All You Need Is Kill by Hiroshi Sakurazaka

There was a chance for something really good here but instead of anything getting solved, it felt like it was left open for a possible series. Without spoiling anything, I really did not enjoy this ending. All this would be forgivable if it wasn't for the ending. I can only suspend my sense of disbelief for so long before I have to slam on the brakes. From the bad guy's origins, to the final fight, nothing felt like it made sense. Nothing is truly explained, and whenever something is, it feels like the characters are making very unintuitive leaps to come to their explanations. The second, issue was the explanation of the technology in the world. Even now after just finishing it I can't even remember a single one of their names. Even the supporting cast are all one dimensional and forgettable. The main character changes very little despite his growth in skill, and the heroine is a little girl with a weak backstory. At less than half the length of my usual fare, the characters all felt flat and weak. Normally when someone turns a book into a movie, they need to trim a lot of fat in order to fit the important parts in. Funny, I know, since this was actually the original but I was having a great time. It's like they had taken a premise that I loved and put a whole new spin on it. The different characters, similar premise, and subtle changes made the book brand new for me. Immediately I loved the changes that I was seeing. That may not have been the right mindset to go into a book with but it can't be helped. I picked up this novel after realizing that the movie I enjoyed was originally based on it.

All You Need Is Kill by Hiroshi Sakurazaka