While I rather enjoyed the premise and the focus on details clearly shows the author's English background, the excessive use of language, particularly among the younger characters, was a bit off-putting. I am reminded a bit of a mash-up of John Steinbeck and John Green in this regard. That being said, it was a good story.

Thanks to Netgalley for an ARC of this title, in return for a fair and honest review.

The first thing that needs to be said about this book is BE PATIENT. This is a very "complex" piece of world building, and it is not just laid out for us in some sort of monologue. The author works on the principle of "show, don't tell" and you have to be willing to play along.

It's a world of the future, with several living/social systems - the complexes, which are corporate living situations. In order to join a complex, you basically have to sign your life away - it's essentially slavery. The Legacy is the social system that is apparently less desirable - remnants of the older form of government - but for the most part, you're giving up a nicer lifestyle for freedom. Finally, there's the outside area, that isn't quite a part of either - if you live there, you're still getting a living stipend, but things are even less policed. And, there are definitely social strata within each group.

It becomes even more complicated, since various players from different systems are conspiring with each other, creating numerous crossing lines. Add to the mix AI, which is highly developed, and plays an interesting role. I realize also that some folks dislike books with alternating viewpoints (I am fine with them, so it didn't bother me), and this book frequently changes viewpoints. Again, it takes a little patience to get a feel for each of the viewpoint characters, but I enjoyed this.

If you are patient, and keep reading until this begins to make sense, this becomes a fairly compelling dystopian novel. At first, I was a bit reluctant and had trouble with the book - but as it played out and I began to get a fuller understanding of what was going on and who the players were, I was sucked in and read avidly. If you give it a chance, this book is definitely a good and enjoyable read.

I definitely liked this, but it was a little too long and there were a few too many characters.

This is a story set in the future, told from many viewpoints, of a society on the verge of collapse. I don't even know how to describe it. Basically, there are a bunch of entities loosely based on governments and political parties that are all trying to convert people to their side. And that's about all I can give you without spoilers.

This was a really weird thing to read during an election in the midst of a global pandemic.

I don't know if it was intentional or a coincidence, but the thing with Robert Kraft was sort of funny, but only if it was intentional.

I enjoyed reading this book. It had a good story to it. I liked the variety of characters in it. It was a well written book. It is my first book read by this author. I hope to read more books by this author.

Wow. Complex is a big book, with a big world and a plot that seems to have been thought out for a while. I knew I was getting in a dystopia, focusing on Complexes and society around it but I didn't expect it to be that deep and complete.

Let's start with the world-building. I am absolutely impressed by it. Even though the title is "Complex", they are not the main scene of the book. We mostly explore Legacy through the various characters' actions. The Complexes are merely highlights in a society that is mostly reduced to misery etc.
Now, we have the rich Complexes offering wonders to the people who will join them, and Legacy, full of people who try their best to survive. That is until a big plan is set in motion by the Complexes to get everyone to sign in a Complex and become fully indebted to them (at least that's what I understood ?). Of course it induces secret meetings against that, double-crossing, a lot of scheming etc.

To achieve the writing of such a plot, the author needed a solid world. And he delivered on that. I felt the whole world was really wide, and you get a pretty good idea of how Legacy is mapped out. I hope there will be a map in the physical copies ! I really enjoyed "strolling" in the cities, discovering new places and little nooks in the territory. Absolutely incredible and well-developped.

As for the characters, I thought the book has too many of them. I sometimes lost track of who was who, and felt some POV's were unnecessary. That is the big problem with me. I couldn't tell who was doing what anymore, even though there's a short summary of the character's ID at the beginning of their chapter. At some point I also lost track of which institution/group does what, as all that info was very dense. I could have used a breath !

Add to that although the story is told in 3rd person but focusing on a certain character in every chapter, every now and then the author switches to 1st person. Sometimes it's for a thought (which is not indicated by markers) but sometimes it's a switch I don't understand the reason of. That confused me a bit, especially at the beginning when I was still grasping how the book worked haha.

The books has multiple POV's. I don't really enjoy that, because it usually makes me lose track of the main plot. Fortunately it didn't happen here, but it made me confuse the characters, where they were located etc. Please, someone invent an interactive map to add to the book so I can see where are the characters depending on what I'm reading !
That being said, having many characters divided in chapters means that we have short chapters, so it's easy to take breaks from the actions to think and analyze what just happened. I must also admit sometimes I skipped a little through chapters I didn't care much about.

Now the chapters I didn't skip were those of the "main" characters (those who were introduced first and are more key to the plot than others) Val and Kat (and Trevor but he didn't get many chapters). They were my favorites, and they're sisters to top it all ! I mean, how could I resist reading about two sisters in need, who get separated when a Complex kidnaps the youngest ? I mean of course Val the big sis goes in search of her baby sis. If she uncovers dark secrets about the government etc. and participates in overthrowing dictature in the process, I'm all the more in ! I wish I had gotten more of Val and Kat, especially some more Kat's POV while she was interned in a Complex !

There was a lot of action in this book, which I really loved ! So if you enjoy fast paced books, this is for you. It was so captivating I felt a little bit numb when I finished the book, and didn't know what to do with myself haha ! Signs of a powerful book !

This book is very good, but very confusing. There is a large cast of characters that tell the story from their points of view. For a good portion of the book, I had trouble keeping each of them attached to their story. As different parts of the story intersected, it became easier. The story itself is complex, detailed, and realistic. It is all too easy to believe in a future such as this. Give yourself some time when reading this book, and don't put it down for too long because it is not easy to jump back in. The story is worth the time you will put into it.

