Review:
*I received a free ecopy of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.*
I don’t think there was anything particularly wrong with this book, and other people may enjoy it, but I just couldn’t really get into it.
There were still some things I liked though. I was really excited for this book because I always get excited when I find sci-fi/fantasy about characters with disabilities or chronic illnesses, and this protagonist had one of his legs amputated. What made it even better was that the story was in no way about his amputation, it was simply a story… and oh yeah, the protagonist just happened to have a prosthetic leg. He still had the same crazy adventure any person would’ve had, just with a bit of an added struggle sometimes.
There was also a pretty unique story involving aliens and yetis. I had never read about yetis, so it was neat having one be a side character in this story. And there was lots of action, what with the characters being chased, being attacked, scheming, fighting bad guys in order to stop their evil plans, etc.
One of the problems though was that I just didn’t feel anything toward the characters. Well, I disliked Angela because of how vague and mysterious she was instead of just explaining things. The rest though, they weren’t dislikeable or too perfect or anything extreme, but I feel like I didn’t get to know them well enough. I was also a bit put off by the instalove, but the focus wasn’t on the romance, so that wasn’t a huge problem.
Another problem I had was that I had a hard time picturing everything. I felt so lost as to what the settings looked like and what was actually happening in some scenes. It might’ve been the writing, or it might’ve just been me. My brain may have been too distracted to focus properly, or it could’ve had to do with how unfamiliar I was with those particular settings. For example, there was this whole action scene on a subway, but I’ve only been on a subway once in my life. For another example, a lot of scenes took place in a cathedral, and there was a rectory, a sancristy, and all these other words and rooms that I had no idea what they looked like or what the layout of the buildings would be like. (Just a note, the book wasn’t religious, that was just where some things took place.)
The last main problem I had was that having four POVs and having them jump around the way they did added to the action-y feel, but it didn’t seem quite necessary and made it harder for me to get into the scenes.
As I said though, there wasn’t anything necessarily bad about this book, just things that weren’t quite for me. I think anyone who likes action, big bad villains (albeit with an actual motivation), conspiracies, and plot-focused books may enjoy it more!
Recommended For:
Anyone who wants to read a story about an amputee main character that focuses on the action rather than on his disability. Anyone who likes plot-focused, action-packed science fiction/alien books.
I think diversity in terms of character is great, but it’s got a heap of other issues that would make me pause big time. Hm. Have to let this one digest a bit. Great review, though 🙂
I wouldn’t say it had a heap of issues, I can see why other people like it more, I think it’s just more for action and plot people than character people. Or maybe just for people who like different kinds of characters than I do? As for the being unable to picture things problem, I still can’t figure out if that was the writing or just me. Thanks 🙂
What a shame you didn’t enjoy it more as the premise sounds fantastic. Have you read the Cormoran Strike mysteries by Robert Galbraith aka J.K. Rowling? Another protagonist who is an amputee…
Yeah maybe I should just stop reading sci-fi for a while since it doesn’t seem to be working that well for me lately lol. It was a unique premise though, and I can see why other people like this book more. I haven’t read that other series, but if it’s not already on my list of books with disabilities, I’ll add it 🙂
Sorry you couldn’t get in to this one. It does sound interesting how this is a sci-fi book and the main character has a disability and as I remember you searching for books like that recently it’s nice you found one of them. I kinda like it when disabilities like that don’t get too much attention and just are.
I am curious about the alien and yetis aspect. i don’t think I have ever read a book about yetis either. I usually have trouble with books were I don’t really get to know the characters and don’t feel anything about them, so i understand why that bothered you.
I love to be able to visualize settings and scenes and it’s difficult when you can’t fully visualize things. And I wouldn’t know what those rooms in a cathedral look like either, so I would need more explanation to be able to visualize that. It does sound like it was a decent read even though it didn’t fully work for you and I am glad there were a few things you liked in this one next to the thing you didn’t.
Yeah, I have been searching, and this is exactly the type of book I was looking for, one which the MC has a disability, but it’s just a part of him, not the focus of the book.
But yeah, I think you summed it up. It had some interesting things and I was able to enjoy some things, but I just didn’t feel like I knew the characters well enough and it’s hard to get too into a book when you have trouble picturing things. I still don’t really know why that happened for me since none of the other reviewers seem to have had that problem.