♠ TABI⁷ ♠'s Reviews > Pitch Dark

'We were supposed to wake up saved, or not wake up at all. That was the deal we made with fate.'



O o f this was such a wild, intense ride!! It starts off with a bang . . . and pretty much doesn't let up until several pages from the finale. And while I really don't want to compare too much, this really does seem like a close cousin to Illuminae. But it was those same reasons that made me like it so much, so no big complaints here!!



Some main points why I loved this:

- spaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaace like I can't really science but I love space-operas so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
- the plot (I'll get into later why this also was a weak point) cause yes please give me high-intensity mystery with the threat of killer monsters lurking in a broken, sputtering spaceship
- the characters were well-rounded and unique and very bantery
- the banter & spaceship monsters really made this like Illuminae for me and thus got much love from me
- a fierce female character who wasn't super tropey or too feminist
- a beautiful Doctor Who reference
- lots of fiction-science part of sci-fi aka why the fantasy lover in me likes sci-fi, too

"That’s the folly of the human heart. We make macro decisions based on micro motivations."



Now, while I super enjoyed this and it went far beyond any expectations I might have had, there were a few plot holes I'd love to have had explained more.

- the monsters

'They’re not aliens or zombies, just our own mistake.'



Look, I can just nod and accept a lot in sci-fi and fantasy 'cause that's just how the genre rolls. So long as a teeny bit of effort is given towards a decent and somewhat-believable explanation . . . I'm good. But with this plot element there just wasn't enough explanation given, and I'm sorry but you can't just use "weird radiation/contamination" as the only justifiable reason here. You just can't.

- Pitch Dark



The "antagonists" make very little sense in the grand plot scheme of the book. It would have been better if there was just monsters vs humans and survival was the main arc. But nooooo had to throw politics in without taking the time to really make sure it was developed properly or made real sense. So while I'm not against a deep, futuristic politics plot . . . it's okay to just have a futuristic monster story, too. Play to your strengths, as they say.

- the politics

Like, I dunno, bro. They kind of made sense? But about halfway into the book there was just a LOT being thrown out here and not enough page-space or breathing room to really take it all in. I appreciated everything and the author's motives but but I wish it had been developed a lot better than it actually was.

A N Y W A Y S

Something I really, really loved and I'm gonna end the review on is that there's literally a space version of Lara Croft in here like yes please give me all of that action.



Honestly, I really didn't expect much from this book. But it blew me away within 4 pages and I was hooked in a one-sitting read. And while it isn't the greatest or most unique plot (I still think Illuminae handled this idea much better) there's still a lot to love about the cyrogenic sleep survivors, space explorers, remnants of a broken Earth scattered abroad ships from a different era, mutated monsters, and two plucky heroes trying to find a way back to their normal in it all. And of course the writing was pretty damn fine as far as maintaining the tension, creating explosive action scenes, and gradually unraveling all the plot reveals. I would have maybe liked a longer book that took more time to delve into the few plot holes I noticed, but overall this was a pretty great read!