All You Need Is Kill

I'm just another reader that watched the movie (loved it!) and had to have more. I read a couple reviews and delved in. It was a neat story, just for the record, I actually liked the movie more - which is rare for me.

Great Sci-Fi read! Couldn't put it down! I felt the overly forced military themes weren't very realistic for what military is like at its core, but ultimately I loved the character development and the rapid pace of this book.

Pretty great short read, enjoyable and doesn't get bogged down in techno-speak or silly plot twists. Only negatives I'd comment on are somewhat unsatisfactory ending and some uneven pacing and jumps.

The characters are well done and the story is very thought provoking. I don't want to give it away, but the ending was satisfying and closed the loop

Took me all afternoon, but this was exactly the kind of story I needed for a rainy day and took me back to my high school days chewing through Heinlein and Alan Dean Foster.

Just enough scifi to make the story believable, without taking focus away from the people and the real message

excellently written and perfectly timed this short sci-fi masterpiece has the perfect combination of action, humor, dark reality, and Dickens-esq description that fully immerses you into the world of Kiejira and Rita. A must read for any sci-fi fan.

I don't know if it's because of the author or because of the translator but it's really difficult to understand the science behind what is going on in this book, although the idea behind it is pretty creative. The author seems to love using an excessive amount of narrative hyperbole but the action scenes are well-narrated. Overall this was a decent read that I was able to finish with minimal effort but I probably won't ever feel the need to read this book again.

I bought this book because of the "Edge of Tomorrow" movie, which I liked. This book, while telling a different story, is really good. I read to keep my mind occupied while on the tread-mill and this book did its job very well. I cared about the characters. The story was complex but not too confusing. The plot moved along and was exciting. It does not have a "happy ending" as did the movie. Instead, while somewhat sad, I found the ending to be consistent with the rest of the store and not a "downer". I am both glad that I read it and feel it was worth the price, which is (sadly) not to be said about a lot of what I have been (trying to) read recently.

The book is decent in the fact that it establishes an interesting and compelling plot. However, it seems to confuse readers when it explains the time loop phenomenon. The explanation is unclear at best, but the concept remains interesting nonetheless.

really enjoyed. quick read. less than 1/2 a day. reads like a video game and a little odd around relationships. However overall really fun action packed and believable science. I also recommend Armor. similar soldier.

A fast-paced, electric romp through a distopian landscape that gives expression to the disaffection of all of those faced with an uncertain future in a world in which one may or may not have a place. The novel leaves a great deal on the table in light of the depth and complexity of its premise which remains largely unacknowledged/unexplored, but for one looking to wile away a few hours, or anyone willing to return to the text thereafter and consider all that the story implicates, could do far worse than to read this well-wrought adventure.

When I read the inspiration for the novel in the afterword, I could relate.
Winning through repetition is novel to our age. Our combat can play over and over again digitally.
Sakurazaka does an excellent job of veering the novel away from being an over-glorified montage and even spices up the lives of the characters through small touches like coffee beans.
However, a month later, the characters do not stick out in my mind. I cannot even remember their names.
The villains do mainly because of the hokey explanation for their existence.
A quick read that will be less disappointing than its adaptation.

Awaited to read before the movie comes out. Big military sci FI fan and liked this story. It definitely stands alone from all the starship troopers, forever war, and old man's wars copies. Worth the read.

Excellent novella. Well paced and we'll translated I am assuming as it read extremely easily but didn't feel as though it was dumbed down. I do wish it was a bit longer but I completely understand why it isn't.

Aside from its one gimmick there really isnt all that much to this book.
But it has action and a cool premise and it basically just does what it says on the tin: mech, aliens, and groundhoug day.
I enjoyed it.

I finally took a time to read the book... and finished it in on day. Its not military sci-fi as we know. Its much closer to anti-war novels, but without too strong apel. Its clever, fast paced and sometimes cruel.

