Thank you to Netgalley, St. Martin's press, Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ, Jason Pargin and whoever else for this ARC. (I'm sorry I had to delay reading this until a few Thank you to Netgalley, St. Martin's press, Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ, Jason Pargin and whoever else for this ARC. (I'm sorry I had to delay reading this until a few days before it's release, the moment I knew I won a copy, I was away from my house for six months.)
This is my first Zoey Ashe book, and because of that, I was expecting to be completely lost at the start of it, but was surprised to see how well the author was able to accommodate for new readers. Especially in a way that I don't think would come off as annoying for a returning audience. The characters' personalities and presence is used to ease you in very well. But, because I haven't read any previous books, I can't be completely certain who and what is currently known about, so I might have to be less specific than I would like to be here.
A big draw to this book is how grounded it's view of our world is. There's a lot to say about morality, and politics, and human nature, and exploitation, but in the end, everything will always end up coming to people being violent, stupid, weirdos. Destructive hiveminds will always do as they please, be it for better or worse, and people will always abuse others. But at the beginning of everything that they do, there is an actual human inside. Wether that human is good or bad or misunderstood, there is complexity to them. Even the less complex and developed characters have a real human feel to them. The major characters all have genuine heart put into them, and it makes them very interesting to have around, and that is especially important considering that this book is mostly made up of conversations.
Other than that, I liked all of the setpieces. They were all visually interesting and had well thought out ideas and backstories behind them. I liked how this book didn't shy away from dark and heavy topics, or away from having real stakes. And I liked how modern and relatable the setting was. It's futuristic for sure, and the element of body augmentations is unrealistic, but for the most part, we live in this future. Just like with the characterization, this book knows what people are like, what they want, and what they're headed towards....more
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