The Many, by Nathan Fields, caught my interest right away. The concept was completely original. People go on blind dates with people from the Internet and they come back different. They are colder, cruder and mentally unstable. As they turn violent, their families are left searching for answers. Conspiracy thriller meets psychological thriller, and a bit of horror brought in, this novel had a lot to offer. I read it easily in a few sittings.
What I Liked:
- Multi-Genre Connections: This novel could be categorized in so many different ways. I think that is so refreshing when you finish a novel and feel like it doesn’t fit anywhere because it was so different from other reads.
- Film Connection: This one read like a film; I could imagine it on the screen. It really reminded me of the 90s cult classic, The Faculty or some sort of Invasion of the Body Snatchers. It had a similar ominous tone.
What I Struggled With:
- Pace: the novel started out with a bang and, unfortunately, lost some momentum in the middle. It started to feel a little redundant. Luckily, the pace was picked right back up for the conclusion.
- Ending: The novel ends abruptly and with a sort of cliffhanger. It was not clear whether or not this book was the beginning of a series and I could not find much information about it. If this was meant to start a series, then I’m okay with the ending, otherwise, I was not impressed with how this one ended so sudden!
- Narrative Voice: Although claiming to be a novel for adult eyes only, this one read like a dark YA novel. Our protagonists are 18 and 21 years old, so, naturally, some of the narration seemed young.
Overall, I really enjoyed the general tone and plot of this book and will be looking forward to (hopefully!) more to this series. Be warned that this one does have moments where the narration is sexually explicit, so if that bothers you, you will not like this book. However, if you want an original novel that bends lines of genres, then you will like this read! I gave it 3.5/5 stars!
Thank you to the publisher, the author, and Netgalley for a digital copy of this title; it was my pleasure to provide an honest review.
Great review! I also read this and actually gave it the same rating!
You make very interesting points.You’re right, it does read as dark YA novel.
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Love the plot!!!! I love The Faculty and I’m now very curious ❤ Although you know how much I love a good ending…
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I know that completely! You won’t be happy with it that’s for sure! lol
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Ooh I have this downloaded! I might put it to the top of my list to pick read after I’ve gotten through my Netgalley stuff!
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You’ll have to let me know what you think!!
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I know, I really want a second one! I want to know what happens next; hopefully there’s a sequel! 😄
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There better be- the ending was too abrupt!
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I agree this is an interesting concept, shame it didn’t completely live up to expectations.
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Hi, this is the author of The Many. I just received your review through NetGalley. Just to let you know, there is indeed a sequel in the wings (two, actually). Great review by the way – if a touch light on stars 😉 Thanks for reading!
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THERE IS??!! Thank goodness; that changes my rating then entirely!
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This sounds promising in the fact that the concept sounds truly original and I love the idea that it could fit into many genres. I am not sure about the pacing issues though. I struggle when books drop in the middle. About what percentage of the book was much slower do you think? Great review and love this picture as always 😉
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I would say maybe 30% in the middle.
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30% might be tough for me to push through. That is a large portion of the book. Hmm..
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This book sounds amazing! I don’t normally read books like this, but I could definitely see myself reading this one, it sounds really intriguing. Glad to hear you liked this one. Adding it to my TBR!
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So cool that the author came by and left a comment! Great review, sounds very interesting!
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Plot wise this sounds really interesting, but the younger characters turn me away slightly, I read very little YA I find teenagers to be annoying for an entire book haha.
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Great review! Seems interesting. I’ll check it out for sure. THANKS:)
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I like the concept of this book right away too. Sounds like a very interesting novel. Thank you for a great review.
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