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Reviews tagging 'Cancer'

Σκοτεινό δάσος by Cixin Liu

8 reviews

_david_'s review against another edition

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dark mysterious slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

Oh my god I'm so glad this slog of a read is over. 

I feel as if there was often no room left for a reader's interpretation. Society and certain scientific tools were overly explained, making me have to skim read certain parts to be able to make it to the end. I'd rather just use my imagination to fill in the gaps.

There were also multiple moments in the book where possible potholes were explained via an awkward dialogue between characters. It made me feel as if the author was trying to impress me with how smart they were. Much was written as if it was an unlikable science teacher explaining to you that whatever scientific theories they taught you was the absolute truth and you were just expected to be impressed.

I found it hard to identify with some of the characters reasoning to do some drastic actions, but that's just personal so that's fine to me. I am surprised that no human figured out Luo Ji's plan. It was oddly simple even for someone without a background in the related fields.

The misogyny felt icky but could be explained away with "oh this is just how the main character thinks", but I would've liked to see more strong female characters.

I am again impressed by seemingly very unrelated scientific concepts being blended together into one fictional story. It was just much slower and longer than the story deserves.

I'm fine just stopping the series after this book and not bothering with the third.

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directorpurry's review against another edition

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mysterious reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0


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queenshiva's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0


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tokaylamockingbird's review against another edition

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3.0

I aspire to be as chill as Luo Ji after
his sixth assassination attempt.

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ladybug12793's review against another edition

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adventurous slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

Misogynistic and boring

I had higher hopes for this book than the first. I read reviews talking about the misogyny and sexism but disregarded them prior to starting the book. I thought that there’s no way it’s that bad and it must be that the author uses mainly strong male characters and few females (which is correct). That it must be a cultural difference. Unfortunately, I was wrong. Some parts are just gross. Women are seen as soft and emotional and innocent. I highlighted some of the quotes that are just disgusting. I read that the original Chinese version is even worse, and some of the misogyny was omitted from the English translation. In the English version, it is not overt but still obvious. 

Even removing those aspects of the book, this was so boring. I enjoy sci-fi and learning about science. I also enjoyed learning more about Chinese history in the first book. But, this was so dragged out and slow. I genuinely don’t understand the hype. The idea behind the books is interesting, but the execution is terrible. 

Can we also talk about how there is one ellipsis or more on almost every page? I plan on watching the Netflix series to see how it compares. I’m not sure if I will continue on with this series.

* please disregard spelling and grammatical errors due to voice texting. Thanks.

0 🌶️


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apersonfromflorida's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0


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nsn's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging mysterious tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.25

epic but translated work makes it hard to appreciate and get through. it proceeds from one scene to another clunkily, sometime abruptly plowing through plot points, other times indulging in chunks of dreamy observations, science and philosophies. 

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mlewis's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative mysterious reflective tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0


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