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moonsai's review
5.0
So unpredictable. I had no idea how this would end. For fans of [b:The Deep Sky|61884842|The Deep Sky|Yume Kitasei|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1675082851l/61884842._SY75_.jpg|94970745]
-Beautiful story and complex characters.
-The science was well researched & well explained.
-Short chapters.
-I was gonna say there is a morally grey character, but I think they’ve gone beyond that. I’d say they're sociopath.
I wish it had fan art, and it was more popular.
I guess not every book can blow up but I really wish this one did. I think it fits into the “Formula” of books that are popular on booktok. I loved Dalton Academy, the solar storm scene & the air lock scene. I feel like this would be a good movie.
One of the main character name is Juno and there’s actually a NASA space probe orbiting Jupiter called “Juno”. I wonder if she names all her characters after real space projects but I’m too lazy to look that up.
Sometimes, I thought this was an adult book because, the writing was reflective and had more ‘lyrical’ prose however the book still had a lot of action, but in the book description it says YA.
At around 30% of the book most characters turned 18 ,so it could be argued that it is an adult book. It’s definitely a slower character-driven book.
Chapter 21 wow poppy’s backstory is one of the craziest backstories I’ve ever read :(
I was so sad when it ended. I feel like there is still so much of this story to tell, she could write a whole sequel but the author is working on another project :(
There’s not a lot of romance in this book and it doesn’t need it. I didn’t really care but at least it wasn’t insta love.
I don’t like the way the author writes intimate / sex scenes but they weren't really “sex scenes” since this is still a YA book.
Read the trigger warnings !
Some Quotes that I liked :
„LATER, THEY WOULD TELL her that sadness was a sickness. Poppy suspected that she’d caught it from her mother. She imagined that it had passed like poison from her breast milk, or had been woven into her genes from conception“
„Where his cells would not decay and he’d drift for eternity by icy moons (…) ,by star nurseries and the resplendent remnants of supernovae. Some part of him would be an eternal witness to the collapse and creation.“
„As Commander Sheppard would say, insh’allah“
„Astrid had noticed that he prayed five times a day on a mat he laid out in his bedroom“
„That the most distant stars could have burned out billions of years
ago, but still their light brightened the night sky. Cosmic proof for the existence of ghosts“
What I didn’t like: At the beginning all the characters were insecure which made them not distinguished from one another.
I forgot about Eliot's existence sometimes. He’d get a line of Dialogue and I remember he’s supposed to be on this ship too.
Also still can’t figure out which character that is on the cover.
Concept: ★★★★★ Characters: ★★★★
Pacing: ★★★★★ Feels: ★★★★★
Writing style : ★★★★★
-Beautiful story and complex characters.
-The science was well researched & well explained.
-Short chapters.
-I was gonna say there is a morally grey character, but I think they’ve gone beyond that. I’d say they're sociopath.
I wish it had fan art, and it was more popular.
I guess not every book can blow up but I really wish this one did. I think it fits into the “Formula” of books that are popular on booktok. I loved Dalton Academy, the solar storm scene & the air lock scene. I feel like this would be a good movie.
One of the main character name is Juno and there’s actually a NASA space probe orbiting Jupiter called “Juno”. I wonder if she names all her characters after real space projects but I’m too lazy to look that up.
Sometimes, I thought this was an adult book because, the writing was reflective and had more ‘lyrical’ prose however the book still had a lot of action, but in the book description it says YA.
At around 30% of the book most characters turned 18 ,so it could be argued that it is an adult book. It’s definitely a slower character-driven book.
Chapter 21 wow poppy’s backstory is one of the craziest backstories I’ve ever read :(
I was so sad when it ended. I feel like there is still so much of this story to tell, she could write a whole sequel but the author is working on another project :(
There’s not a lot of romance in this book and it doesn’t need it. I didn’t really care but at least it wasn’t insta love.
I don’t like the way the author writes intimate / sex scenes but they weren't really “sex scenes” since this is still a YA book.
Read the trigger warnings !
