I DNFed this book at page 103 last night.

Life is too short for a book that is making your brain seep from your ears. There was too much being thrown at me and none of it made sense. McGuire writes this book with no world building so you are just thrown into a book where alchemy is a thing and so is putting body parts together to make a person. I can't even get into this split soul thing and what that means and the "Impossible City." They are now words that I just don't want to read anymore.

I was looking forward to reading a good science fiction book. I haven't read anything by McGuire before, but thought that the cool cover had to speak to a story I would like. The synopsis for the book also grabbed me. 

"Meet Roger. Skilled with words, languages come easily to him. He instinctively understands how the world works through the power of story.

Meet Dodger, his twin. Numbers are her world, her obsession, her everything. All she understands, she does so through the power of math.

Roger and Dodger aren’t exactly human, though they don’t realise it. They aren’t exactly gods, either. Not entirely. Not yet.

Meet Reed, skilled in the alchemical arts like his progenitor before him. Reed created Dodger and her brother. He’s not their father. Not quite. But he has a plan: to raise the twins to the highest power, to ascend with them and claim their authority as his own. 

 

Godhood is attainable. Pray it isn’t attained."

 

Too bad the book jumps around. A lot. We start off with Rodger and Dodger in a perilous situation. Then we jump into quotes. Or maybe the quotes came first. And then we get an excerpt from a short story starring two kids named Zib and Avery. And then we jump into some medical jargon. And then we go into the past (I don't know anymore). And then we just keep doing this. At page 103 I was freaking done. 

The writing was too hard to get into since I felt like I was thrown into a story already halfway started. McGuire includes chapter headings with dates thrown in and I had a bad flashback to Recursion and started to get a headache. The flow of the book doesn't work since based on the first 100 pages we just jump around, get expositions here and there, some info dumps, and then quotes, more excerpts and then I just didn't care at all what was happening.  

The setting is I assume a different world than what we inhabit where alchemy is a real thing and yes you can turn lead into gold and use it to become the most powerful being on the the planet.

Pretend I said that in an echoey powerful type voice. I just felt bored and started to think about the other books I rather be reading. I think that the way the book was written was just too much for me to get past. The writing was actually putting me off and causing me to not fully engage with this book. The science also seemed so fake that I had a hard time getting past that as well. 

Yeah. This is probably going to be a DNF. I don't even feel bad. This book is all over the place with a main story-line (I guess) with also the author sprinkling in a YA story that is a cover for what an evil alchemist wants to do? I don't know. There's too much happening and I want to scream pick a narrative choice and stay with it. It's too choppy. 

I am so confused. Right now just kind of reading along hoping it gets better.

For the Paint It Black square, I'm going with Middlegame with its mostly black cover and the creepy hand of glory on it. When I saw the cover, I actually thought it was a horror just based on that, but it's a supernatural/sci-fi instead. The book doesn't really fit any of my other squares, so the square was an easy decision.

3.5 stars Mind Blowing. Complicated, time warping, intense, twisted, genetically bent, confusing, scientific, mathematical, controlling, maniacal, murderous and so much more. This was a lot of book. I will be re-reading it, there was so much I need a second pass. Sadly it wasn't all perfect, it felt too long. The goal a place that was never explained. I waited to find out about the mysterious Imposible City that was mentioned over and over, it had to be great right ? I read the whole book and still don't get what it is. The truth was poked at so many times without resolution, till the end. The time jumping took me back so many times, restarting, going over the same event again. It was an amazing concept, but lost me in the process.

People built from parts of other, genetically designed for the ultimate twisted scientific tests. Twins born, are torn apart, kept together, tortured, or... ? They are the key to power. The story follows one pair Roger and Doger. One is a mathematical genius, the other a language genius. They have that weird bond twins have but elevated. Oh their backstory on this is so twisted. Mostly the story follow this pair, as they discover each other, who and what they are. I shuttered as each new truth finally unfolded, some were just horrific.

I don't want to ruin this for you, I'm stopping here.

I picked this book to read by cover and author's name alone. I had no clue what it was about I didn't even read the book blurb.

Trigger Warning: suicide, depression and violence