I honestly had a hard time finishing this book. It was hard to follow. I am not sure if it was the writing style or the actual content.

I received a copy from NetGalley in exchange for a fair review.
This book is impossible to put in a category, and might be a difficult read for some readers.
I expected something close to "Big Band Theory" in the subject of consciousness, but the vivid descrpition of animal use in science is upsetting, nothing funny allows to relax. The rythm of the book is somewhat tiresome, with the impossibility to see a plot. but this fact contributes to gain consciousness while reading, still the exposed theories are confusing, are they real or made up by the author ? There are no comment from the author to explain his motivations. If you are not an expert, it is difficult to relate to the contents.

I have not made it more than a few pages into the book and have found so many grammatical errors and inconsistencies in the story I am truly struggling to continue.

3rd page in, “Today Kierk had planned on using those actually seriously injured.” What does this mean?

5th page in, “—and beats violently his steering wheel” should read “and violently beats his steering wheel” adverb then verb

7th page - “smoking parts under the hood supplies to —“ what??

Also 7th page “Nose ring holds out his hand....” just after he sped away from them?

I can’t go on

This is an interesting novel, part mystery, part existential pondering. I felt the book could have been structured better overall.

A lot is going on in this novel. It is a complex and intelligent story with many layers to it working at once. The narrative follows Kierk, a neuroscientist who abandoned his PhD just before completing it, returning to academia to take part in a program at NYU investigating consciousness. Kierk is plagued by the idea of forming a theory of consciousness, explaining what it is that makes people sentient, how firing neurons translate into conscious personhood. However, when one of his fellow coursemates end up dead, he and fellow coursemate, Carmen, become entangled in a complex series of events featuring student activists against animal testing, religious fundamentalism, department politics and the mysterious representatives of DARPA. As I said, a lot is going on. The story was compelling and very different due to the use of the author’s knowledge of neuroscience but it was well done, incorporating the philosophical alongside the scientific. Kierk was absolutely unbearable though, but I hope that was the point. I loved Carman as a character although I did think at times the choices made for her character were a little sexist. The cast of characters on the PhD programme was great and I would have enjoyed less of Kierk’s POV but I can see that it was necessary for the plot. A very interesting and different read. Thank you to ABRAMS/The Overlook Press for this ARC.

I enjoyed this book immensely. The mystery aspect of the story was great as was seeing the main character become successful again. Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review.

Great theories, but at times difficult to read. The jumps from to many different writing styles that kind of leave you scratching your head.

This was a fascinating novel, full of clever ideas (not all of which I entirely got), delivered with passion and interest. Energetic and challenging.

SO this ultimately felt like i was reading two books that couldnt decide wether they wanted to be a love story,a sad story, or something intellectual that i ultimately could not understand.

I wasn't sure with this book if it was trying to be a sci-fiction book or something else.

I didnt finish this book as I struggled to understand the concept of this Book

With thanks to Netgalley & Abramans for the ARC of this book in exchange for this review

Kierk has been given a second chance in his life and he has to make sure not to mess it up. He's been accepted into a prestigious program and things escalate quickly : a colleague dies and Kierk's caught been solving the sudden death and his second attempt at getting his PhD.

The prose is literary and most of the times pretty lyrical. I enjoyed the theories and the ideas surrounding consciousness rather than the story which I didn't care for that much. It will make you think as to why we are the way we are. This is not an easy read and would require the reader's full attention to grasp what Hoel is trying to convey in this book.

*Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for providing me with an ARC in return for an honest review.*

This book has a really interesting concept. However, some do the stylistic choices made it difficult to read. I understand that part of the point is to get lost in the mania and intellect of our main character, but it just made the reading process difficult and long. This book is dense in its prose and content. It will take a certain type of person to get through it and enjoy it.

I was given a copy of this book for review.

The book starts out using hard science fiction, make it somewhat difficult to read and capture your interest. If you are seeking an easy read, then this book is not for you. I found it hard to feel for the main character, seemed to be a sullen child to myself. Overall the book was enjoyable, just not fast reading.

(I won't post this as a review. I just wanted to give some feedback to the publisher).

I had a hard time getting into this book and felt it was in need of additional editing or perhaps a different approach to how it is marketed. The concept was very interesting, but it took a long time to get into discussing consciousness. Meanwhile, there was a lot of interpersonal stuff that was difficult to become invested in, for me. there were a number of different things that turned me off from the book, such as characters flirting during animal experimentation, a character who is a fashion model turned neuroscientist, odd phrasings such as "of slender stature."

Not understanding what genre it was supposed to be might have been part of the book. I came to the book thinking it was literary fiction along the lines of Jonathan Franzen, but the writing style is more like that of plot-focused genre fiction, so there was some genre confusion. The prose style suggested to me that the pacing would be faster than it was.

Thanks for the chance to read this, and I wish the book well. I think maybe I'm just not the right reader for it.

Such a fascinating read. Kierk and Carmen are bright young students accepted into a prestigious programme to work on the scientific understanding of consciousness. Kierk is brilliant but tortured, arrogant and unlikeable to some, a genius whose passion and obsession are to find an overarching theory for consciousness, at times a struggle which brings him towards madness, at other times transcending towards a brilliant enlightenment.

Hoel writes a beautiful dreamscape construct with his prose, and with it is exploring the very concept of reality, the meaning of life, and the fabric of the universe that we each individually perceive. It’s a really ambitious topic and I found it an accomplished piece of writing.

The perspective switches very fluidly at times, which initially was disconcerting but became more integral later on; at times the reader is even unsure what is reality and what is dream; this is clearly deliberate and an important element in the story. I really liked the way the reality of the story constantly unhinged and broke apart, the fear and the madness and the excitement, these feelings of the characters were made manifest in the chaotic telling of the story itself.

Thank you to @Abramsbooks and #Netgalley for the arc to review.

I felt an odd familiarity with the characters, all sort of odd academics dealing with theories of consciousness while in some ways in the throes of academia instead of regular consciousness. It was a bit a Of an academic Paper crossed with a mystery novel. Even with the pacing problems, I liked it.

Thanks to NetGalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

"Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?" This is the heart of The Revelations many scientific and philosophical questions regarding the theory of consciousness. Erik Hoel does an impressive job of bringing neuroscience, a fascinating subject, to the forefront and provides a lot of interesting arguments to how we can truly tell what makes us ourselves. Unfortunately it simply didn't answer the question "Where Is This Book Going?" for me. While I understand the use of third person in order to explore other characters it felt like this was supposed to be focused on a single minded protagonist proving himself ala Ayn Rand, and would've benefited from focusing more on the main character Kierk solely from a first person perspective in order to delve into his madness, obsession, and mania. The Revelations feels like it has too much going on at times, losing the revelations being revealed.

The writing can get a bit carried away with itself often repeating the same idea multiple times in paragraphs and while I appreciated how this evoked some of the mania mentioned above, it can make it rather heavy handed and difficult to get through in spots.

This was simply a miss for me. If you love the works of David Foster Wallace you'll probably love the prose style. Hoel feels like a modern day Aldous Huxley mixed with Wallace, but I just could not get invested fully. Fair warning as well there are lots of graphic spots of animals in experiments that could be upsetting to some.