I saw the movie recently and absolutely loved it. Wasnt sure what to make of a book that was translated from Japanese but the book was even better than the movie. It was exciting, fast paced and very well written. I loved the perspective of writing a book based on ones experience PLAYING instead of just basing a book on the video game itself. Definitely will recommend to my fellow readers, just like i recommended the movie...

Somewhat underwhelming after seeing the movie. However, the art style is still pretty fun and the story is awesome. I often prefer the comic's differences from the movie, but the movie is just executed so well that it's not even close.

You think that grown ups are way past needing pictures in our book, isn't it? well, i sure needed a picture, drawing or frakin resemblance of what did the mimisc look like.... "bloated frog, spike shooting starfish" spare me please!!!

I often lament to myself that science fiction is either too simple or too complicated. While I enjoy John Scalzi and James S.A. Corey, neither write books of much intellectual substance - lots of style and flash, but little meat. And while I enjoy Alastair Reynolds and Iain M. Banks, both authors write books so thick and complicated that they require great time commitments to chew through.

Why can’t authors just do it all? Uncomplicated writing, less than 400 pages, depth of character, depth of insight, excitement, and the kitchen sink? This is one of the reasons that Ender's Game is my all-time favorite book - it has all of these elements. And so does All You Need Is Kill.

Don’t get me wrong - I’m not putting Kill on the same plane as Ender’s Game, but but it certainly has more in common with Card’s book than it does with just about anything else on the SciFi bookshelf.

The writing is gritty and compelling, but not juvenile (and so special note needs to go to Joseph Reed and Alexander O. Smith for their translation); the plot is action-packed and well-crafted, but not insulting nor confusing; the characters are flawed, but likable and show growth (and they kick @ss), but not cliched; the themes are treated with maturity, but are not preachy nor shallow. All You Need Is Kill is the kind of book I’m trying to find while I read piles and piles of 'Meh' literature. This is the kind of book I could hand to a student who doesn’t like to read. This is the kind of book I could hand to a student who does like to read. This is the kind of book I could hand to a kid who likes to sit and play video games all day. This is the kind of book I need more of.

It’s science fiction, it’s action, it’s well-written, it’s intelligent. I love it.

P.S. I hate the manga cover. I know a lot of kids who like to read manga, but I know more kids (including myself) who would not be caught dead with a manga in their hands...which is a shame because the book under this manga cover should appeal to a much, much wider audience. Some publisher needs to grab this book and republish it in a more “normal” American cover - it would sell like gang-busters...just sayin’.

READING PROGRESS

This was a good quick read. I watched the movie a bunch of times and this is a nice companion that really gives some insight to the inspiration behind the movie. It's clunky sometimes in the translation but it still reads well enough. I enjoyed it for what it is.

Definitely a book to chew over time and time again. I have to admit that I bought it because I was intrigued with the premise of the film. I can't imagine the movie being half as interesting as the book.

Much like the title says, this graphic novel was obviously made as a quick tie in/cash in for the movie coming out soon.

Pros:
The art looks good.

Cons:
Basically everything else.

This graphic novel is relatively short (the store lists it as 96 pages) and in this space they try to jam in the entirety of the novel. While the novel itself was relatively short it was full of action. The result of jamming this into such a small amount of space is the entire narrative is disjointed and things seem to happen at random with little to no explanation. The graphic novel would need to be about double it's current length to have a decent narrative going on and to connect the dots in some way that makes sense. It was a lot like trying to read a book that is randomly missing pages.

The art is fairly good, though the designs they chose to use for various things (especially the jackets) seemed rather goofy. That's a personal preference, so not really a pro or a con. Decent (not great) art is the only reason this got 2 stars instead of 1.

The other piece that really killed me was how things were randomly changed in the story. I won't get into details to avoid spoilers, but some of the more interesting imagery from the original novel was replaced by things that took exactly as much space to show, but really contributed nothing to the book.

In summary, if you read the original novel this is likely to be incredibly disappointing. If you didn't read the novel and are coming to this fresh, it will likely just be confusing and a little boring.

