Review: Redshirts

Redshirts by John Scalzi

Okay, I most definitely forgot to take a picture of Redshirts, but I sped through this book so fast, it was a 2-day read, so eh. I also had about a week break in between the spring semester and the summer semester, so I was trying to crush these books before I didn't have time. This was a quick weekend read that has been on my TBR for a minute now, it was fun! 

Being a Star Trek fan, I was intrigued by the exploration of the redshirts concept, in which the staff in Star Trek who wear red shirts are often the first (and only) people to die during dangerous missions or even just randomly. This is a well-known (ish) phenomenon, so it was interesting to see Scalzi's take on the idea, and how said redshirts react to that information. Our main character notices almost instantly that something is weird, but does not know why or how things are weird, only that something is definitely not right. Each character also had a very unique reaction to finding out they were extras who were set to die for the sake of a minor action in a (not very good) TV show, which encapsulates different personalities and how people would react rather than sticking to one reaction and expectation of reality. I think I would also be very much freaked out if someone told me I wasn't actually real and was part of a terrible TV show. TV physics versus actual life physics and everyone's attempt to not think about how it's even possible to go back in time via a blackhole was entertaining, as was it to see them attempt to convince everyone what was happening. 

With most of Scalzi's reads, it was very entertaining, and this book hit upon self-worth, self-love, dreams, hope, and togetherness as everyone banded together and made sacrifices for one another. I enjoyed the read and the friends we made along the way.