A review by nessyreadsalot
Middlegame by Seanan McGuire

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

3.75

  • I can see how this book gets polarizing reviews. It’s hard writing (and reading) a book this in-depth with magical realism, science, and time traveling across various timelines without it being hard to wrap your mind around it. The plot really requires you to pay attention and connect the dots on your own and even I struggled in that area, but I also feel like that may have been the purpose in a small way. Our main protagonists - Roger & Dodger - are as confused as we are in the majority of the book and they’re going along for the wild wide of discovery as much as we are. I think that’s why I didn’t mind and stress over the areas that I wasn't fully capturing or understanding.
  • My main disappointment was that the “villains” or scientist/alchemist didn’t seem to have much depth to their characters. Their personalities and rationales for creating Roger, Dodger, and the others seemed to barely scratch the surface, and I wish we were able to learn more about that backstory.
  • Another (small) gripe I had was the writing style. I agree that the writing style was very “smart” and descriptive, but it was almost… too much? There were some scenes that just seemed to drag for a few pages and I would think they could’ve definitely been cut down a lot.