Inheritance (Adaptation, #2) in AfterEllen.com Book Club

May 29, 2013 Ali rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: guilty

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. SPOILERS!

I wanted so badly to like this book... I really liked Adaptation , and I was eager to find out how the story ended. Inheritance delivered on finishing up the plot points nicely, but the pacing felt off, as did the characters.

Much of this book was dedicated to describing how attracted Reese is to David. I know I'm biased because I was more interested in Reese being with Amber, but even beyond that, the endless descriptions of the "warmth in [Reese's] stomach" when she touched David go SPOILERS!

I wanted so badly to like this book... I really liked Adaptation , and I was eager to find out how the story ended. Inheritance delivered on finishing up the plot points nicely, but the pacing felt off, as did the characters.

Much of this book was dedicated to describing how attracted Reese is to David. I know I'm biased because I was more interested in Reese being with Amber, but even beyond that, the endless descriptions of the "warmth in [Reese's] stomach" when she touched David got really, REALLY old for me. Perhaps Lo did this because the first book was more about her attraction to Amber? And she had to make Reese's bisexuality and eventual polyamory believable? It actually served the opposite purpose, actually, in my opinion. Reese deciding to date both David and Amber seemed rather odd after we spent the whole book reading about how into David she was. How amazing he is. How perfect. And yeah, and here's Amber, and she's okay too. It was a total after-thought, and it made it so the polyamorous relationship seemed completely unbelievable.

I also feel like I never really got a sense of Reese as a character. I feel like I know David the best, then Amber, and last of all Reese. I even feel like we got a better picture of Julian than we did of the main character! So much of the book was spent describing David and Reese's feelings for him, and I felt like that really took away from the time that should have been used to develop Reese's character so we could really see her growth and progress from the awkward, shy girl from the start of Adaptation who would never date anyone to the possibly-homicidal bisexual Imrian/human hybrid in a polyamorous relationship in outer space.

And while we're on the topic of possible homicide... so yeah... Reese and David likely each killed a guy. No fall-out from that? It felt like I was watching an episode of Pretty Little Liars for a moment!

Overall, I think Lo is a wonderful writer (I've loved her other books), but this one fell short for me. It felt like it couldn't pick a focus, and the piece as a whole suffered for it. ...more

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Feb 15, 2014 Selwa rated it liked it

Shelves: lgbt, love, science-fiction, san-francisco, female-protagonist

Definitely not as good as the first in the series, Adaptation. This took me months to read because I kept getting fed up and putting it down. Reese, the main character could be quite the whiner, and that made me not want to waste my time. Fortunately I gave it one last try and things picked up again. If you read the first one I think it's worth getting through for at least a sense of closure. I don't have the brain cells at the moment (winter freeze) to give it a real critique. ...more

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Sep 26, 2013 Bex rated it liked it

I was expecting something different, I guess. It was well paced, and it was resolved well, I just was hoping for more.

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Sep 28, 2013 Kris rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: lgbt, genre-young-adult-badasses, genre-scifi-science-is-fucked-up

So this was pretty amazing. I never would've guessed the direction of this book.

The plot is fast-paced and made it hard for me to put it down to get some sleep. The characters are all super diverse and this adds so much to the story! Also love the focus on the differences of cultures and the whole concept of "susum'urda".

I'm not good with reviews, go read it! :D (But start with Adaptation) ...more

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