This was such a good scifi and extremely interesting it had powers and lots of main characters but not too many that you get confused and it kept me on my toes the whole time

I was provided an ARC through NetGalley for an honest review

I feel like I'm reading a different book to everyone else. This is a DNF @ 38% for me.

The audiobook quality and narrators are great, especially compared to the first ARC audiobook I received, there are some interesting ideas here, and I really tried to give it a fair shake, but I just don't feel engaged with any of the characters or the worldbuilding.

The central conceit, the eponymous Juice, being what amounts to a powerful charisma potion, and its potential ramifications are certainly interesting, but the writing seems to be informed by and from a very liberal perspective that actually makes the relatively milquetoast and 'acceptable' ethos of Cyberpunk 2077 actually seem quite punk in comparison.

I just don't think I buy what the author is selling, which seems to be another future dystopia that makes the broad brush gestures at inequality and class prejudice, without engaging with any of the grim reality.

The fact the protagonist is the perfect symbol of the middle class rebel with a heart of gold says a lot. Not to mention the questionable language and perspective of global politics.

Maybe things change over the course of the book, but if I wasn't gripped or wasn't feeling off about it, I might have been able to push through, but this just wasn't for me.

I will say that it is better than the diabolical cover though.

This was such a wild adventure. Charisma in a bottle!

The plot is a bit loose, the world-building a bit underdone, and the point a little hard to follow ... this is more like a carnival ride through contemporary issues centred on a magical, transformative technology that makes us into the epic being we're all led to think we want to be, that will solve all our problems and raise us up from mere society ... the two characters pull us along through media tyranny and the clash of the classes in a near-future where threats to humanity, like fertility, are becoming a reality, but we're still not focusing on the right things.

I loved the narration by Emily Woo Zeller and Ron Butler ... particularly Zeller, who nailed the small town country gal accent that really brought me into story.

No. I found bits of this book highly offensive....sexual triggers outside any form of polite society. No. I will not be finishing this one.

(3.5 Stars rounded up to 4 for audio)

Thanks to #NetGalley for making this title available for reading and review.

I read the audiobook version of this book narrated by Emily Woo Zeller and Ron Butler. Both are great narrators and do well with giving each character a voice.

The book itself is almost two different stories, and I liked one of them a lot more than the other, but both were good, and they did join up into a single arc near the end.

The story is part cyberpunk, part conspiracy theory, part techno thriller, and part social commentary.

There isn't really much world-building. You are thrown into a future that is like most futures of this genre, and the author relies on stereotypes for both the world and for a lot of the characters. The character development is fair, but the real strength of this book lies in a compelling story with good dialog and a unique plot. I did like it