Some Quotes that I liked :
„LATER, THEY WOULD TELL her that sadness was a sickness. Poppy suspected that she’d caught it from her mother. She imagined that it had passed like poison from her breast milk, or had been woven into her genes from conception“
„Where his cells would not decay and he’d drift for eternity by icy moons (…) ,by star nurseries and the resplendent remnants of supernovae. Some part of him would be an eternal witness to the collapse and creation.“
„As Commander Sheppard would say, insh’allah“
„Astrid had noticed that he prayed five times a day on a mat he laid out in his bedroom“
„That the most distant stars could have burned out billions of years
ago, but still their light brightened the night sky. Cosmic proof for the existence of ghosts“
What I didn’t like: At the beginning all the characters were insecure which made them not distinguished from one another.
I forgot about Eliot's existence sometimes. He’d get a line of Dialogue and I remember he’s supposed to be on this ship too.
Also still can’t figure out which character that is on the cover.
Concept: ★★★★★ Characters: ★★★★
Pacing: ★★★★★ Feels: ★★★★★
Writing style : ★★★★★
trrrrrzzz's review
4.0
An absorbing read- more soap than sci-fi, but it didn't bother me. The sci-fi book I really wanted to read, based on this book's blurb, would go farther and attempt to answer bigger questions... but i can appreciate why the book stopped where it did and left a lot of things to the imagination. There's a certain kind of minefield with scifi- answering certain kinds of questions requires a level of imagination, commitment, or style that can easily lean into cheese or unbelievability. But it's inarguable that the drama of the situation the book sets up creates the conditions for exploring people and relationships in an interesting way, and Temi Oh does deliver on this. It's a pretty grim book, leans into darkness and mental illness and the uncomfortable things that close quarters might create, rather than glossing over those aspects of humanity like a lot of similar books might do, in favor of promoting the harder sci-fi elements. so i appreciate the balance. It's kinda, Skins in space (bc the teens are brits and it's happening in the same time period essentially)- the interesting thing setting the book in the recent past is that there are no magical "X discovery made this easy" answers- being in space is incredibly dangerous and things go wrong, very wrong, all the time.
chrisvill's review
3.0
I feel like the pitch for this book is wildly off base. While it doesn't have to be all about the 23 year space mission, it leaned a little heavily in the existential, young-adult direction. Let's just say, if you're looking for a book to actually discuss the idea or execution of a long mission like the pitch describes, while still discussing heady ideas, try reading Noumenon or Aurora or many other titles.
oakamoore's review against another edition
2.5
This novel's alternate history timeline is vauge, and its main premise isn't beliveable. No attempt is made to flesh out a world that seems so disproportionately focused on space travel, nor is any of the adjacent science described in a way that isn't cursory.
The reasons for the mission are barely touched upon; Oh cites "global warming" and "overpopulation" in passing as through they alone justify an expensive extrasolar excursion. The mission itself had too lofty and distant a goal, that made everything else feel peripheral.
A majority of the novel focused on characterisation, though all the characters felt quite bland and lacked distinct voices. The various problems used to drive forward the non-existent narrative were uninteresting, and the chapters suffered from poor pacing and cyclical dialogue.
The latter half of the novel also took on a weirdly mystical undercurrent that tainted the already nonsensical ending.
The reasons for the mission are barely touched upon; Oh cites "global warming" and "overpopulation" in passing as through they alone justify an expensive extrasolar excursion. The mission itself had too lofty and distant a goal, that made everything else feel peripheral.
A majority of the novel focused on characterisation, though all the characters felt quite bland and lacked distinct voices. The various problems used to drive forward the non-existent narrative were uninteresting, and the chapters suffered from poor pacing and cyclical dialogue.
The latter half of the novel also took on a weirdly mystical undercurrent that tainted the already nonsensical ending.
lisawreading's review against another edition
4.0
Do You Dream of Terra-Two? is set during our lifetime, but in a world in which space exploration has advanced much further than in our own. There have already been successful human missions to Mars and Europa, and now, the ultimate goal is being frantically pursued.
Terra-Two is an Earth-like planet light years away, uninhabited but with atmosphere, geology, and natural resources suited for human life. With advanced technology, it will be possible for an initial expedition to reach Terra-Two with a 23-year flight.
The UKSA (United Kingdom Space Agency) is leading the way, and they've come up with a controversial approach: Train children from the age of 11 or 12 in an intensely competitive learning environment, so that by age 18, when the expedition is ready to launch, there will be a crew with a senior team and a younger generation in training. After all, even if they launch as teens, they'll be in their 40s by the time they land. And once they land, it will be their role to prepare Terra-Two for the colonists coming after them.
