Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an earc.

I gave this a four out of five stars. I really enjoyed this story even though it was a slow read. I have to be in the right mood to read slow ones and I was. I took my time reading it. I want to get the next books and continue on. I liked that D&D was being played in it. If you like D&D I would recommend this, you would really enjoy it.

This is the first book in the Impossible Times trilogy. It was an fun, quick read that focuses on friendship. The main characters play D&D and since I've never played it, I think I definitely missed some of the jokes and culture woven into the story. Consequently it did take me a while to get into the story, but I did enjoy reading this book. Overall it was an enjoyable read and I would recommend checking it out, especially if you are a fan of D&D.

It had its moments, and packs a proper punch of nostalgia which makes it work, but mostly the books feels rushed and without clear purpose. It's obviously the first in a series, and it's always difficult to judge a book as such when you don't know how it all fits together, but the first instalment was't one to having me desperately looking for the sequel... so, wasn't great, but not bad... just ok. Let's see if I go on to the next.

Do you know the feeling where you did not dislike something, but you didn’t love it either? That’s how I feel about this book.

It was very well written and I loved the timetravel concept (one of my favorite book topics!) and the whole quantum theory behind it was interesting, but to be honest I wasn’t completely blown away by it. With the whole D&D thing and weird things happening around a group of friends, it gave me Stranger Things vibes (I watched season 3 in one sitting last weekend) but it just didn’t grip me the same way ya know?

The ending also didn’t really come as a surprise to me, which is a bit of a shame.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with an eARC of One Word Kill. All opinions are my own.

One Word Kill is a book that – judging from other reviews – seems to fall into ‘love it’ or ‘like it’ camps. I hew towards the latter as, while I found the book interesting, well-written, and creative, there were several aspects about it that just did not appeal to me.

My first grievance is with the characters. I found that, despite this being a 1980s Amblin-style teen sci-fi – a specific genre which hinges on colorful characters with big personalities – the characters in One Word Kill seemed incredibly flat to me to the point that, by the end, I was still confusing some of the supporting characters. And other characters feel like they’re written inconsistently. Nick, the main character, who’s unfortunately stricken with cancer, waffles back and forth between being introduced as a math and physics wunderkind, only for that to be tossed to the wayside to focus on his experiences with cancer, which is also pushed to the background to focus on the plot. None of the aspects of Nick’s character exist simultaneously in the sort of rich tapestry I was expecting. While the cancer stuff is interesting and gripping during the first half of the book, it’s so carelessly thrown to the wayside by the end that it just felt like filler.

The plot was interesting enough, which involves time travel and a bit of multiverse theory (which I’m familiar with), but the book takes large pauses to focus on the characters’ lives as teenagers which don’t weave directly into the larger plot. This would be less of an issue if the characters were more interesting, but it kind of made the book trundle a long a little too slowly for my taste. There are also elements of the book that feel just like convenient set-ups. The most egregious of which are the kids’ D&D sessions. While they’re integral to their day-to-day lives, the games don’t feel all that important towards their character development and only exist to set-up a parallel to the final gambit at the end, which ultimately makes it feel a little less than organic.

The book is not a bad one by any means, though. It is an interesting look at British teens in the 80s (with lots of parallels to similar American coming of age narratives) and is written quite well with a good nose for the science (well, “science”) concepts, but is let down a bit in terms of characters and pacing.

When I was a child, my dad made me watch maybe a trillion times the Back to the Future (BTTF) trilogy. Those were among his fav movies ever, and I still love them too.
So maybe it was the BTTF vibe of this book and the consequent dive into the past (also of mine) that immediately made my interest spark.
The time-travelling elements intertwined with D&D (that gives a nod to my nerdish, fantasy-lover self) were probably enough to make a big score.
But One Word Kill spiced things up adding an unforgettable (and sweet) main character (I have a soft spot for Nick), his exquisitely adorable bunch of geeky friends, and a narration that combines fast action, hilarious moments and an emotional punch.
I loved it, and I have already bought my ticket for the second ride.