I found the book a real disappointment, maybe it is because I read it after seeing the movie, but, nevertheless, my recommendation is to see the movie and leave the book alone. I also didn't particularly like the style of writing as it feels like something was lost in translation.

It was probably extremely difficult to adapt to the Kindle format, but in any case, it was impossible to enjoy on the Kindle Paperwhite, and just barely on an iPad.
So I have no idea what the actual graphic novel is worth (I loved the novel itself).

I really enjoyed this book from beginning to end. I'd compare it to a Michael Bay movie (kind of simple, but still very entertaining). The writing style is a little blocky and doesn't flow like some other books I've read, but the plot more than makes up for it.

2 stars is too generous. It was an interesting idea that became boring by the end. Characters were minus-one dimensional, which were accompanied by poor writing and bad jokes. Ebook was not worth the $7 I paid. If you absolutely have to read it please borrow from the library. Buy yourself that Starbucks venti latte instead.

It's too bad the English edition didn't keep the interior artwork from the original Japanese light novel. Even without it, this is an excellent book. Without giving away more than is on the back cover: Private Keiji is a green recruit, about to face his first battle against an implacable and incomprehensible alien foe. He dies, only to wake up and do it all over again. And again. And again. How many painful deaths can he face? Is he trapped alone in a personal hell, or is there a way out? The ending works quite well; like most good war novels, it refuses to allow an easy "and they all lived happily ever after!" cop-out.

Really, the point of the book is about suffering, and how people face it. The old saying is that "a coward dies a thousand deaths, a hero dies only once". But not poor Keiji: whether a hero or a coward, he dies over and over and over...

I really enjoyed this book from beginning to end. I'd compare it to a Michael Bay movie (kind of simple, but still very entertaining). The writing style is a little blocky and doesn't flow like some other books I've read, but the plot more than makes up for it.

2 stars is too generous. It was an interesting idea that became boring by the end. Characters were minus-one dimensional, which were accompanied by poor writing and bad jokes. Ebook was not worth the $7 I paid. If you absolutely have to read it please borrow from the library. Buy yourself that Starbucks venti latte instead.

It's too bad the English edition didn't keep the interior artwork from the original Japanese light novel. Even without it, this is an excellent book. Without giving away more than is on the back cover: Private Keiji is a green recruit, about to face his first battle against an implacable and incomprehensible alien foe. He dies, only to wake up and do it all over again. And again. And again. How many painful deaths can he face? Is he trapped alone in a personal hell, or is there a way out? The ending works quite well; like most good war novels, it refuses to allow an easy "and they all lived happily ever after!" cop-out.

Really, the point of the book is about suffering, and how people face it. The old saying is that "a coward dies a thousand deaths, a hero dies only once". But not poor Keiji: whether a hero or a coward, he dies over and over and over...

Not bad. Comparing it to the movie is probably unfair since I waited until after I saw the movie to read book. The book is a simpler, more straightforward story. The artwork was of a style I do not favor, dark, rough, and with a sameness to the panels. But it was fun to see where the movie came from, and it certainly stands on its own as a good story.

I gave it four stars because the the plot/ story is very interesting. There were time where I couldn't stop reading because I was anxious to find out what happen in the next page.
The book starts off a bit slow and is a bit narrative but that's something that ties into the story.

The story is original and riveting. It's very easy for a time-loop sci fi novel to become a little bit tired, like a joke which is repeated again and again, but the author does a great job of keeping the content fresh. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.

It's military sci-fi so it comes with its share of foul language, but even so it held tremendous promise. The action is gripping and the character well handled - but the plot twist at the end takes the book in a very unsatisfying direction with very little rationalization of why it has to be so. Could have been great - but was not.

I like the idea of an unintentional villain. Overall, I enjoyed the story and the characters but had a little trouble reconciling the logic toward the end. It was a good read and not that long. I finished it in a day.