- Title:
- Hello Darkness: A Dystopian Thriller
- Author:
Sev Romero
- Release:
- October 11, 2022
- Format:
- Paperback
I don’t usually read SciFi and in this case, I’m glad I took the chance. Hello Darkness feels like the novelization of various apocalyptic movies I’ve watched over the years. It’s a fun time and truly captures that feeling of “The world is on the brink of collapse, but people are desperately trying to keep it together and pretend it’s all ok”.
Two of the most standout things to me would be the characters and their dialogue. The characters feel like genuine human beings. Their personalities, the way they speak, their mannerisms, and so on are regularly elaborated on. It painted a vivid picture of every character in every scene, it made it super easy for me to remember the characters early on. It’s rare that I find myself invested in, or caring about characters as they often feel like mannequins or cardboard cutouts that only exist for the protagonist to bounce words off of.
The other aspect that stood out was the combat, though looking back, the scene setting, in general, was good. Never once did I have an issue following the combat, nor did I have trouble following along as characters navigated spaces.
There’s not a whole lot going on. It feels like a slice of life, a moment in time in this world of chaos. It gets in, sets the scene, tells the story it needs to tell, and nothing more. I can appreciate that.
The only issue I took with the book was the repeated usage of the word “antiquated”, it came off as if the author learned a new word and wanted to use it in his new WIP. Even more annoying, however, is the usage of the word “footage”. This story is set more than a decade in the future, with A.I. cars and people are still using film, like it’s 1978, or even worse, using antiquated terminology? It’s long past time that people update their vernacular.
The SciFi elements are within belief for the era it’s set in and the dialogue helps fill the reader in on the backstory they need to know, without feeling like exposition dumps. I’d recommend this if you’re into post-apocalyptic stories.
Note: This copy was provided to me free of charge as a physical review copy. The opinions stated in this review are mine and mine alone, I was not paid or requested to give this book a certain rating, suggestion, or approval.