This one is interesting. We have a dystopian, nightmare world of Super-powered overlords (kinda like the Age of Apocolypse storyline for xmen), a strong female leader, and some betrayal. It was an easy read, but I felt that the text ended up a little flat.
My thoughts about this one, aren't particularly strong, which really means that I found it a bland read. The overall tone of the book, is a little messy. I liked the strong character, but only so far. There was no indication of how she held the group together. I didn't get a strong enough vibe from her relationships to get any sense of how she really related to people. She just was... strong, female, character. It didn't quite head into the trademarked SFC status, as she wasn't a complete bitch to all and sundry, but I never got a good sense of her headspace.
Further to this, is the world-building. I can buy super-powers, I can buy oppression, but for the love of mike, give me something vaguely feasible. There was no indication of how this world worked. For dystopias can't just exist in a vacuum. I could write a book about brain-eating ameobas ruling the world, but if the characters in that world, and their motivations, lack sense, it won't work. All dystopias need a grounding in genuinely possible realities, not a complete grounding, but at least enough to keep us invested. And unfortunately, I didn't completely buy into the world the author was selling.
Having said all that, it had a reasonably MC, and the opening is pretty good. Just those two points above say it all. This was a bland effort. Nothing particularly great or terrible, a solid read, but it didn't make me desperate to read further.
***
My thoughts about this one, aren't particularly strong, which really means that I found it a bland read. The overall tone of the book, is a little messy. I liked the strong character, but only so far. There was no indication of how she held the group together. I didn't get a strong enough vibe from her relationships to get any sense of how she really related to people. She just was... strong, female, character. It didn't quite head into the trademarked SFC status, as she wasn't a complete bitch to all and sundry, but I never got a good sense of her headspace.
Further to this, is the world-building. I can buy super-powers, I can buy oppression, but for the love of mike, give me something vaguely feasible. There was no indication of how this world worked. For dystopias can't just exist in a vacuum. I could write a book about brain-eating ameobas ruling the world, but if the characters in that world, and their motivations, lack sense, it won't work. All dystopias need a grounding in genuinely possible realities, not a complete grounding, but at least enough to keep us invested. And unfortunately, I didn't completely buy into the world the author was selling.
Having said all that, it had a reasonably MC, and the opening is pretty good. Just those two points above say it all. This was a bland effort. Nothing particularly great or terrible, a solid read, but it didn't make me desperate to read further.
***
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