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jodunn_'s reviews
322 reviews

adventurous mysterious 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? No

2.0

The Mountain In the Sea is a book about a group of octopuses developing what seems to be a human-like level of consciousness and intelligence. It’s also set in the future, where AI has improved so much that there is a-little-too-human android and people have simulated AI partners. In general, I really enjoyed the exploration into the ideas of consciousness and what it means to be conscious. Every scene where they’re deciphering the octopus’s new language was so fascinating. If it had focused on that plot, I would have liked this much more.

However, this book left me pretty disappointed. Most of the time, the action happens offscreen, which makes the plot much more boring.

Like, the climax of the story happens while they’re in a bunker, and then someone else explains what happened after (lame)

Also, for a book that is this long, I really wanted a deeper dive into the characters. I think a lot of the attention was on philosophy and theory rather than plot/characters which is ofc the backbone to any good story.

It would have been interesting to explore minervudottir-chan’s character throughout the book rather than simply telling us a summary at the end. It would’ve made her death actually resonate.

Thank you FSG books for the arc!

Taste: My Life Through Food by Stanley Tucci

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3.0

Content Warnings