Character - 9
Atmosphere - 7
Writing - 8
Plot - 6
Intrigue - 7
Logic - 5
Enjoyment - 8

Rating: 7.14 / 4 stars

I liked this a lot, though it wasn't even a little bit what I expected. Mickey7 was an engaging main character and loving him made me a lot more engaged in the story than I might have been if I didn't like him so much. Equally, the audiobook was a fantastic performance and really added to the atmosphere of the novel. I highly recommend it as a good way to read this book.

The premise of the novel kind of implies that the book will focus entirely on the conflict that arises from Mickey7 and Mickey8 existing at the same time. But in reality, Mickey8 doesn't feature much in the story at all, with the whole novel driven far more by Mickey7 and his history. I actually liked this better, but it was strange to realise that you could take Mickey8 out entirely and have a very similar and equally strong story.

The book was interspersed with Mickey7's experiences as an expendable, and with history of humanity's expansion through the stars, and as an avid sci-fi reader I really liked seeing this interpretation of humanity. I loved the insight we saw into people's attitudes towards the expendables, with their vital role being weighed against humankind's inherent fear of death, with an added note of religious fear on top.

Kind of as an aside, I do wish this book had found a better way to hammer home the idea of resource scarcity and 7 and 8 having to pretend to be one person because honestly? If I read them discussing how many calories they were each allowed one more time, I was going to scream. I understand its narrative purpose but it made my skin crawl.