Ratings9
Average rating3.8
Emily Ruff belongs to a secretive, influential organization whose "poets" can break down individuals by psychographic markers in order to take control of their thoughts. Then she makes a catastrophic mistake and falls in love with Wil Jamieson who holds the key to a secret war between rival factions of "poets." In order to survive, Wil must journey to the toxically decimated town of Broken Hill, Australia, as the world crashes toward a Tower of Babel event which would leave all language meaningless.
Reviews with the most likes.
The first couple of chapters were slow to get into. It's one of those starts that begins in the middle of something exciting but you have no context and everything is confusing. But boy does it get going. What are exciting concept that you could use words like lock picks in the brain. I read Jennifer Government before but I think that was the only other book by Max Barry. Really knocked it out of the park with this one.
I was hoping for something well written and thought provoking, however this just reads like an average YAF book but with sex scenes and swearing. I really did not enjoy it.
I had previously read Jennifer Government, and rated it highly, so I figured I'd give this book a shot. It's nothing like Jennifer, but a very compelling read. The basic conceit is clever, the characters are well-written, and it keeps you on the edge of your seat to the very end, with many twist, turns, and fake-outs. The non-chronological story telling can be a bit disorienting, probably especially so in the audiobook.