Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Ascension by Nicholas Binge

8 reviews

6dan13la's review against another edition

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mysterious reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75


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doyleswin's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Whatever is going to happen, it’s going to happen. It’s already happened. It’s happening right now. It’s up to you to decide how you make that count. How beautiful you let that be.  -Nicholas Binge, Ascension

Conceptually, Ascension is a novel unlike any I’ve read recently, leaving me yearning for more cosmic horror. Nicholas Binge stuck the landing with a very intriguing mystery that builds up to a satisfying conclusion, definitely paying off.
It’s evident that the author enjoys his speculative fiction with the story delving into time distortions, creatures which are made of RNA, evil secret shadow government agencies, which all comes off as bit far-fetched.  However,
if you approach the story as a horror fantasy, it succeeds on every level. 

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lizziaha's review against another edition

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3.5

Had to suspend my disbelief a bit to consider this epistolary. No one is writing letters like this, especially in life or death situations. The plot was entertaining enough and i appreciated the character relationships, but ended it thinking “what was the point?” 
And yeah, the reveal was…a bit cheesy. 

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torismazarine's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25


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mandolin77's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25


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maddie_can_read's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-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

3.0

Feel conflicted about the book.
First part grabbed my attention with the setting up of the mystery but I felt like the second half really dragged and the payoff wasn't as satisfying as the build-up made it seem like it would be.
I wish more time had been spent at the end of the novel explaining the aliens/ the seeds/ the leviathans/the death and afterlife/ why the last characters killed themselves etc
I probably would not have finished it if I hadn't been hooked by the mystery. Think there were a bit too many themes to do them all justice
(religion, grief, death/loss, regret, all the science stuff, mountain-climbing, people going mad )
.  I liked the writing style and found it easy to read. Personally I didn't enjoy the extended descriptions of
people losing their minds descending into madness.

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pkc's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I r njoyed the plot here. So much going on, all of it resolved to some extent which I loved. Questions about humanity are explored using this metaphor and while there can never be answers, it was intriguing to ponder them within the setting. If you’re looking for a book with likeable protagonists, personally, I’d swerve this one. You may like Harold but I found him reasonably ineffectual and awful. That being said, I thought the plot was super inventive, adventurous and wild. The mountain as a character was intriguing and made for some epic set pieces 

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alireads's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25


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