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elysareadsitall's review
2.0
"Dark Mind Rising" is an okay story, but I never connected to it and will probably forget all about it fairly quickly. I didn't particularly like the main characters. I didn't read the first book, so I may be missing some characterization nuance. However, Violet just sucks. She's not a bad guy or anti-hero to get behind, but she's not really a good guy either. She has two guys kind of trailing after her, constantly whines internally about her failing business without ever doing anything to recruit clients, and goes gets insanely wasted on nights when she knows she's investigating a teenager's suicide the next day. She was just not fun to read.
I liked the concept a lot. The Intercept and its ability to push emotions/thoughts into people's heads being turned into a weapon is really cool. This book included enough callbacks for me to completely understand the plot of the first book, so I don't feel like I missed anything in this regard. I would continue for the plot if I liked any of the characters.
I liked the concept a lot. The Intercept and its ability to push emotions/thoughts into people's heads being turned into a weapon is really cool. This book included enough callbacks for me to completely understand the plot of the first book, so I don't feel like I missed anything in this regard. I would continue for the plot if I liked any of the characters.
lazygal's review
3.0
Not reading the first book will be a problem for readers. The other problem is the pacing and some of the big action scenes - many were too fast to figure out what exactly was happening, while others seemed poorly plotted.
eARC provided by publisher.
eARC provided by publisher.
jbrooxd's review
3.0
[I received an electronic review copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]
This wasn't a great fit for me as a reader. There's not a lot of world building in this book to build on the first in the series - I had been hoping for more development in that area after finishing book one. I still didn't have any main characters I really liked. There's not enough engaging character development for me. Most of the off-plot musings - things that might be character development - were parts I skipped over to get back to the main mystery. They just didn't grab my attention. I'm still trying to determine if the author has a "message" with these books about emotional freedom or emotional self-regulation. The title for book 3 grabs my attention after an event in this book, but I'm not certain I will stick with the series after this one.
Severe trigger warning (TW) for suicide. This is a dark story due to the rash of suicides that take place. They are an integral part of the story but the scenes could be triggering.
This wasn't a great fit for me as a reader. There's not a lot of world building in this book to build on the first in the series - I had been hoping for more development in that area after finishing book one. I still didn't have any main characters I really liked. There's not enough engaging character development for me. Most of the off-plot musings - things that might be character development - were parts I skipped over to get back to the main mystery. They just didn't grab my attention. I'm still trying to determine if the author has a "message" with these books about emotional freedom or emotional self-regulation. The title for book 3 grabs my attention after an event in this book, but I'm not certain I will stick with the series after this one.
Severe trigger warning (TW) for suicide. This is a dark story due to the rash of suicides that take place. They are an integral part of the story but the scenes could be triggering.
deadgoodbookreviews's review
3.0
HUGE content warning for suicide. HUGE. Don’t read this book if you aren’t comfortable reading fairly graphic descriptions of said act. I’m usually a fairly robust reader and this made me super uncomfortable. I appreciate this is the point, it’s supposed to be unsettling, but reader discretion is advised.
This is possibly just me, but I personally feel that the alcoholic (or heavy drinking), lonely, damaged PI character is a little bit overdone? Obviously, the classic example of this kind of character is usually male, so there is some differentiation there, and I do think it is important to address the trauma that a character went through in the first book and the lasting effects of that trauma. Just because you saved the world doesn’t magically make you happy. All the same, I felt like this idea didn’t quite work? I think I wasn’t quite clear on why she became a PI when it so obviously wasn’t really working out for her. Perhaps that is me misremembering or forgetting something key from the first book (entirely plausible) but I wasn’t totally clear on Violet’s motivations.
I thought that the way the book built up the threat levels was very well done. What starts as a series of, albeit horrifying, situations builds to the potential to be truly devastating, whether that happens or not you’ll have to find out by reading it. It’s like the horror movie problem, if you can’t see the monster if you don’t fully understand it, then it’s so much more terrifying. By making part of the mystery finding out why these bad things are happening and what the person behind them wants, the threat level is raised to a much higher level. I’m probably overanalysing it, but it works.
One thing I did enjoy was, once again, the separation between new and old earth. This isn’t as important in this book as it is in the first one, but there are some interesting ideas in there about preservation and permanence which I think were good ideas to bring up, especially in a time where everything feels very disposable.
This is a difficult read in quite a few moments, as I say reader discretion is advised, but it is a good way of building on some of the ideas of the first book. I would say that you probably need to have read The Dark Intercept to get the full force of this book as it feels very much like a sequel.
My rating: 3/5 stars
I received a free digital advanced review copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
This is possibly just me, but I personally feel that the alcoholic (or heavy drinking), lonely, damaged PI character is a little bit overdone? Obviously, the classic example of this kind of character is usually male, so there is some differentiation there, and I do think it is important to address the trauma that a character went through in the first book and the lasting effects of that trauma. Just because you saved the world doesn’t magically make you happy. All the same, I felt like this idea didn’t quite work? I think I wasn’t quite clear on why she became a PI when it so obviously wasn’t really working out for her. Perhaps that is me misremembering or forgetting something key from the first book (entirely plausible) but I wasn’t totally clear on Violet’s motivations.
I thought that the way the book built up the threat levels was very well done. What starts as a series of, albeit horrifying, situations builds to the potential to be truly devastating, whether that happens or not you’ll have to find out by reading it. It’s like the horror movie problem, if you can’t see the monster if you don’t fully understand it, then it’s so much more terrifying. By making part of the mystery finding out why these bad things are happening and what the person behind them wants, the threat level is raised to a much higher level. I’m probably overanalysing it, but it works.
One thing I did enjoy was, once again, the separation between new and old earth. This isn’t as important in this book as it is in the first one, but there are some interesting ideas in there about preservation and permanence which I think were good ideas to bring up, especially in a time where everything feels very disposable.
This is a difficult read in quite a few moments, as I say reader discretion is advised, but it is a good way of building on some of the ideas of the first book. I would say that you probably need to have read The Dark Intercept to get the full force of this book as it feels very much like a sequel.
My rating: 3/5 stars
I received a free digital advanced review copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
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