Helpful Score: 2
I could not put this book down. If you're looking for an interesting and quick read, this is it. Lexicon certainly makes you think about what could be possible in the future as data analytics and the quantified self advance and become more ubiquitous.
That said, I could only give it 4 stars because I felt that the book didn't live up to its full potential; character development left something to be desired and the plot could have been fleshed out a bit more (especially surrounding Yeats).
That said, I could only give it 4 stars because I felt that the book didn't live up to its full potential; character development left something to be desired and the plot could have been fleshed out a bit more (especially surrounding Yeats).
Helpful Score: 1
I think the ideas about language that this book contains are interesting and deserve to be explored, but this novel really failed for me on a lot of levels. The world-building is limited-we don't get very much information about the Organization or the Poets, and while I understand that it wasn't supposed to be the main thread of the story, that part of the book is MUCH more interesting than the thriller plot that runs parallel to it. The book also telegraphs its plot from close to the beginning; not only did things all just happily fall into place too many times, but I figured out most of the "reveals" pretty early on. Emily is fairly unsympathetic as a lead character, and I think it's because for much of the book she's written as a stereotypical "crazy woman", overly influenced by emotion and easy to lose control, especially where men are concerned. Wil as the other lead is equally inaccessible. His feelings and motivations aren't clear even by the end of the book. Lucky his memory happens to come back at the most convenient times possible! Eliot is by far the most interesting character, and luckily we do get a lot of him. He's what saves the book, for me.