In One Word (Kill): let's read it!!!

WOW.

Like all I can say is wow.

I already ordered this book for my parents as they also need to read it.

I don’t even know what to say about this book, I just want to push a copy into all my friends arms and order them to read it.

I received an eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I received a free copy of this book from netgalley, all opinions are my own

I don't have much to say about this book,except that it was not for me. I liked the writing style and the inner monologue of the main character and the discussion on illness and how it effects life. And I think it should have been a contemporary story. I just couldn't get past 60% of this book and I tried for weeks. But you know when your eyes are reading but your brain can't follow? That was me the whole time. I was just bored and didn't care. There is nothing wrong with the story, I just found it very unoriginal and it just didn't get my attention. I didn't really connect with any characters and the story is unmemorable.
I still have high hopes for his Red Sister trilogy and will read his other works.

This was an entertaining and original book with awesome twists and all the feelings. It brought me as much nostalgia of the 80's as "Ready Player One". I could relate deeply to its characters, even if I wasn't playing Dungeons & Dragons during that decade.

I recieved a digital arc from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I *wished* for this book and was granted my wish by the publisher.

I was recommended this book by a fellow bookstagrammer who adores Mark Lawrence's work.

I really enjoyed this one, it took me a while to get through it though... I'm not sure if it was my mood or the book itself 😅

One Word Kill is a YA book set in London in 1986, and focuses on a group of friends who love to spend their free time playing Dungeons & Dragons. The main character is Nick Hayes, a fifteen-year-old prodigy of mathematics who has just been diagnosied with leukaemia. Nick’s life is about to change, and not only because now he has cancer, but because he begins to realize that a stranger is following him. From there, Mark Lawrence introduces us in a story in which is possible to travel through time.

If I had to tell you what this book is about comparing it to other stories, I would tell you that One Word Kill is a mix between Stranger Things, Back to the Future and The Big Bang Theory. Also, this is the perfect book for fans of Dungeons & Dragons. I’ve never played the game, but I absolutely loved reading how the characters play it through the book and how it plays a major role in the plot.

My favourite aspect of this book were the characters. Besides Nick, there are four other members in the gang: Mia, Elton, Simon and John. Mia is the latest addition to the group, she is undoubtedly the bravest and knows dangerous people. Elton is Malagasy and gay, plays karate and is the game master of D&D. Simon is the cinnamon roll of the book and an expert in number; I’m pretty sure he is on the Autism spectrum although the term is not used in the book (at least not in the ARC). John is popular, rich and charming, and he keeps his friendship with the rest of the gang secret at school.

I also loved the setting. The majority of this book takes places in Richmond and I’m pretty sure it was the first time I read about a place I know. I couldn’t help smiling when I visualized certain locations. Another aspect I really enjoyed was the time travel plot and concept. I can’t wait to see how Mark Lawrence explores it in the next books.

This book portrays the racism and homophobia of the ‘80s, attitudes that are condemned through the point of view of our protagonist. There really good discussions about how boys employed the term gay as an insult and I liked how Nick does self-criticism for having done that himself in the past. And speaking of gay rep, the moment Elton comes out is one of my favourites and the note Demus gave him made me beyond happy.

Overall, One Word Kill was an engrossing and fast-paced book. Some things were very convenient and I was a little disappointed by some decision Nick made at the end, but I loved the premise and the characters. Also, something that happened towards the end broke my heart.

I don't know exactly how to feel about this book except that it was a little hard to get into. I think this kind of story has been done quite a few times and this go around didn't really have anything new to me. I would say I liked a few things/references but overall I didn't really connect with any of the characters and didn't feel any real motivation to find out what happened.

If I mention Dungeons and Dragons and teenage boys with a female friend a lot of people would automatically jump to Stranger Things - the hit Netflix show (which if you haven't seen, I, along with most others say WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?!)

