Dark Matter in Around the World in 80 Books

May 26, 2017 Nadine in NY Jones rated it did not like it

Shelves: suspense-thriller, authors-i-don-t-ever-want-to-read-a, fantasy-and-sci-fi, everyone-loved-it-except-me, psych-psych-psych, dick-lit

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. This was Not Good. I kept reading, because soooooo many rave reviews had me hoping it would get better. (It did, but it never really attained "good." Was it worth reading? I don't know. There was a moment when I had set the book down, and was puttering around my desk, and I wondered - for a second - if I was me. And that was kind of a cool out-of-body-reality moment that I would not have otherwise experienced. So, yes, I guess it was worth reading. But I probably won't read anything else by this ...more

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Jul 11, 2022 Astrid Lim rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: america, contemporary, thriller-mystery, fantasy, scifi, popsugar-2022

Wow, a very interesting book about parallel universe and how our actions will determine our life, big and small. And regrets will always be there XD

The main character is sometimes a bit to whiny, but I like the concept of this book, and all the mind blowing revelations. Also love the Chicago setting. Recommended if you like fast paced thriller with scifi elements.

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Sep 23, 2017 Ryan rated it really liked it

Shelves: borrowed, 2017

One of the simplest books I’ve read in a while, but also one of the most satisfying. As a good friend pointed out, the trick is turning off the brain and not getting caught up in the endless permutations and commutations of your own life.

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Jan 27, 2017 Tony rated it it was ok

Shelves: novels, speculative-fiction, setting-us

Apparently a massive number of people love this book, alas, I am not one of them. It starts out with a promising-enough version of the "wrong man" plot -- a middle-aged physics professor at a second-rate Chicago college leaves his house to have a drink with an old friend and then grab some ice cream for his wife and teenage son. Between the bar and home, he's kidnapped by a masked man, taken to a vacant warehouse, and then wakes up in a strange lab where he is celebrated as a hero returned from Apparently a massive number of people love this book, alas, I am not one of them. It starts out with a promising-enough version of the "wrong man" plot -- a middle-aged physics professor at a second-rate Chicago college leaves his house to have a drink with an old friend and then grab some ice cream for his wife and teenage son. Between the bar and home, he's kidnapped by a masked man, taken to a vacant warehouse, and then wakes up in a strange lab where he is celebrated as a hero returned from a long absence. He has no idea why he was kidnapped, or what this lab is all about, or why all these people claim to know him, so he has to start figuring it all out without giving anything away. That's all well and good, but once it's revealed that this is all down to quantum mechanics and the existence of the multiverse, it grows steadily less interesting.

Part of the problem is that the characters are screenplay-level complex, not novel-level complex. The hero is a standard everyman-dad, who made the decision to step back from his promising research to support his wife through a difficult pregnancy. The wife is a pretty thinly-drawn object to be fought-over, pursued, bedded, etc. The son is barely present. The villains are cartoonish. There's another woman who plays a supporting role as long as she is needed to keep the plot moving, and then she gracefully exits stage left. There's lots of wooden tough-guy talk -- lines like "I'm not going to let that happen." Depending on the actors, I guess it might all be enough to hold a passable movie together, but it's pretty flat on the page.

I should note that I have no idea if the science holds together at all, and I'm sure those with a stronger diet of science-fiction could point to other examples of this same premise being much more ably executed. To me it felt like a bad mix of that old TV show Sliders with the sensibility of the excellent indie time-travel movie Primer. I read it until the end to see how it came out, but I can't see myself recommending it to anyone. ...more

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Jan 02, 2021 Colleen Chi-Girl rated it it was amazing

Shelves: us-no-amer, thrillers, sci-fi-dystop-utopian, audiobooks, chicago-and-illinois, 2021

The reviews pushed me to not ignore this amazing book. 5 🍾🍾🍾🍾🍾

The well-written story and thrills kept me invested in it even though it’s not my typical kind of read).

The anticipation, relationships, suspense!!!, and finally a worthwhile ending really kept me entertained.

It's also an interesting and unique book. I really enjoyed the main character, Jason, his family, and the setting (like getting to know a movie family). Crouch created this warm fictional family set in my hometown of Chicago. Tha ...more

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Dec 06, 2017 Sarah rated it really liked it

Shelves: recommend-to-friends, whodunnit, magic-sci-fi-fantasy

4.5 Stars. I could have finished this in one sitting if I didn’t have something going on with my eyes which makes reading for more than thirty minutes at a time painful. This is totally Matt Damon movie fodder - sort of Jason Bourne meets Adjustment Bureau meets Orphan Black meets something else. Loved the ride.

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Nov 15, 2022 Katie rated it really liked it

Shelves: thriller

An easy read that kept me interested, but nothing that will really stick with me.

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Aug 02, 2024 Prashant rated it really liked it

Shelves: fiction, sci-fi

Choices. Choices. Choices.

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May 09, 2020 Joanne rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy-scifi, psychologicalthriller

I really enjoyed this. I guess for me the most intriguing is the scientific premise of quantum mechanical, superposition, and the multiverse. And then it was a fun story running through.

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Jan 25, 2017 alana rated it really liked it

Shelves: audiobook, fantasy

Maybe more of a 3.5 but it's like The Time Traveler's Wife for dudes? It felt like a radio drama listening to it as an audiobook, in a good way. ...more

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Jun 09, 2016 Jen rated it it was amazing

Shelves: popular-fiction, netgalley

This book has so many mind blowing twists and turns it's hard to describe too much without ruining the plot. First of all, every time I thought I had a handle on what was going there would be another mind blowing revelation that changed everything about this world. This is a story about where the choices in our lives take us and how they shape us. In life there are no do-overs, but what if there were? ...more

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