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mistreeus's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Fascinating book. I’m not sure what to make of it yet.
antaus's review against another edition
5.0
I am baffled by this book, wanna give it 4 stars, but I can’t, because I felt confused and disoriented the most time while reading the book. However, it easily deserves 5 stars, such a plot and especially the denouement. Okay, let it be 4.
fairymodmother's review against another edition
4.0
A trippy look at solipsism and the membrane between life and death. I liked this a lot more than Do Androids Dream even though some of it is still a puzzler to me. Lots going on in a very concise Inception-style book.
xavjac's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
jflux's review against another edition
4.0
this is my second time reading this, and the first time it had the honor of being the second dick book i had ever read. i was blown away and proudly declared it my favorite book, for a while. i still like it a lot, but some of the details (like the fashion sense in this idea of the future -- i know it's supposed to be satire, but i prefer not to be violently hit over the head with my satire) could be toned down a little. still, i was afraid to read it again, fears that proved unfounded.
tontonju's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
The problem with complex plots such as this one is that you know the explanation will be too simple to be satisfying.
tatianareadsbooks's review against another edition
5.0
Sometimes you read books and know that they’ll never hit you the same way again once you’ve figured out how it ends, but with Ubik, I think reading it again after knowing what happens would only make it better. Is it masochistic to love books that make me feel like I’m the crazy one? At no point during the story did I feel like I could rely on the narrator or trust the characters’ perception of what was happening to them. The whole time I felt like I had an inkling of what was happening but now that I’ve finished, I still question what actually happened. This truly was anxiety inducing and portrayed the dread of impending doom and lurking, looming death so palpably. It immerses you into a world where you question reality while searching for hidden meanings and messages with paranoid fervor. And it’s really amazing that you have all of this in such a small package and tied up in less than 200 pages!
Spoiler
The ending gave me the same unsettling feeling that I felt when I first watched the ending of Shutter Island, or when I read that now infamous glitch-in-the-matrix Lamp story on Reddit. I enjoy sleep so I’m just reconciling with the fact that I don’t know what happened at the end or what to believe (in a happier sunshine world, folks in half-life could just conjure beachfront villas in which to be splendidly lazy and forget places like Des Moines exist.)scuttlemutt's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
alevtina1's review against another edition
4.5
This was an interesting - sometimes funny, sometimes hard to track - read. Amusing to see how someone in 1969 viewed the "future" (1992) and the perceptions on a "miracle product." Philip would hate to learn of TikTok shop.