★★ ½ #Nirvana #Netgalley
The length it took me to finally get around to reading this book is not indictive of the book rating. I received this back in September 2015. I believe it was an email invitation that I accidentally clicked to see the book and then it became logged in my shelf as a book I must read. I kept putting it off because whilst the concept downed interesting, it didn't fully appeal to me. After reading this book, I can confirm the format it is written in doesn't appeal to me. However, I think this story can be a Webtoon Graphic comic series.
I liked the concept of a dystopian world. Having nanobots integrating humans into a holographic VR world is pretty cool. I'm familiar with this design and could easily follow the techno-speak. The characters were also decent. From a concept, I would rate this maybe a 3.5. From a character development, maybe a 3. From an execution, more like a 2. I don't know if I received the first copy or the revised version. What I can say is that this book needed to be edited better. The reason why I think it can be done in a Webtoon comic strip is because the material is better with pictures and concise dialog. I could visualize this story very well in a dark graphic way. But there seem to be too many words used to try to describe what was going on. The words were necessary but it would play better in an image. I think the need to describe the scenes so much and to create a frame of reference lost some of the readers. If this story was a graphic novel, the essence of this story would be boiled down and concentrated across strongly drawn images.
As I write this review, I also think that this could be a longer episode of "love sex and robots" on Netflix. It has the same feel and vibe especially the ending. Spoiler alert... it is a cliffhanger AND there are no books after this one. My guess is that the author did not get renewed by their publisher or they lost their motivation. For this, I am sad. Because it is clear to me, J.R. Stewart has creativity and can generate powerful images with their words. I really think they are using the wrong medium to bring their creativity to life.
Overall, this book was not a page turner. I had to force myself to stay on top of it and grind my way through it. About 60% of the way through the book, it picked up a bit more and I became more vested in the outcome. This novella is for readers who like dystopian young adult books.
*provided by NetGalley
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