Thank you so much to Net Galley, Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Del Rey, Keanu Reeves, and China Mieville for allowing me to review this unique book. I have never read anything like this before. There is a lot happening in this book and it was sometimes confusing to keep up with, but, overall, this is a very thought provoking book. The writing style is unique and almost poetic. Overall, I enjoyed this book and I recommend it to anyone who enjoys poetry and uniquely written novels. Thank you again for allowing me to review this book.

I truly had high expectations for this book. This book was truly unreadable, I’m so sorry. It was confusing and hard to keep up with. The way it was written made it hard for me to keep up with the story and characters, I found myself going back and forth pages to try and understand what was going on with the story.

I received an ARC copy from NetGalley and Del Rey Publishing in exchange for an honest review.

This book was completely fascinating. It took me a minute to get a feel for the style and cadence that this was written in but once I got my bearings it could not put it down. There were so many things going on in this book. I really appreciated the way that it was broken up into separate mini stories. It made the book flow so much easier. I will say that there were some that I really did not understand at the end of them. I also feel though that not all of it is meant to be understood in a literal way. Kinda fever dream like. I look forward to seeing if these two collaborate again int he future and will be ready for their next adventure.

This book was intriguing from the first page and like nothing I’ve ever read before. This is not my typical genre, but I am interested to see what else this duo may come up with!

Read this book and then go online and read how it came to be written. I ask you, Who else would Keanu Reeves collaborate with but China Miéville? Very strange and very good.

Unfortunately, I found this book difficult to get into. While I was initially excited by the premise, the writing style left me questioning the plot more than enjoying it. If you appreciate books written in a more poetic, reflective style with thought-provoking pauses, this might be a great fit for you. However, it just wasn’t for me.


*Thank you to Keanu Reeves, China Mieville, Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Del Rey, and Netgalley for the ARC copy. I am freely leaving my honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC

I was extremely intrigued by a book from Keanu Reeves. However, 30% in and I just can not anymore. The story is too strange, choppily written, and nothing really makes sense. I'm hoping it gets beter if you stick with it, but it's not good enough for me to stick with it. I really did try though.

Keanu Reeves? Of course I had to read this!
It felt very slow at the beginning, and I'm not usually a fan of military thrillers, but I'm glad I kept reading because it got better. I'm glad I read this!

I wanted to love this because Hello, KEANU, but it just wasn't my type of book. That doesn't mean someone else might not love it. I most likely would have DNF'd if not for Keanu being a part of it.

Thanks to Ballentine and Netgalley for this advanced copy.

I'll be honest, I had a really hard time following this book and I"m not sure I could tell you the plot of it if I tried. I was confused by the end of the first chapter and should probably have DNF'd it but I just kept powering through. I might try again? Sometime? I don't know.

The Book of Elsewhere by Keanu Reeves and China Miéville is a mind-bending thrill ride that'll keep you on the edge of your seat. This unique collaboration brings together Reeves' haunting narrative and Miéville's singular style to create a story that's both action-packed and deeply philosophical. The book follows "B," an immortal warrior who's lived for 80,000 years and is now desperate to find a way to die. As he works with a shadowy government organization, the plot takes unexpected twists that'll make your head spin in the best way possible.

What really sets this book apart is how it blends genres and explores complex themes. It's not just about the action (though there's plenty of that); it dives deep into questions of mortality, identity, and the nature of existence. Miéville's prose is as lush and imaginative as ever, painting vivid scenes that jump between different time periods and realities. While it might be a bit confusing at times, especially if you're not familiar with the BRZRKR comics, the sheer creativity and emotional depth make it a worthwhile read. If you're in the mood for something that's equal parts thrilling and thought-provoking.

I really reeeeally wanted to like this book. Instead, I was constantly confused. The storyline is hard to follow and nothing truly feels explained. To this day, I couldn’t explain the plot to you. What a bummer!

When Keanu wants a ghostwriter, the man really commits. China Mieville is one of my favorite writers. The way he manages to not only dream up extremely imaginative worlds, but bring them to life in a highly engaging and readable way. Based on Keanu's graphic novel series, he and Mieville do right by the source material.

Me and a friend buddy read this together. We both found it mind blowing and absolutely entertaining. We both actually moved our chapter readings up so we could finish it sooner together. We really loved this story and loved the whole novel.

I gave this book my all and tried to like it, but I just couldn't keep up with the different "side stories" and how they relate. Unfortunately, I ended up DNF'ing around 20% because I felt like I wasn't making any progress. I was interested in B's story but felt like I was never going to get back to in and I was more confused than enjoying the story. Maybe i'm just not the target audience.

A big thank you to Netgalley for letting me read and review this book.

The Book of Elsewhere is a big release since this is a collaboration of two massive names in their respective spheres - Keanu Reeves and China Miéville. This book was one that I've seen very divided reviews on, and I understand why.

