Review:
*I received an ecopy of this book via NetGalley & Edelweiss. This has not influenced my review.*
This was one of those books that had a low thrum of tension throughout the whole thing, that feeling that things were weird and wrong even though you didn’t yet know what. But since I didn’t really know what the plot was working toward, I didn’t have this sense of things building, and the book felt slow for about the first 2/3. The beginning of the book also seemed to be more world-building and descriptions of settings than plot, and the articles and things that were between chapters sometimes only slowed the pace more. That being said, once things did really start building and take off around the last third, they got pretty twisty and complex.
Largo’s characterization was really well done though. He was so flawed, yet also a character I sympathized with. He had dreams, but he just kind of settled with his life as it was. He had a pretty dead-end job and a crappy apartment, and he spent most of his free time and money on drugs, including one called morphia that he was addicted to. Largo didn’t always make great decisions in life, but he had a good heart. He cared about others. He wasn’t as judgmental as many people around him were. And when he came across an opportunity to better himself and maybe one day achieve his dreams, he jumped on it. He also realized some things about himself and changed throughout the story. The supporting characters felt believable too, even if they weren’t explored as much. This book also did a great job showing how situations and lives and people can spiral down or out of control.
I’m not sure if this is considered sci-fi or fantasy or some combo of the two. Personally I’d say it’s kind of dystopian. It’s got robotic technology and government conspiracies and plague and strange creatures made with eugenics all set in a darkly decadent and vice-ridden city.
I struggled with what rating to give this book because it wasn’t a bad book, but it still wasn’t quite right for me. I struggled with all the description and with not knowing where the plot was going, but the characterization of the main character was strong and there was a lot of complexity put into the story, and I think some readers will really enjoy this!
Recommended For:
Anyone who likes flawed characters, detailed world-building, lots of mystery and tension, and a slow-building plot.
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I’m reading this soon, and I hope I enjoy it more than you did. It’s a little worrisome when a book only gets good in the last third, but I’ve also read some slow moving books that I really loved, so we’ll see!
I hope you do too! Sometimes our taste does differ a bit, so maybe it’ll work for you 🙂
Thanks for the great review. It sure has a great cover and synopsis. Just feeling it might not work for me either.
It does have a great cover and synopsis, doesn’t it? I was super excited for this one, maybe I just had too high expectations.
It almost sounds kinda cyberpunk-ish. And while it’s slow to get moving, it also sounds like it has some neat ideas. I mean this- “It’s got robotic technology and government conspiracies and plague and strange creatures made with eugenics all set in a darkly decadent and vice-ridden city.” – sounds pretty good lol. And it’s a standalone apparently huh?
Idk that I’d call it cyberpunk, but it definitely had some neat ideas! And yep, from what I can tell, it’s a standalone 🙂
Sorry it wasn’t as good as you hoped it would be. It’s hard for me to wait until the end for things to come together but it’s also hard for me to dnf so I hang int here lol
Karen @ For What It’s Worth
I feel that lol.
Poor pacing will kill a book for me no matter how good other elements are. It’s sad that this didn’t speed up after 1/3 instead of 2/3!! That would have helped a ton. ❤️ Great review Kristen.
Yes, speeding up sooner would’ve been a bit better!
I do like that low thrum of tension, and I think it can be done very well. But you’re right, it does make for a bit more of a slow moving beginning and the author needs to do some seriously good characterisation to either make up for it or keep the reader hooked. It sounds like Largo was a good character but that he didn’t quite make the low thrum exciting enough. But it still sounds like an intriguing read. I like sci-fi fantasy genre mash ups 😀
It definitely can be done well, but yeah, the characterization just didn’t quite make up for the plot for me in this one. He was still a good character though!