As the book opens, we meet the students at Dalton Academy, the space training institution. They're all fiercely smart, but motivated by different dreams and goals. There's the rich pretty boy who's the all-star athlete, who seems to have the easiest, most cushioned life; the twins, who each have secret dreams and desires motivating them; the beautiful girl who speaks over 20 languages but has her own demons, and more.
When an unexpected tragedy occurs the day before launch, the remaining crew is thrown into tumult, and a last-minute substitute is both elated at his opportunity and miserable over feeling like he'll never be accepted or be good enough.
The book really gets going once the mission has launched. One striking element is how well we readers get a sense of the practically unbearable claustrophobia and monotony of being stuck in a contained vessel with the same small group of people FOR DECADES. Can you imagine how awful that must be, knowing that these other nine people are the only ones you'll ever see or interact with for twenty-three years? I don't know how they could manage to not go completely bonkers. (It's not a spoiler to say that there are some pretty spectacular meltdowns and conflicts along the way -- these are high-strung teens, after all.)
The plot of Do You Dream of Terra-Two? is fascinating and thrilling. I'm a sucker for a good space story, and I loved reading about the terror and the challenges of prolonged space flight, as well as the intricate interpersonal relationships that ensue when you have a small group in an enclosed space for such a long time.
I did feel that the book was possibly longer than it needed to be. At 500+ pages, it's a lot, and sections dragged. Again, I don't feel it's a particular spoiler to say that the book does not cover all 23 years, but rather focuses on the lead-up to launch and mainly the first year after that -- but it does wrap up in a way that's both hopeful and satisfying (although one character's conclusion particularly bothered me, but that's by intention.)
Is it realistic that a space agency would train teens in this way and then send them into space? Well, maybe not -- but even in this book,, we see that this is a controversial program that leads to international inquiries and protests. And because these are teens, despite their advanced training, there are moments of disobedience, rule-breaking, and emotional upset that wouldn't occur with a more mature crew, yet serve here to create some of the drama between characters that drives the story.
All in all, I really enjoyed reading Do You Dream of Terra-Two?, and by the halfway point, just couldn't put it down. It's a great story, very unlike anything else I've read lately, and I'm really glad I gave it a chance. If you like stories of space exploration, check this one out!
Review copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley. Full review at Bookshelf Fantasies.
Terra-Two is an Earth-like planet light years away, uninhabited but with atmosphere, geology, and natural resources suited for human life. With advanced technology, it will be possible for an initial expedition to reach Terra-Two with a 23-year flight.
The UKSA (United Kingdom Space Agency) is leading the way, and they've come up with a controversial approach: Train children from the age of 11 or 12 in an intensely competitive learning environment, so that by age 18, when the expedition is ready to launch, there will be a crew with a senior team and a younger generation in training. After all, even if they launch as teens, they'll be in their 40s by the time they land. And once they land, it will be their role to prepare Terra-Two for the colonists coming after them.
As the book opens, we meet the students at Dalton Academy, the space training institution. They're all fiercely smart, but motivated by different dreams and goals. There's the rich pretty boy who's the all-star athlete, who seems to have the easiest, most cushioned life; the twins, who each have secret dreams and desires motivating them; the beautiful girl who speaks over 20 languages but has her own demons, and more.
When an unexpected tragedy occurs the day before launch, the remaining crew is thrown into tumult, and a last-minute substitute is both elated at his opportunity and miserable over feeling like he'll never be accepted or be good enough.
The book really gets going once the mission has launched. One striking element is how well we readers get a sense of the practically unbearable claustrophobia and monotony of being stuck in a contained vessel with the same small group of people FOR DECADES. Can you imagine how awful that must be, knowing that these other nine people are the only ones you'll ever see or interact with for twenty-three years? I don't know how they could manage to not go completely bonkers. (It's not a spoiler to say that there are some pretty spectacular meltdowns and conflicts along the way -- these are high-strung teens, after all.)
The plot of Do You Dream of Terra-Two? is fascinating and thrilling. I'm a sucker for a good space story, and I loved reading about the terror and the challenges of prolonged space flight, as well as the intricate interpersonal relationships that ensue when you have a small group in an enclosed space for such a long time.
I did feel that the book was possibly longer than it needed to be. At 500+ pages, it's a lot, and sections dragged. Again, I don't feel it's a particular spoiler to say that the book does not cover all 23 years, but rather focuses on the lead-up to launch and mainly the first year after that -- but it does wrap up in a way that's both hopeful and satisfying (although one character's conclusion particularly bothered me, but that's by intention.)
