I've read almost all of Dickens' works, but this one is extraordinarily dull. I tried. I really did. I couldn't get through it. It really is ...bleak... *sitcom laugh track*

I'm actually very interested in the history and linguistics of swearing, but this book isn't a proper study, it doesn't cite its sources. I believe it's too old for that and doesn't take its subject matter seriously enough. I'm sure it has cultural significance in its own way, but it just wasn't what I was looking for. 

I really didn't like the way the author handled this retelling. The writing style felt superficial, a lot of the occurences were unrealistic, the female characters were very obviously written by a man if you know what I mean. However my biggest complaint is with Duff's character. In the original Macbeth play, Macduff's defining trait is loyalty to his family. He's a tough warrior, but he's also a family man, and losing said family drives his revenge. In Jo Nesbø's Macbeth, "Duff" is kind of a misogynistic jerk, who frequently cheats on his wife. This kind of undermines everything that should make his character compelling.

The focus on sports wasn't really my thing. (I thought it would be an opportunity to develop characterization and relationships between the characters, but no it was literally just guys playing American football.) Also the characters had NO personality, not even the protagonist. Just zero characterization, introspection, or development. It had a very "for the guys" vibe, which isn't a bad thing, but again, just not my thing. I don't mind reading books with a focus on a certain hobby, occupation or way of life that I don't know much about, as long as it's an actual story with characters and plot and interactions OUTSIDE of that

Bland, uninspiring style, uncompelling characters plus weird misogyny and racist/orientalist/fetishist descriptions.

This is sad. I really didn't want to DNF this book as I have been an avid fan of the System Divine trilogy ever since the release of the very first book. I followed the releases faithfully, and preordered the 2nd and 3rd books. I have been a diehard fan of Les Misérables since high school and so I was very captivated by this sci fi retelling. 
However, the third book disappointed me. I wasn't expecting to be disappointed - I went into Suns Will Rise fully prepared not only to love it, but even to overlook any details I might dislike. That's how eager I was to appreciate this book. However, the two authors took the retelling in a direction that I strongly dislike. I feel like it disregards and disrespects the spirit of the original source material in a way I just can't reconcile myself with. Spoilers below, I'm going to tell you what narrative choices Brody and Rendelle made that convinced me to drop this series 2 books and 240 pages in. 
<Spoiler> 
1. They turned the Friends of the ABC into a terrorist group. Their main crime? Wanting to use violence in an uprising. The protagonists of Suns Will Rise strongly believe that the only way to overturn an abusive status quo is peaceful protest and heart to hearts with the enemy. I just...no. it's giving Hayes Code Les Mis to me. It felt like the authors, although well intentioned, confused the June Rebellion described in Les Misérables with the actual French Revolution. They even replace Enjolras with an invented character, "Maximilienne", as the leader of this group which - guess what they named it instead of Les Amis de l'ABC? Wait for it... tHe ReD sCaR. 🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️ And if you were hoping to see your favorite barricade boys transposed into a sci fi setting? Tough luck. Combeferre? I don't know her. Jehan Prouvaire? He's a random old fisherman with no connections to the Amis. I'm in pain. 
2. They turned Alouette/Marcellus/Chatine (space!Cosette, Marius and Éponine) into a basic YA love triangle. I just... I can't. I can't anymore. Terrorist!Amis made me groan but Marcellus kissing Chatine was my last straw. That's when I looked at this book and decided to stop lying to myself that I liked it. I kept reading after the terrorist!Amis because I hoped that the situation would get turned around, it would come out that they weren't actually in the wrong, it was propaganda by General Bonnefaçon (space!Marius' space!grandpa) to keep the two rebel groups apart from each other...but no. Brody and Rendelle really did decide to get rid of any nuance in their retelling. I'm so sad typing this. Major disappointment.
 Also, idk if it's just me, but the writing quality seems to have gone down too. The characters aren't as interesting anymore and none of the jokes HIT. 

I feel a bit bad for DNF-ing this one, because I actually quite liked the style and the concept. There's the sense that it could have been a quality read, except the book seems SO. MUCH. LONGER than it needs to be.
I'm usually very good with long and slow-paced books. It's just that, in the case of Life after life, there is practically no plot, just a concept, and characters that aren't fascinating enough to make up for it. The descriptions aren't bad by any means, but they just don't have that magically immersive quality that impressed me in The Goldfinch, for example (another long and slow-paced book that I absolutely adored). And yeah, as I was saying, Life after life DRAGS. My mind keeps wandering while reading this thing... It feels like one interminable introduction, I keep waiting for the plot to actually happen, except I'm 198 pages in and it STILL feels like the beginning of the book, with the stage being set. 
One more thing that annoyed me about the book: the author has this annoying habit of starting off almost every new chapter right in the middle of the action, with new characters and events she doesn't bother to actually introduce or, respectively, explain until like 10 pages later. I'm sure Atkinson thinks it's very modern and candid and surprising, but really it is just confusing.

It's pretentious and uninteresting. The writing style is so bland and unremarkable; I couldn't tell the stupid characters apart. Besides, the author writes from perspectives she can't possibly understand (black men, gay men) as if she understands them perfectly and it gets on my nerves. Girlie pretty much said black identity comes with constantly feeling agressive and "wounded" (sorry for yourself) and implied that it's possible to feel "post-black" (???) because you were raised with money and somehow that cancels out any racism you might experience (??!?!!?) Like wtf. Not to mention the cliches. "he avoided asking because he was afraid of the answers he might hear" COME ON. Honestly it reads like YA but for 30 year olds that never developed past reading YA.

Cliches heaped upon cliches, poor grammar, i hated both of the main characters (one of which felt like a self insert and the other felt like the author's Ideal Man™), so many plotholes and problematic messages and melodrama and things that overall just didn't make sense, or would never take place in a medieval world. If i started a rant about everything wrong with this book i would run out of space in 10 minutes max so I'll just keep this short. I admire the author's self confidence in publishing a fantasy novel but honestly it was just too ...well, /bad/.  There isn't a single redeemable aspect of it, in my opinion, every single page was a fresh source of cringe for me. I just...i can't. I was gifted an e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review, and I'm really sorry to the author, but I'm being completely honest here. The book does have some fans so obviously my opinion is not the only one, but if your tastes and standards in literature are in any way similar to mine, do NOT pick up this book.