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| "The words were gentle strokes, drawing her awake." |
Rated 4/10
In this daring and big-hearted novel based on the
Hugo-winning short story, the lovelorn navigate a world in which technology has
reached the outer limits of morality and romance.
My Thoughts: Another mobile phone review...
I received Love Minus Eighty as a proof and the blurb had me
hooked in an instant. "...Frozen brides wait in dating farms for billionaire suitors to pay for their reanimation..." What a chilling concept; dark and gritty dystopia - cue thoughts that this might just perhaps be on par with The Handmaid's Tale - this
book sounded right up my street!
What followed led me into a fascinating future world, which
unfolded with new discoveries as the story went on. I enjoyed this, it was a
clever way of keeping me turning pages. A new piece of technology was revealed
every few pages or so, even towards the finale. Some real imagination has gone
in to setting the scene here, it was the novel's real strength.
However, I personally feel that Love Minus Eighty lacks
believable characters with realistic depth to them. I couldn't connect to any
of the protagonists myself as I found them to be one dimensional and a bit
forced. The dialogue is off, and doesn't feel real to me. Their emotions come
across as flat and we are 'told' about themselves rather than 'shown'.
The characters that I felt were well imagined were Lorelei
and Nathan, and I'm wondering if this is because we don't see things from their
view point at any time; we see them through the eyes of a separate narrator(s).
I think McIntosh's style is best suited to 3rd person in this respect as his
writing was at its best when his characters were explaining the world and the
people around them.
I feel that this book would be epic if there was more depth
to the narrating protagonists, if the writing style was a little sharper, and
if the Bridesicle idea had been explored even further.
As it stands, this is a decent read set in a vivid future
world; not to the same standard as Atwood's books, but fans of light dystopian fiction will probably really enjoy it; particularly
late teens and young adults. Once I picked the book up I could not put it down!
It ends as if there is a lot more left to tell, and I think
that a sequel to Love Minus Eighty would go down really well.
If you prefer your tales plot-driven rather than
character-driven then even better!
Recommended to fans of Lauren DeStefano.
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