So yes, this book does have a very strong Stranger Things vibe coming off it, it is set in the 80's too, and has also got elements of Ready Player One thrown in. Set in London, we get to see a snapshot of what it was like to grow up in England in the late 80's, as an awkward Dungeons and Dragons loving teenager.

Nick is our protagonist and is a very strong character for us to focus on. Right from the get go we are dealt the blow that he has been diagnosed with cancer, and this is just the push he needs to go try new things.

Nick's friends are a rag tag bunch of misfits. All very different, but each one of them interesting. Their relationship comes across as very strong, and their behaviour with eachother rang true to me. They definitely acted like the school outcasts. Mia, of course, comes along and is one of the many changes that take place within the group. A strong and confident character, I thought she was fantastic.

The storyline here is top notch. I absolutely loved it, and couldin't go to sleep without finishing - leading it to be read in it's entireity in a day and a half (well I did have to go to work and take care of my daughter too). The story is a great representation of how, as a teenager, you believe that anything is possible if you really try. With tons of action, teen humour, and just the right amount of awkward romance, this is a fast paced and exciting read that deserves your attention. Get it now before book 2 drops!

This may have been the first book I have read by Mark Lawrence, but it won't be my last. I'm already looking forward to starting book 2 in the series!

Highly recommended.

5/10

I just couldn’t get into this, the premise sounded right up my street but as it turned out what was a good idea didn’t work well in practice for me. I’m in the minority as all my friends who’ve read this so far are 4*s or above. Things would be boring if we were all the same though.

The story of some D&D friends meeting someone from the future who is in need of help sounded like a great mix of things but the characters weren’t very appealing and by the end I wasn’t even that sure who was who outside the main two as they’d not grown on me one bit. Even finishing this a few days ago I’d be hard pushed to really go into depth on anything or anyone in the story other than they play D&D and one goes to chemo every now and then.

This is the second Mark Lawrence book I’ve read and rated 2*s so I feel that I’ve given him a go but he might just not be for me even though his work is highly regarded. I’ll not be bothering with the rest of this series.

What a quick and fun read! Lightens the mood and helps you out of a reading slump.

"One Word Kill" has some nice Science Fiction elements which I enjoyed. It's not hardcore Science Fiction as I first expected which disappointed me slightly. However, the story was cohesive and the writing quick and packed with witty dialogue. Everything I value in a novel.

Definitely going to continue the series!

The first book in the Impossible Times is great. Who can argue with high praise from George R R Martin, who claimed to love it?! No one, that's who.

I enjoyed this a lot, the fast paced action was compelling. It's a fantastic read, one I devoured as quickly as I could. Even though this book is technically about young adults, it doesn't read like a YA book. Compared to other YA novels of the genre, it seems to take on a more mature angle, diving into tough and serious topics, no holes barred.

I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions in this review are my own.

3/5 Stars

I loved Mark Lawrence's Book of the Ancestor series, so I was thrilled to be able to get his new book "One Word Kill" early for review.

However, this book took INCREDIBLY long to get to the main plot - most of the beginning was the main character (youngish British boy) getting cancer and having some vague deja vu situations happen. Lawrence's characterizations of a young person getting cancer were incredibly thoughtful and insightful, but we didn't get to the actual "plot" of the book until about 30% in, at which point I just assumed the book was a fiction about a boy getting cancer and playing board games with his friends.

Lawrence is incredibly cerebral so a lot of the time travel/physics was interesting but a bit over my head. I just couldn't really get into it since I had no connection to the new characters who were introduced halfway through.

So it was a well-written book, but took way too long to get to the meat of the plot, making me anxious about where it was going and slightly unhappy about the time spent in the beginning.

I love a fun sci-fi story that takes place in the 80s. Not really sure why, but something about that sort of setting always appeals to me. That's why I knew I needed to get my hands on One Word Kill by Mark Lawrence.

One Word Kill follows a young boy named Nick right as he discovers he's dying of leukemia. All Nick wants to do is play Dungeons & Dragons with his friends and get closer to the new girl in the group, Mia, before his time is up. But Nick soon finds out a mysterious stranger has other plans for him.

