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chantaal's Reviews (2.32k)
This surprised me! I love Seanan McGuire but I'm not familiar with her Mira Grant work that much. At first I was thrown by the writing, but once I realized this was moving along in a similar vein to other sci-thriller classics like Michael Crichton's work, everything clicked and I had a great time.
The omniscient view points, the random side characters getting a few pages of screen time before their inevitable gory deaths, the larger focus on only a few characters, everyone being either dumb or too heroic for no reason or terrible people - yeah, it all worked for me.
The omniscient view points, the random side characters getting a few pages of screen time before their inevitable gory deaths, the larger focus on only a few characters, everyone being either dumb or too heroic for no reason or terrible people - yeah, it all worked for me.
What drew me into this and kept me going was how similar this is to Urban Fantasy that I enjoy. You've got a strong, stoic female lead who has to solve some sort of mystery, and who meets a hot alpha male along way. Just change the set dressing from magic to futuristic sci-fi, and the alpha animal male to an alpha billionaire human male, and you've got Naked in Death.
The mystery itself wasn't compelling. I found the sexual violence of the killings absolutely unnecessary and gratuitous - they did nothing for the story as a whole aside from increasing shock value. Oh, and the sexual violence of the memories of women who were sexually abused as children - holy fucking shit, that was a bit too much. There's a fine line between showcasing women who have that trauma in their past, and having certain moments spelled out in brutal detail. FOR NO REASON. I will not hear otherwise. There was NO reason for some of the horrific detail. And to have this be a major trauma of Eve's past? So this is going to keep going on??
As characters, Eve and Roarke were fine. Eve felt very much like a stereotypical urban fantasy lead character, just with a Be The Best Cop chip on her shoulder to mask her trauma. Roarke was a billionaire mystery man whose only personality is that he's rich and sexy and finds Eve intriguing. I was surprised at how damn fast the romance moved in this. Instalove happens even in the future, I guess.
And yet here I am, writing this review even as I'm almost done with book 2...like I said, compelling. The character and plot beats are very reminiscent of Urban Fantasy and the comfort of those get me through reading slumps. We'll see how far I'll go with this series.
The mystery itself wasn't compelling. I found the sexual violence of the killings absolutely unnecessary and gratuitous - they did nothing for the story as a whole aside from increasing shock value. Oh, and the sexual violence of the memories of women who were sexually abused as children - holy fucking shit, that was a bit too much. There's a fine line between showcasing women who have that trauma in their past, and having certain moments spelled out in brutal detail. FOR NO REASON. I will not hear otherwise. There was NO reason for some of the horrific detail. And to have this be a major trauma of Eve's past? So this is going to keep going on??
As characters, Eve and Roarke were fine. Eve felt very much like a stereotypical urban fantasy lead character, just with a Be The Best Cop chip on her shoulder to mask her trauma. Roarke was a billionaire mystery man whose only personality is that he's rich and sexy and finds Eve intriguing. I was surprised at how damn fast the romance moved in this. Instalove happens even in the future, I guess.
And yet here I am, writing this review even as I'm almost done with book 2...like I said, compelling. The character and plot beats are very reminiscent of Urban Fantasy and the comfort of those get me through reading slumps. We'll see how far I'll go with this series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Murder
DNF @ 24%. This is a grand epic of a fantasy novel with many characters moving through a world that is undeniably thoroughly thought out. But I found myself caring less and less as I went on, and while I was told and saw so much about every character we follow, I had no real idea who they were, nor did I feel a single thing for any single person.
As I read more Tchaikovsky, I'm finding that he's a big Ideas person and his characters exist to flesh out that Idea and World. I don't always vibe with it, but when I do (like Elder Race) it really works for me. This didn't work, unfortunately.
As I read more Tchaikovsky, I'm finding that he's a big Ideas person and his characters exist to flesh out that Idea and World. I don't always vibe with it, but when I do (like Elder Race) it really works for me. This didn't work, unfortunately.
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Cannibalism, Murder, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Classism
Fun and entertaining at times, but even as a popcorn novel connoisseur I had to ask myself, what was the point of this?
It felt like a bunch of Bond Villain ideas thrown together into a stew with not much holding it together other than our main character Charlie who has absolutely zero character growth. We're with him just so we can also learn about the villain stuff in bits and pieces and be surprised! and awed! and entertained! by all the twists and turns and fun.
Also, the storytelling structure felt a bit too much like Scalzi is a ten year old telling a story by saying "and then the dolphin started talking and then they go to the big villain meetup and then he hangs up on him during a Zoom meeting and then things blow up and then and then and then--" Meh. I wish this had been better because usually I love silly shit like this. I really do.
Hera the cat was a baller, though.
It felt like a bunch of Bond Villain ideas thrown together into a stew with not much holding it together other than our main character Charlie who has absolutely zero character growth. We're with him just so we can also learn about the villain stuff in bits and pieces and be surprised! and awed! and entertained! by all the twists and turns and fun.
Also, the storytelling structure felt a bit too much like Scalzi is a ten year old telling a story by saying "and then the dolphin started talking and then they go to the big villain meetup and then he hangs up on him during a Zoom meeting and then things blow up and then and then and then--" Meh. I wish this had been better because usually I love silly shit like this. I really do.
Hera the cat was a baller, though.
This is a super cute and endearing isekai. Though the setup is a bit weird (Myne’s obsession with books is…a lot), it’s fun seeing her acclimate to being reborn in a pre-literature world. Her family dealing with her new weirdness is adorable too.
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