Mockbeggers can't be choosers
3 stars
On the face of things, The Adversary has a lot of promise. A bitter rivalry between siblings? A struggle between exploitative corporations for control over an isolated island? Deer on the cover!?! Sadly, while I enjoyed most of my time with this book, it didn't really deliver what I was looking for. All previously mentioned elements are there, kinda, but without a strong sense of escalation or immediacy. Change feels lateral even when it isn't. The plot kind of wanders along at a casual pace, stopping when it sees a cool bird or someone sails in from the ocean just to sail right back out of the plot with no real bearing on anything, or so how it often felt. Overall I enjoyed The Adversary, but it just wasn't quite what I expected or wanted out of a story like this.
On the face of things, The Adversary has a lot of promise. A bitter rivalry between siblings? A struggle between exploitative corporations for control over an isolated island? Deer on the cover!?! Sadly, while I enjoyed most of my time with this book, it didn't really deliver what I was looking for. All previously mentioned elements are there, kinda, but without a strong sense of escalation or immediacy. Change feels lateral even when it isn't. The plot kind of wanders along at a casual pace, stopping when it sees a cool bird or someone sails in from the ocean just to sail right back out of the plot with no real bearing on anything, or so how it often felt. Overall I enjoyed The Adversary, but it just wasn't quite what I expected or wanted out of a story like this.