Reviews tagging 'Violence'

The Actual Star by Monica Byrne

19 reviews

hpylori's review

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adventurous mysterious slow-paced
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

2.5

I really liked the idea of this book and wanted to like it, however, the book failed to live up to my expectations. The book meandered about in different timelines with ill defined and differentiated characters. I felt confused a lot. The future didn’t feel coherent. Early on it was obvious where the story was going and the ending wasn’t satisfying. I found some of the topics discussed by the author a bit on the nose and inauthentic. It felt like the author took a trip to ATM as a tourist and wanted to write a book about it… But she makes an erudite local character to talk about tourist gaze so it’s ok?   
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blrobin2's review against another edition

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When I'm 33% into the book and it's still building its world, I find it hard to stay invested. I'm vaguely aware of a dozen characters, but I still don't know what this book is about. 
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mattchristensen's review

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adventurous challenging mysterious medium-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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cdc95's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense 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

1.0

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moonm's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective medium-paced
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valentina_legge's review against another edition

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

5.0

The right book at the right time. 

Long and dense with research and complex world-building, but never too heavy, still a page-turner. Perfect structure. Loved the ending.

Will stay with me for a long time.
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okayhanh's review

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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bailey_the_bookworm's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book! Wow. It melted my brain in the best way. 
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caseythereader's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Thanks to Harper Voyager for the free copy of this book.

 - Wow, how do I even review a work like THE ACTUAL STAR? This book is a massive undertaking, telling the stories of three sets of people in three timelines each a thousand years apart. We watch as their stories braid, repeat, differ, and merge.
- I saw elements of Ursula LeGuin, Octavia E. Butler, Simon Jimenez, and more from across decades of sci-fi and fantasy literature in this story.
- I felt deeply invested in each timeline, and was on the edge of my seat as the stories came together. It’s quite a feat to make a slow paced, 600+ page novel a page turner.
- Story aside, the writing is fantastic, too. Beautifully written, with the recurring elements never becoming too heavyhanded. 
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pine_barren's review

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

5.0

This book blew me away! The world building was awe inspiring and each of the characters were complex and multifaceted. And how the three timelines braided together to create a multi-generational saga... it was powerful and truly mind blowing.

I could see parallels to Octavia's Earthseed books with god as entropy, Ursula K. Le Guin (especially The Dispossessed) with the questioning/challenging of utopia, and so many other influences.

This is probably one of my favorite books I have ever read.
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