about a week at one major point because it was all just too upsetting.
Which, I suppose for a book which is trying to completely disassemble a character so she can put herself back together...well, that level of upsettingness is probably something to be lauded.
And this book really is excellent. It's a compelling study in contrast: it's happy and depressing, it's dark and light, it's joyful and sorrowful -- all at the same time.
In particular, I found Eskridge's description of absolute, unending, unyielding solitude to be the stuff of nightmares. I've always enjoyed being alone. Eskeridge made me fear it.
So...well done?
At any rate, this is excellent near-future sci-fi. In a literary fashion, it stands up with some of the best books I've read. And its examination of how we would so callously push forward on investing in new technology with no thought to the consequences to our test subjects (especially when those test subjects are "marginal" criminals) is the sort of ethical treatment that sci-fi has always excelled at.
I'm about to use the word "excellent" again: this is an excellent book that should probably be on just about everyone's reading list.
In fact, it's quite tricksy. It starts as rainbows and sunshine. Indeed, it starts as extremely well executed rainbows and sunshine. There's an infectious happiness that lasts for pages and pages.
And then suddenly stops. I actually had to put the book down for about a week at one major point because it was all just too upsetting.
Which, I suppose for a book which is trying to completely disassemble a character so she can put herself back together...well, that level of upsettingness is probably something to be lauded.
And this book really is excellent. It's a compelling study in contrast: it's happy and depressing, it's dark and light, it's joyful and sorrowful -- all at the same time.
In particular, I found Eskridge's description of absolute, unending, unyielding solitude to be the stuff of nightmares. I've always enjoyed being alone. Eskeridge made me fear it.
So...well done?
At any rate, this is excellent near-future sci-fi. In a literary fashion, it stands up with some of the best books I've read. And its examination of how we would so callously push forward on investing in new technology with no thought to the consequences to our test subjects (especially when those test subjects are "marginal" criminals) is the sort of ethical treatment that sci-fi has always excelled at.
I'm about to use the word "excellent" again: this is an excellent book that should probably be on just about everyone's reading list.
the_other_adele's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
quasidaisy's review against another edition
5.0
Love it. I feel like I haven't stopped thinking about this book since I read it in college. I would read anything Eskridge wrote. I wish I could read a million books like this one. I want to read one she recommended on Twitter--[b:Magonia|21393526|Magonia (Magonia, #1)|Maria Dahvana Headley|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1413479866s/21393526.jpg|40690062]. I like a lot of the characters. Probably Neill was my favorite--her advisor who knew how to handle everyone and get them to function as a team. I like Snow a lot. She is so beautiful. I like Jackal's web. Chao, with her womb chair. Crichton with her different contact lenses every day. Scully, not always likable, making grilled cheeses and knowing what wine Snow will like based on her favorite color. I like Jackal, how she drinks too much. Even Donatella, the complicated way she feels about her daughter's accomplishments. Khofi. Most of all, I think, Ko. Beautiful name. Lots of beautiful concepts for how they want things to work--the web, the training, being all-encompassing, like Google. I don't like Estar much, very pretentious, with all the different music in each room. But even still I kind of like her. On this last reading, it struck me as extremely sad. Just something about Jackal and Snow. It wasn't a great ending. SO many things it could have gone on with.
Spoiler
, how she hurt her wrist saving her daughter when she was playing too close to the cliffsSpoiler
Just...to basically end with Estar dislocating Snow's arm, and then Jackal agreeing to do the research with, as far as I'm concerned, little guarantee they won't go turning her brain to mush just as she'd feared.kytimeforbooks's review against another edition
5.0
I did not expect to love this book so much! Speculative fiction with zero love triangles. Female protagonist with a girlfriend, and no emphasis on coming out or homosexuality (I cannot say strongly enough how much I appreciate this). The writing was borderline irreverent which I enjoy. Story had some weak points, and a certain major conflict never seemed to be addressed? But I just really enjoyed reading this book.
mjfmjfmjf's review against another edition
3.0
Huh. That was a weird one. From the cover - which is different than the one on goodreads - which I hated mostly cause it kind of made the book seem like a ya romance. To the odd disjointed plot. This book had more ideas than it needed and it really didn't make all that good use of them. Probably any one of them would have made a decent book. The Gifted running the world. The corporation acting as a country. The virtual space as prison. The bar for people broken by virtual isolation. Even just Snow and Jackal's life at Ko. It didn't need all of this. It didn't make it feel richer, it just made it more crowded. And kind of felt that there was no obvious point to the world. But barring the absence of a sensical plot with an arc, the book was good anyway. 3.5 of 5.
angieinbooks's review against another edition
4.0
Ren "Jackal" Segura is the Hope of Ko, and honestly I'm still not sure what that exactly means, but what I gathered is that Jackal has been set apart from birth and has been provided a sort of celebrity status, special training, and special treatment. Expectations are grand and it's stressful for her, but she's up for the challenge. She wants to do well--for her and for Ko. And then everything goes to hell.. She's convicted of a crime she didn't commit, and in her conviction, she's stripped of her Hope status, expelled from Ko, and sent to prison, where she undergoes a virtual reality solitary confinement for what feels like 6 years.
Basically, this book is everything I try to avoid, but I read it (for reasons) and I liked it way more than I expected I would.
The story is broken into three parts:
1. Jackal's life in Ko and training to be the Hope
2. Jackal's sentence
3. Jackal's life after her solitary confinement
I had a really hard time getting into this book and trying to figure out the world building that was happening and, I mean, I still don't quite understand what it means to be a Hope. It was a chore to read and I forced my way to get through, and I'm I'm glad I did. Jackal is likable; her girlfriend, Snow, even moreso, but everything else was hard to figure out: the relationship to her webmates, her relationship with her parents, how Ko operated.
Everything picks up after the crime. Jackal's solitary confinement is fascinating, and thankfully didn't drag on. And then she's completed her sentence, and she tries to figure out what happened to her, how not to become a guinea pig in some government science experiment, and how to go on living her life now that everything is gone.
The ending was mostly satisfying, but I was left with questions unanswered, but it was Jackal I was most interested in, along with Snow and their relationship, and she seemed to get an ending that was good for her.
A note for those interested in the f-f aspect of this book: This isn't a romance, per se. The story doesn't revolve around Jackal's relationship with Snow, but it does play a big part. And I love a cute romance more than anyone, but it was quite refreshing to have a queer heroine whose relationship was completely normalized and not the story's central focus.
Basically, this book is everything I try to avoid, but I read it (for reasons) and I liked it way more than I expected I would.
The story is broken into three parts:
1. Jackal's life in Ko and training to be the Hope
2. Jackal's sentence
3. Jackal's life after her solitary confinement
I had a really hard time getting into this book and trying to figure out the world building that was happening and, I mean, I still don't quite understand what it means to be a Hope. It was a chore to read and I forced my way to get through, and I'm I'm glad I did. Jackal is likable; her girlfriend, Snow, even moreso, but everything else was hard to figure out: the relationship to her webmates, her relationship with her parents, how Ko operated.
Everything picks up after the crime. Jackal's solitary confinement is fascinating, and thankfully didn't drag on. And then she's completed her sentence, and she tries to figure out what happened to her, how not to become a guinea pig in some government science experiment, and how to go on living her life now that everything is gone.
The ending was mostly satisfying, but I was left with questions unanswered, but it was Jackal I was most interested in, along with Snow and their relationship, and she seemed to get an ending that was good for her.
A note for those interested in the f-f aspect of this book: This isn't a romance, per se. The story doesn't revolve around Jackal's relationship with Snow, but it does play a big part. And I love a cute romance more than anyone, but it was quite refreshing to have a queer heroine whose relationship was completely normalized and not the story's central focus.
sarracenia's review against another edition
5.0
I really enjoyed this novel. The world-building is effective and I liked the idea of Ko as this corporation striving to become a nation-state. Jackal Segura is a great main character, likeable, bright, educated in a Ko way, and bisexual. The other characters are also well developed and interesting. The plot is gripping and the depiction of Jackal's time in VC is cleverly written. I also enjoyed reading the part where we see Jackal change as she adjusts to life as a convicted killer in the real world, in a new country where she knows no one. Then a little twist leads to a happy ending!
ericawrites's review against another edition
5.0
Loved how this book viewed a specific type of dystopia, defied my expectations, and surprised me. Disclaimer: I know the author and think she's pretty great too.