Foe Review, not what I expected...

Hi everyone :3 In my last review of I'm thinking of ending things I mentioned that I was going to read this one next and that's what I did 2 days ago and I also decided to review this one as well, hopefully this is a bit more structured than the previous one.

Some Quick Info before I start:

Plot

Premise: The protagonist (Junior) and his wife (Henrietta)are confronted by a stranger who informs them that Junior has been randomly selected to go space, this leads to some abnormal changes in the couple's life...

(Note the premise is left vague because the story itself is pretty short so it's best to read it without knowing much)

This book is 200+ pages long but nothing much happens in the book. There's a lot of dialogues (most of them kind of felt repetitive). I was really intrigued in the beginning because I didn't know this was going to be sci-fi (I didn't even read the premise/blurb). It was interesting but then since there isn't anything happening I didn't find it thrilling. The pacing was slow. But in no way I am saying the book was "boring", it's just a slow burner. The book itself is divided into 3 parts and I found that the second part was kind of dragged.

Writing Style

This might be subjective, but I personally love the writing style of Iain Reid. The way he describes always makes me imagine the scene itself (though I'm very unimaginative mostly). His style is more prominent in his previous book where he describes a lot of bizzare scenes and it really made me feel scared/creeped out, and that's a good thing because he manages to evoke emotions in the reader.

Characters

There are very few characters in this, in fact for about 100 pages there are only 3 people,and a few chickens (yes, chickens) in the story. The characterization is really good, I felt each character was distinct and had their own inner struggles. Just like the last book, these characters also have something off about them, and I found that really interesting.

Mystery Elements

Now this is what I found slightly disappointing. Since the plot felt a big dragged, we can kind of sense what the plot twist would be. But it's still clever and you'll (probably) be surprised (even if you figured it out) because the way it's revealed is very unique. I won't say beyond this as this is a spoiler-free review.

What I liked about the book

Even though I didn't like this book as much as his previous one this was still good. Since the beginning was was kind of bizzare (I mean, imagine being confronted by a persistent government official who keeps politely forcing you into taking you to space for a couple of years), we already know that anything could happen in the story. And that kept me guessing and thinking throughout the story.

There are a few scenes which are bit strange (which makes more sense when in end), they were interesting too, and can be interpreted in different ways.

The concept is great, the ending is pretty clever too. If the second part of the book had been a bit more suspenful and thrilling I would have even given this book a 5 star rating.

Final Verdit

I give this book ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Good thriller, go for it :3

Some Trivia

1. The author writes about space in this book as he was inspired by his brother who works in space industry
2. The film rights for this book is given to *Anonymous Content* and the filming is scheduled to begin in 2022 in Australia.

That's all from me, see you in the next review!