Characters: 10/10
First off, I love all the names: M'yu (although I'd been pronouncing it Mee-Yoo for quite a while). Karsya. Dahnko. Aevryn. Sviya...
The characterization is breathtakingly wonderful. Each character distinct and flavourful...We have the no-nonsense Alley-Cap with the icy blonde hair, pale blue eyes and the aversion to lie; Sviya with her dark curls, spring-apple lips, ever-present confidence and sharp, patronizing tongue. And then there's one of my least favourite characters in this book—Nose-in-the-Air boy with his sickening arrogance and unnecessary cruelty.
And, of course, my favourite—M'yu, our MC. I'm curious about his age, though; I know he's a minor, but that's about it. He's a well-crafted character with a layered personality. He isn't just cunning and witty and bitter about his people's circumstances, but he's compassionate and sweet. And there's nothing I love more than a morally grey, sarcastic, broken, vengeful character giving it his all to fix things and help his poor, crumbling community stand on its feet.
Now, at first, I was disappointed that I didn't get to see much of M'yu's technological skills. Yes, readers get a taste of his photographic memory, ability to sneak in and out of buildings, pick locks and pickpocket, but he hadn't exactly done anything mind-blowingly geeky. Not yet. I didn't know if this was merely to add a layer of anticipation for readers, to create an exciting build-up to when he'll have to use his mental skills to do something extraordinary—the technique worked, though (even if it may have been unintentional). Eventually, M'yu showed off some more of his hacking and coding skills...but I cannot wait for more!
Writing style/grammar: 10/10
I might as well be envious of this author's writing ability. I cannot praise her enough for this ongoing masterpiece. I would have gladly quoted every single sentence from this book to showcase the beauty of this author's marvellous work, but then I'd just be spoiling all the scenes and ruining most of the plot.
The author makes excellent use of her figures of speech and writing techniques. The repetition, the personification, the metaphors, the similes, etc.
The imagery throughout the book is...amazing. I loved the way the author explains the effects of the witchcandy on M'yu's mind and body; the descriptions are so clear and vivid you can literally feel how the drug physically takes hold of you just by reading about what it does (I'm just kidding, though).
All of the comparisons are visual masterpieces: M'yu's heart wrenched. He'd seen that look on men before—it was the look of a groom when his bride was caged and sold before their wedding day, the brokenness of a mother unable to cook dinner because thieves ransacked every last crumb from her house.
I can't really comment on the grammar. To be honest, I was so engulfed in this wonderful story, I hardly cared about the punctuation. But seriously, there aren't any mistakes besides maybe a typo or an instance of using the incorrect preposition.
Genre relevance: 9/10
Now I know comedy is not the main genre, but the author definitely nailed it, natural humour thrown into her narration and dialogue.
However, at some point in the story, I felt as though the sci-fi genre had been diluted by certain historical factors, which clashed with the futuristic aspects. This book falls under the cyberpunk genre, yet technology doesn't exactly seem to dominate this made-up modern world. The teachers still use chalk to write on the board and have classes specifically for ethics and etiquette; that's rather old-fashioned for a sci-fi novel. I would at least expect the students to use digital textbooks. I mean, if there are translucent self-floating vehicles roaming the streets and AI technology, then why not take things a little further? Instead of being taken into the future, I felt like I'd been taken back in time.
And we learn that M'yu wants to create a virus, but to do so, he needs to know how to do it. So he searches for other resources to help him out. But those resources only comprise books. That's it. There doesn't seem to be any internet in this world. No Google. No Firefox. No Microsoft Edge? Not even a made-up search engine? It seemed unrealistic to me...but then again, M'yu didn't really have access to the consoles, so even if he wanted to do research, he probably couldn't. Plus this setting is on a different planet so things do work differently. And I suppose there are many scientific advancements that compensate for these issues and I don't expect the author to suddenly start mentioning "web browsers" and "mobile devices" throughout her story, but I find it odd that there's so many other fancy technology but not a single smartphone? Or maybe it just hadn't been mentioned. Or maybe I'm just being too nitpicky.
Reading enjoyment: 10/10
Definitely one of the most captivating books I've ever read. I will certainly continue reading this story. There's no ways that I'm giving up on this glorious work of art.
Overall thoughts and extra comments: 99/100
I cannot express how much I enjoyed reading this story. I loved everything about it—the characters, the imagery, the storyline, the secrets, the suspense...you know, everything. It's emotional, amusing, imaginative and just downright clever. Yup, this book is a definite must-read.
Carmi's Review #3
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