I love dystopian worlds, but this one left me wanting. The story was interesting, however, we are dropped into a world without context, that needed a bit more background. Still, it was an interesting read. Kat's kidnapping and Val's struggle to rescue her and questioning her freedom in a world sectioned in to "Complexes" run by corporate giants where everyone is just a slave to work, told through alternating narrative -which I love - makes you question which life you would prefer. It points to the life we live today, where corporations control the world behind the scenes, effecting policies and laws, keeping the poor and middle class in their positions while the rich get richer. It hits home on many points.

I received this advanced reader copy from Netgally for an unbiased opinion.

Complex is a complex (get it?) work. based on the premise that in a dystopian world set sometime in the future. Civilization has basically collapsed, and now corporations have formed their own city nations called Complexes, which have their own "citizens", akin to serfs toiling away and being used for the corporations' purposes, assigned to whatever job the corporation deems fit for the citizen to have. Anyone not attached to a Complex and who does not have a high enough social score lives in Legacy, a remnant of the loss or degraded civilization.On the Legacy side, people rarely work, and receive money each month to enable them to buy food and do whatever else they need to do.

On the Complex side, forces are working to generate a war between the Complexes and Legacy, as they believe, cynically, that recruitment for the Complexes.. There are conspiracies galore, double crossing, many fights, and an epidemic that threatens to run out of control.

The premise is a good one, and the story is well told. There are a lot of characters introduced right off the bat. The point of view shifts between these characters with every chapter, and keeping track of all of them can sometimes be tough, requiring flipping back to recall just who everyone is. The world itself is done *very* slowly and does take some getting used to. Likewise, as the end rushes toward all the characters, the world is quite disorienting, and sometimes comes so quickly, it's difficult to understand how the various levels interact with one another.

Beyond that, I liked the book. All of the POV characters were drawn out nicely, and their various motivations were not difficult to understand. The tech - it is an SF dystopia, after all - was good, and the fact all citizens had AIs iimpanted in them was intriguing. The ending leaves open the possibility of a sequel, something that isn't always everyone's cup of tea, so just be warned on that point.

Three and a half stars, rounded up to four.

Thanks to Luminary Media an NetGalley for the review copy

I tried to download the book twice and it just seems that it is a joke because there is nothing on the pages. I mean blank pages. I tried to adjust the color to the page and font to no avail, so I just assume it's a joke. Bad joke.

In a world where governments have failed and one must decide to weigh the advantages of safety over freedom, unrest abounds and danger is around every corner. Two sisters will try to honor their dying father’s wishes by holding on their freedom, but at what cost? What must Val do to save her sister? What will it cost her and those around her? In a world where citizens give up their freedom, drugs abound and AI implants are common, there is a darkness all around and the sinister machinations of those in power are deadly.

What a premise! A dystopian world, people hanging by a thread to their very existence and few can be trusted, COMPLEX by A.D. Enderly has grit, an atmosphere that weighs heavily all around and a seemingly impossible quest for one young woman against the big machine.

Often seeming out of order and a little jumpy, I had a difficult time not getting thrown out of the story trying to follow along. I needed more background, more of an idea of the timeline, the whys and hows of how the world became so broken. Certainly not short on content, this tale felt choppy, like pieces were missing.

Perhaps it is me, but I was left feeling like I wanted more of some parts, less of others.

I received a complimentary ARC edition from Luminary Media! This is my honest and voluntary review.

This is a dystopian book which is my favorite thing to read. The storys focus is on val and her sister kat. Kat gets kidnapped and val must save her. The complex that she's living in with her family involves her giving up her freedom. But she will do anything to save her sister. This book has treachery, and decided that has a huge impact on everyone. The cover is stunning and I will be getting a hard copy of this. My only qualms are it needs more world building, and the timing needs laid out. You read about one person going to sleep and the next page they are up and about doing big plans. Has it been a day a week a year later?

This novel was a dystopian novel, where people flock to the Complexes, which involves giving up their freedom and something Val's dad made her promise never to do. This novel has many different characters, each with different roles but the author indicates the character when transitioning from one third point of view to another. Val and her sister Kat, do have much and barely make it by. When Kat is kidnapped, it is a race against time for Val to find and safe her. She will make a deal with the devil if it will save her sister. However, no one knew how deep the deceit and treachery ran, for it will have a huge impact on everyone.
I received this novel from net galley and the publisher as an ARC. Thank you! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I am a sucker for a dystopian novel, and was really excited to read this one. I have to say that I'm rather disappointed. I do want to state that I love the cover image, and the plot of this book is certainly intriguing.
My largest complaint is there is no background given to the world. If you're someone who has no issues with a lot of unknown reasoning & world building then you might be fine with this book. But I need context to understand the story. How did this world come into being? Was there a war in our time & it eventually led to chemical warfare which poisoned the Earth (and is it 50 years later, 100 years, 400 years)? Why does everyone have AI implanted in their heads (I could understand for tracking purposes, but why do the poor have the same capabilities as the rich)? And why are drugs so readily available to pretty much everyone?
Another issue I had is the timing/pacing. It's really hard to tell how much time has gone by, and there are some very abrupt time changes (e.g. a man is going to sleep & the next sentence has him giving a company tour). One major event is the evacuation of the area outside the floodwalls which is to take place on a certain date. Two pages later it's happening--did one day pass? One week? I have no idea.
Something else that made no sense to me is why anyone living in Legacy can access Level 1 & 2 of the Arc, but only the rich & special are in Level 3 & above. Why wouldn't it be only Complex property allowed into Arc?
As I stated earlier the book as an interesting premise, and if you're fine with unknowns & ambiguity then this could be a good book for you. It just wasn't for me.
Thank you to NetGalley, Luminary Media, and the author for this advanced reader copy. The opinions expressed in this review are my own.

this was a really unique read, I enjoyed the use of scifi and the dystopian future. I liked that the author used the fact that we don't read contracts that we lose our freedom. It was a great read with interesting characters,