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A review by rogoreads
Architects of Memory by Karen Osborne
2.0
This book has such a strong concept that I wish I liked it better. I'm into reading about futures where corporations rule and people are forced to earn basic rights, because that's pretty real right now. Add in medical debt and hiding an extremely expensive illness contracted while being indentured in the mines and you should have yourself a harrowing dystopia.
However, the plot moved at a breakneck speed that left me pretty confused half the time. I couldn't quite get a grip on the world's rules because of seemingly contradictory plot points and decisions. It felt like some important descriptions had been cut to make the story move faster. I didn't understand what even happened in the first few chapters, until well into the story. I still don't know why they went to the planet surface and why many things progressed the way they did.
I also found the characters pretty inconsistent. Some characters changed their minds so frequently that I never got a sense of what they were actually like, beyond doing what was necessary to either throw up an obstacle or advance the plot (sometimes in rapid succession). I think Ash was the strongest one, and it's cool to see a bi woman with a past and current relationship. Although the current one has weird power dynamics and doesn't really get meaningful screen time to be believable.
The alien concept was cool, and there were some poignant bits about what it means to be human. But there were too many flaws for me.
However, the plot moved at a breakneck speed that left me pretty confused half the time. I couldn't quite get a grip on the world's rules because of seemingly contradictory plot points and decisions. It felt like some important descriptions had been cut to make the story move faster. I didn't understand what even happened in the first few chapters, until well into the story. I still don't know why they went to the planet surface and why many things progressed the way they did.
I also found the characters pretty inconsistent. Some characters changed their minds so frequently that I never got a sense of what they were actually like, beyond doing what was necessary to either throw up an obstacle or advance the plot (sometimes in rapid succession). I think Ash was the strongest one, and it's cool to see a bi woman with a past and current relationship. Although the current one has weird power dynamics and doesn't really get meaningful screen time to be believable.
The alien concept was cool, and there were some poignant bits about what it means to be human. But there were too many flaws for me.