I actually lost interest about 2/3rds of the way through. I only finished because I was nearly there anyways. The writing is good but the plot was so cliche. ( )

The world of "Pacifica" is reason enough to indulge in this series.

⇝Ratings Breakdown⇜

Plot: 4.3/5
Main Characters: 4/5
Secondary Characters: 4.2/5
The Feels: 4/5
Pacing: 4/5
Addictiveness: 4.2/5
Theme or Tone: 4.3/5
Flow (Writing Style): 3.8/5
Backdrop (World Building): 4.7/5
Originality: 4.5/5
Book Cover: 4/5
Ending: 4.3/5 Cliffhanger: Nope, but
Steam Factor 0-5: 3
Setting: A Futuristic Los Angeles, CA (Pacifica)
Source: Kindle eBook (Library)
Total: 4.2/5 STARS - GRADE=B+

⇝My Thoughts⇜

The world of Shattered Minds and False Hearts is Pacifica. This place is a fantastically imaginative futuristic world, I found it easily imagined and was engulfed in its seedy underbelly, it is a drug-induced, dream-freaky hell-of-a-ride.

While still an interesting read, sadly, I didn't like this quite as much as the first book, False Hearts. I think because I listened to that on Audio, as opposed to reading this, it was off-putting to me because it lacked a proofreader (I could totally do this, btw). I'm thinking, maybe I didn't notice the errors in the prior book because someone read it to me (a fan-freakin-tastic narrator…January Lavoy). I also felt it lacked character development. I didn't really like Carina all that much.

⇝Will I continue this series?⇜ If she writes more, than...yeah. This world is so intriguing, after all. I would prefer audiobooks, though… ( )

This was a great follow up to False Hearts!

I really enjoy this world that Lam has created and how advanced the tech is. I like that she introduces flawed main characters who have depth and growth throughout the novel. Even the secondary characters have backstory and depth, and I really grew to like them. I enjoyed how she wove the story together and had characters from the previous novel involved and how it all connected.

I liked the discussion on violence and whether it's nature vs. nurture or a combination of both. How people can be manipulated and changed due to the tech and greed involved in research and being the best. The discussion on human nature and just how people can justify their actions was great too.

I really hope there are more books in this world coming soon. ( )

A dangerous, gifted young woman flees a successful career and is well on the way to killing herself with addiction, until a former colleague gives her the keys to bring down her former boss. Fighting the addiction and her urges to kill, Carina must win over an underground cell of malcontents and help them unlock the secrets that will destroy Sudice, the supposedly benevolent megacorp who has hardware and software embedded in every head in Pacifica.

But Roz will stop at nothing to find and destroy them before they can destroy her life's work. Can Carina master her own programming - natural and neural - before Roz can overwrite it with something worse?

Hard to warm to with its psychopathic protagonists, but Shattered Minds is another taut, thrilling page turner. If I were being reductive, I'd say this is Serenity meets Orphan Black - and given those are two of my favourite things, that's a great start.

Full review

I received a free copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review ( )

Pros: diverse cast, interesting plot

Cons: minimal world-building

Carina is a zeal addict, living her life plugged into her dreams where she slowly kills virtual people. When a former co-worker uploads coded packets of information into her brain that will help take down her previous employer, she’s not sure she’s capable of sobering up and not becoming a monster in the real world.

This book is set in the same world as the author’s previous novel, False Hearts. While some characters overlap, Shattered Minds works perfectly on its own.

Carina’s a fascinating character. Having information tied to her memories was a clever idea, and allowed for some great development. I was surprised by how much I liked her considering she had very little emotion, had constant urges to kill, and spent the first part of the book heavily addicted. But then, I also enjoyed seeing the world from Roz’s point of view, and she’s a pretty terrible person. Her scenes didn’t make me relate to her at all, but sometime’s its nice to read about bad guys who are truly evil.

The cast is pretty diverse with one character a native american trans man, which isn’t something you read often. Dax was probably my favourite character, considerate, competent, cool under pressure.

I had mixed feelings about the romantic elements of the book. I liked the pairing, and the text makes it clear that the two find each other attractive. But given Carina’s inability to feel anything other than pleasure at the thought of killing, I didn’t really get the gut feeling that she was even capable of any kind of intimate relationship. I appreciated that things moved slowly, but there was one scene that felt like it happened too early and so didn’t give the emotional satisfaction that it should have. At this point they knew each other better but still didn’t have the emotional connection such a scene requires. Oddly enough, had the author waited a bit, there was a place where I think that would have fit better.

While I felt the author knew how this world worked, there were times when it would have helped to understand more of what makes Pacifica tick. Towards the end of the book there’s a throwaway comment about the potential consequences of taking down Sudice, of how society could unravel because the company’s tied into so many things. This would have been good to bring up earlier. In fact, the comment states that the group has discussed this issue, though the reader never sees any of these discussions. It’s a failure of world-building because as a readier I didn’t realize the full import of the company they want to bring down and that the Trust’s actions might not be as black and white as they’re being portrayed. Knowing what Sudice does, and how the world would be impacted would have added more depth and complexity to the characters, and the show how difficult the decision they’re making really is.

The book is paced well so there’s a good mix of action and down time. The mystery of what Roz is doing and how the Trust can take her down is quite entertaining, and there are a good number of twists to keep things interesting.

On the whole I enjoyed the book. ( )