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_david_'s review against another edition
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Police brutality, and Trafficking
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Confinement, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicide, Kidnapping, Abandonment, Alcohol, War, and Classism
Minor: Cancer, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Violence, Car accident, Death of parent, and Pregnancy
Human trafficking by government Misuse of power by government/people working for government Terminal illnesses are solved via hibernationzoereadsoccasionally's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
bro needs to learn how to give characters some personality and not just use them as plot devices smh
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, and War
Moderate: Misogyny, Sexism, and Sexual content
ladybug12793's review against another edition
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 🌶️
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 🌶️
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Misogyny, Pedophilia, and War
Minor: Cancer, Confinement, Drug use, Genocide, and Death of parent
luise96's review against another edition
challenging
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
The book started off a bit slow, then got better and then after like 2/3 it got way worse again. In the beginning I thought this could be an interesting exploration of how humans can combat a common enemy (ever heard of the climate crisis?), but then I felt like that aspect was kind of dropped to explain technical jargon and wild sci-fi ideas (yeah I know this is a sci-fi book).
The whole book is written sooo slow and I feel like people are just explaining stuff to each other as exposure to show how smart the author is. I had much higher hopes from the wallfacer project. I’m seriously doubting whether the author ever had a longer conversation with a real-life woman, or if he simply doesn‘t care about women. I couldn’t care less for any of the characters and I honestly forgot all the time about half of them. This felt like a very different book to the first book.
The whole book is written sooo slow and I feel like people are just explaining stuff to each other as exposure to show how smart the author is. I had much higher hopes from the wallfacer project. I’m seriously doubting whether the author ever had a longer conversation with a real-life woman, or if he simply doesn‘t care about women. I couldn’t care less for any of the characters and I honestly forgot all the time about half of them. This felt like a very different book to the first book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism
ahoyitsjoy's review against another edition
If I have to keep reading Luo Ji's bizarre and sexist opinions I am going to end it all.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny and Sexism
meganpbell's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I really do love the hard, challenging science in this sci-fi, the big ideas about the nature of the universe and human and alien culture and behavior, however bleak, but Liu’s characters are sacrificed to this and are just so flat and shallow. That would be fine if it weren’t for the ridiculously misogynistic way he writes about women. I.E. science professor’s “dream girl” is “slender,” (Liu’s fav word to describe women), “angelicly” beautiful, “naive,” 20-something who immediately falls for him…shocking 🙄 Add to that the popular opinion that it’s a real slog to get to the pay off…I won’t be reading the last one.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, Murder, and War
Moderate: Toxic relationship and Car accident
Minor: Suicide and Death of parent
shermansays's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
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? No
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Death, Murder, and War
Minor: Alcoholism, Genocide, Gun violence, Mental illness, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Medical content, Suicide attempt, and Alcohol
nonfictionfeminist's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Skip the first half of the book, it's slow, pointless, sexist, and the story doesn't start until the second half anyways.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexism