Constructive reviews (COMPLETED)

Review : HellSix by @Xaprith

CHAPTERS CONSIDERED FOR REVIEW : 1-7 (as of 16-02-2023)

One look at the landing page of the book, the attention to detail cannot go unnoticed. While I am no expert in reviewing aesthetics, I know to appreciate it when something's attention grabbing right from the get go. The cover of the book, the title cards, time stamps to demarcate the scenes, even to go as far as to suggest a song to listen for what the author thinks might suit the scene... (even though I read it with no add-ons) ... immersive experience is the goal here which did make me wonder why the author intends to make it a point about publishing it as a "real" book in the foreword which would diminish this creativity in presentation.  

First things first, the book is mature as labelled and not for people who get squeamish easily but having said that, there is a subtlety to it. The difference between darkness and edginess is a fine line and the book manages to balance quite well. The characters are vividly described, with their thoughts thoroughly portrayed. The book balances tones with ease navigating from explosive action sequences with visceral stylized violence changing over to friends opening up to each other over insecurities moving onto introspection and existential crisis with the same focus and intimacy. The narration is in first person throughout and that helps in the immersion.  The character motivations and rationale are revealed to the readers aided by their actions and that makes it relatable without a whole lot of exposition. The dialogues flow naturally. I'd have never thought about hearing the words - piss and Picasso in the same sentence and that would be my favorite line in the book.

The world building is a mix of cyberpunk and dystopia thrown in a blender. It is an ongoing book and as a result I cannot comment on the overall plot but it has been engaging throughout. The cast introduced so far is varying levels of likeable. The author has done the work in researching technology and has imagination pertaining to what could technology be like in the 2080s where the story is set in. The book has fantasy elements sprinkled throughout, the hints are dropped every now and then foreshadowing a conflict of a higher realm. But for me, the book works as a grounded tale.  The author utilizes the storytelling opportunities such a world would present - politically and emotionally. There is a commentary on addiction and whole bunch of topical issues. This book in a weird way is a full recommendation for pet lovers. The one takeaway from this is the author really hates and goes out of the way to flip the bird to air pollution.

Having said that the initial chapters takes its sweet time to get going. I felt the length in the second chapter, which built up to a crescendo and jump started a couple of times before ending. The length of the chapters is not an issue for me personally, case in point as a chapter somewhere in the middle with just character interactions flew by. The author has a tendency to get lost sometimes channeling the inner poet and low-key flexing on the readers with the writing abilities and wordplay. There were passages which were profound but were incomprehensible. My pet peeve about this book is the author's use of simile. They come at you left, right and center with the persistence of  a team of corporate lawyers trying to shut down a indie game developer. Its overwhelming and a hit-or-miss. Nevertheless, I appreciated it overall

All in all, it's a fun read. 

Thanks to that one review shop where I found this book from. Friendly reminder to everyone out there to go out and support review shops. They are the key to this platform.