House of Gold

I really enjoyed the sci-fi world with black characters. The have and the have nots mixes with Cyberpunk and revolution. There's also backstabbing and manipulation galore.

One of the fun bits of worldbuilding was the body modification, which was a signal of class the same way having a premium membership in a kid's virtual world was.

The character interactions never went that deep for me, but I was interested by the Proxy and Prime relationships. More plot than character-driven. Jamal was such an agent of chaos haha!

3.5

A fairly snappy read with interesting and likeable characters. I enjoyed the story but would have enjoyed even more time spent on world building because I think the world is fascinating.

This is a collection of parts in search of a real story. It concerns people descended from the nations of Africa on a planet that has been both stressed and isolated. Much is made of the African origin and features of the characters, but that's as far as it goes—nothing in the cultures, choices, or actions has anything to do with Africa, though some clothing items do. We have superpowered teens pairs, a Prime and a Proxy each, so that each Proxy narrator is caught between their Prime and the other Prime's Proxy.
Basically though, it kept blowing its promise until it ran out, and then it was hurriedly wrapped up.
Basically though, it kept blowing its promise until it ran out and then it was hurriedly wrapped up.