A review by campbelltaral
The All-Consuming World by Cassandra Khaw

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

2.5

The cover blurb premise was amazing; a solid hook for me. However, the delivery of the story was infuriating and a let down. 

There is purple prose, and then there is pompous purple prose with "edgy" overreach. For some characters (AI) the superfluous and grandiose use of vernacular so far removed from common human language made sense. I would have been disappointed if it hadn't been that way. But to narrate the rest of the story using the same overboard choice of wording, from the perspective of a character who used the word f*ck like punctuation and glitter, it was obnoxious. Overall, it felt like the writer was trying too hard for cool kid points. 

I found myself skipping the blocks of internal character monologue that was written like a self-important tween with a thesaurus to get to the heart of the story through the character dialogue. You can see the great premise peeking through and that was the reason I pushed myself to finish the story.

Whoever edited and provided feedback to the author needs to do better. You can see there's potential but people weren't being honest.