The book centers around a character named B who, along with his 'brother', have the ability to be reborn every time they get killed. And they get killed a lot. It is told through multiple points of view, and the timeline jumps with each one. This does make the story a little bit harder to follow, and I don't recommend listening to the audiobook of this title (I did take a look at it), since each POV is voiced by another actor and it can get quite confusing.

Overall this book is not a bad book. It takes a look at different periods in history and how each of them reacted to these beings. It also explores how our society today would approach someone like this - either by studying them for science or using them as a tool for warfare. It also takes a look at what this being represents. And that's where the twist in this book comes in. The further you get into this book the more you see how the original purpose of something can be distorted with time and with retellings.

This book really is for the serious science fiction reader, and unfortunately I don't really fall into that category. Therefore this book was not really enjoyable for my own reading preference. I do think that it is a very good exploration of humankind and how we react to the other. It also does explore balance in the universe as well, which is a very interesting concept for a scifi book.

This story was unique. It features a character known as Unute, or just B. He turns out to be an immortal being who can get killed, but comes back from an egg every time. He can come back in the same place, or someplace else. He has been following another immortal being through history, the deer-pig, trying to understand it. But, they usually don't tolerate each other. The military or some sort of black ops unit is using Unute's skills in combat for its own purposes.

The text was very hard to follow at first. I wasn't really sure what was going on. Gradually, you get used to the writing style and the story becomes more clear. But, it is still mysterious and somewhat fragmented. There are jumps through time and it can be hard to follow those. I think this story would work well in a visual medium, where the viewer could see signs of what time period the characters are in. Since Unute is an immortal being, the time period can be anything at all.

It is violent, so be prepared for scenes of blood and violence and gore. Unute's character has to be killed in order to go back and be re-born from his egg again. So too, does the other immortal being, the deer-pig. Unute seems to be exhausted finally, by all the destruction and death he has seen in his thousands of years of life. He is ready to become mortal.

The Unit, the black ops team he is attached to, seems to want to make more soldiers like him. They catch the deer-pig and do experiments on it. It's somewhat gruesome.

It was OK as a story, but I think there was too much ambiguity in the writing for me to really enjoy it that much. I also don't usually like books with this much violence. If that's your thing, you might enjoy this book.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

The Book of Elsewhere
By Keanu Reeves and China Mieville

I have been a fan of China Mieville ever since reading "Perdido Street Station". All of his books are multi-layered – none is an easy read. I have struggled to get through some of them, but was always glad I did.

Now comes this latest book, co-authored with Keanu Reeves. Perhaps that combination contributed to the weirdness. This is the story of a man named Unute – called B - who can be killed, but cannot remain dead. He has been reborn over the millennia and seems to remember each incarnation.

As the story begins, Unute is working with a secret unit of government trying to determine 1) why he cannot be permanently killed and 2) why he becomes a berserker with superhuman warrior skills when threatened. From there the story becomes more and more convoluted, jumping back and forth through time – and narrators. It required my total concentration to get through this one – and I am still not sure that I know what the authors were trying to convey!

Many stories leave the reader with food for thought. This one overwhelms the reader from all directions. I would like to say I loved it. I will let you know when I figure it out.

I struggle to rate this because I could not finish it, after making it about 26%. It was just confusing and hard to follow and I felt consistently lost. But there were some chapters I did enjoy and some interesting ideas. If you are a hardcore sci fi fan, you might have an easier time with this.

I don't really know what I was expecting, but this was somehow both more readable and more insufferable than I expected it to be. I have not read any China Mieville prior to this (although the City & the City is sitting on my TBR) so I don't have a frame of reference for his work without the influence of Keanu's partnership, whatever that may have been. That being said, the plot could not have bro-ed down harder if it tried. It borderline passes the Bechdel test, but only [spoiler, kind of?] if you can assign gender to a malevolent spirit thing occupying a human (female) form. It feels made for the silver screen, with Keanu starring as the 80,000 year old god/demigod/Death/unclear and has plenty of screen time dedicated to his hobbies (hunting pigs) and artfully-curated home (sleek lines, rich mahogany). A final bone to pick with the writing form—Mieville was never satisfied with one word where 2-3 SAT words would do. I kept a running list while reading and now have 45+ new vocab words to study.

If there's any redemption after all that, it's that once you muscled through the first 100-ish pages, the text moved pretty quickly from there. I read the entire thing within a 48-hour period, but I was also motivated by an impending book club to be prepared for.

I'm so sad to say that this was a miss for me, but I can't wait to hear what my book club thinks. I imagine I'll need to give my other Mieville a long rest on my shelf before I'm ready to give it a fair shot.

Thank you to Ballantine/Del Rey for the opportunity to give my honest review.