Michelle
Thank you to NetGalley for this eARC.
Due to the controversy surrounding this novel, I decided to read it and form my own thoughts. The story is solid, but the writing was much too repetitive for me. The "something x, something y" phrasing was particularly egregious for me. I actually searched how many times the word "something" was used: 200 times! For the most part, they all followed that "something x, something y" format, with the occasional "something z" added in.
In my opinion, this book was overwritten. The premise is so interesting, but it gets lost in the technical issues. To me, the best-written part of the novel is the Beverly chapter. It feels like a short story that might have been written first (perhaps without AI assistance?) with the rest of the novel built around it.
Given the AI allegations, I questioned whether I even wanted to read this. I tried hard to avoid outside opinions, but after starting, the issues others pointed out became impossible to ignore.
***I don't want to add to the pile on, but I do hope for more growth in their future work***
I am curious about *Sugar*, the author's previous novel, but I think I’ll hold off for now.
Thank you to NetGalley for this eARC.
Due to the controversy surrounding this novel, I decided to read it and form my own thoughts. The story is solid, but the writing was much too repetitive for me. The "something x, something y" phrasing was particularly egregious for me. I actually searched how many times the word "something" was used: 200 times! For the most part, they all followed that "something x, something y" format, with the occasional "something z" added in.
In my opinion, this book was overwritten. The premise is so interesting, but it gets lost in the technical issues. To me, the best-written part of the novel is the Beverly chapter. It feels like a short story that might have been written first (perhaps without AI assistance?) with the rest of the novel built around it.
Given the AI allegations, I questioned whether I even wanted to read this. I tried hard to avoid outside opinions, but after starting, the issues others pointed out became impossible to ignore.
***I don't want to add to the pile on, but I do hope for more growth in their future work***
I am curious about *Sugar*, the author's previous novel, but I think I’ll hold off for now.