Nick is being followed. He can't tell by who, all he knows is this man seems oddly familiar to him, and he has abilities that just don't exist outside of the fantasy worlds he frequents. A run in with this stranger leaves Nick with one mission: protect Mia from danger at all costs. She doesn't know it yet, but her life is at stake, and it's up to Nick to stop what's coming. This leads to Nick racing to unravel the mystery and save the girl--terminal illness, machete-wielding psychopaths, and the general laws of physics be damned.

I had slightly different expectations going into this book because I had read it was a bit Ready Player One-ish, and that's one of my favorite books, but I did not get that vibe at all. I did enjoy the setting of the story, and the relationship between the group of friends, but I will say it took me a while to actually get into the story. I think I was about a third of the way through before I really felt it hit its stride. Even then, I did feel some bits were predictable and just didn't impact me as much as I was hoping for. Overall, it's a fun quick story but I'm not sure if I'll continue with the series.

“The magical power of D&D to draw together people who knew things. Who cared about questions that didn’t seem to matter.”


RATING: 4.75/5

I received a free review copy from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for my honest feedback some time ago and I am just upset I didn’t read it sooner. I am one of the rare readers of fantasy who has managed to not read any book by Mark Lawrence till now. It was only last year that I bought #3 in the Broken Empire trilogy followed by #2 this year. I still have to get #1, which I now plan on doing without any delay, and then it's officially binge time. Getting back on track, I had been hearing good things about his new sci-fi trilogy so when I finally joined NetGalley last month and saw the opportunity to request the first two books, I immediately jumped at it. I then put off actually reading the books for about a week after getting them. That was an error in hindsight.

The start to One Word Kill was slow but when things actually started getting serious, it was a hella entertaining explosive ride to the finish. The pacing in the second half especially was killer. It’s the perfect little book, with just the right amount of pages. And this is coming from a person who firmly believes in the awesomeness of huge doorstopper tomes. First of all, the book manages to use the nostalgia for the 80s without overwhelming the narrative with gratuitous callbacks, unlike Ready Player One. But that’s just a very small aspect of it. I love time travel as a trope and Lawrence employs it brilliantly without burdening the reader with overlong explanations of the science behind it. The Many Worlds Interpretation is a huge obsession with me so I guess that’s a plus point too.

I have got to talk about the characters! They are all so amazing. I did not think that Lawrence would be able to develop them well over the course of such a short novel, but he again proved me wrong. While you must certainly not expect them to be fully fleshed out, they still have a lot of complexity. Apart from Nick and Mia, Simon was my favourite followed by John. A big shoutout to Elton too. I found that particular bit, you will know which one once you read the book, a tad gimmicky but I was still happy it was included, especially John’s reaction to it. I also loved the fact that the end, I sort of saw it coming, was complete in itself and there was no frustrating cliffhanger. I will recommend the book to anyone who is looking for a short, utterly engaging and well-written soft sci-fi novel.

I received a copy of this book as an ARC from the publisher on Netgalley.

We follow Nick, a fifteen year old boy, living in the 1986. He has just found out that he has cancer. He loves math and is very smart. He has three best friends and together they are immersed into the world of Dungeons and Dragons. Lately, their small group has expended and now they are joined by a girl called Mia. Aside from all of these changes in his life, Nick also notices that a man seems to be appearing in his life and whenever he is near strange things happen. Soon he gets to know why that is.
This was an enjoyable and fun book to read.
For the most part it was fast-paced, although the segments with D&D pulled the pace back a bit.
I was unsure what to expect from the story and it definitely surprised me. In some ways it was such a typical YA book that it took me by suprise.
While there were a few bits that I predicted (I am not even sure that the author was trying to surprise us with them really), some elements and events took me by surprise.
While I was not blown away by this book, I plan to continue on with the sereis, because the concept of it as a whole intrigues me very much.