Is it realistic that a space agency would train teens in this way and then send them into space? Well, maybe not -- but even in this book,, we see that this is a controversial program that leads to international inquiries and protests. And because these are teens, despite their advanced training, there are moments of disobedience, rule-breaking, and emotional upset that wouldn't occur with a more mature crew, yet serve here to create some of the drama between characters that drives the story.
All in all, I really enjoyed reading Do You Dream of Terra-Two?, and by the halfway point, just couldn't put it down. It's a great story, very unlike anything else I've read lately, and I'm really glad I gave it a chance. If you like stories of space exploration, check this one out!
Review copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley. Full review at Bookshelf Fantasies.
mcmallow's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
eiion's review against another edition
3.5
Loving anything is bound to the pain of losing it.
This was a good book, but some pretty glaring flaws and frustrations just made it miss the mark a little too much.
This book is about a group of 5 children who are trained for most of their lives to be sent to a place called 'Terra-Two' - an Earth-like planet capable of supporting life where they are going to be sent to establish humanity on this planet as well. Putting aside the obvious ethics concerns and the fact that no governement would ever fund this one way trip just to have a few babies on another planet, it had an interesting premise. But this book did expect me to suspend a decent amount of disbelief, and some of it was just not easy.
For one: Whoever is in charge of the psychiatric assessments for this program needs to be fired and then never allowed to work with children ever again. These were the least adjusted teenagers that have ever been featured in a book. A suicide the day before launch, constant bullying and comparing themselves to each other, one of them having prophetic dreams that was sending her into basically religious psychosis, and then one of the teens literally almost murdering another one in the airlock over a dispute about a video game. I know very well that 18 year olds can be BRUTAL, but this was a little much. I am a lot worried about all of them! It was just a really really bad mix of a bunch of kids without developed brains being sent into the depths of space for months that was going to turn into 23 years. Yeah, I just don't know what the psych department expected. And the adults that were on board were absolutely 0 help at all. "Oh, they'll figure it out" doesn't work when I think they're all losing their minds.
Despite all of that craziness, the plot was still really touching, and ended up going a completely different direction than I thought it would, probably for the best. I'm glad it ended where it did, even if it wasn't what I expected. I cried, I'll admit it, and there were parts of that book that just absolutely floored me. It was so well written, it was so touching, and if you looked past the very surface level "children losing their minds plot" I think you'll find a book full of metaphor, full of commentary about our human experience, our ties to Earth, and what it means to love something. I found this book to be just so beautiful, that it somehow made up for all of the flaws.
Was it perfect? Not by any means. But if you're looking for emotional sci-fi, it works. You have to be willing to look past the fact that all of these kids desperately need some recreational weed and just sink into the story, but if you can do that, it's worth it.
This book is about a group of 5 children who are trained for most of their lives to be sent to a place called 'Terra-Two' - an Earth-like planet capable of supporting life where they are going to be sent to establish humanity on this planet as well. Putting aside the obvious ethics concerns and the fact that no governement would ever fund this one way trip just to have a few babies on another planet, it had an interesting premise. But this book did expect me to suspend a decent amount of disbelief, and some of it was just not easy.
For one: Whoever is in charge of the psychiatric assessments for this program needs to be fired and then never allowed to work with children ever again. These were the least adjusted teenagers that have ever been featured in a book. A suicide the day before launch, constant bullying and comparing themselves to each other, one of them having prophetic dreams that was sending her into basically religious psychosis, and then one of the teens literally almost murdering another one in the airlock over a dispute about a video game. I know very well that 18 year olds can be BRUTAL, but this was a little much. I am a lot worried about all of them! It was just a really really bad mix of a bunch of kids without developed brains being sent into the depths of space for months that was going to turn into 23 years. Yeah, I just don't know what the psych department expected. And the adults that were on board were absolutely 0 help at all. "Oh, they'll figure it out" doesn't work when I think they're all losing their minds.
Despite all of that craziness, the plot was still really touching, and ended up going a completely different direction than I thought it would, probably for the best. I'm glad it ended where it did, even if it wasn't what I expected. I cried, I'll admit it, and there were parts of that book that just absolutely floored me. It was so well written, it was so touching, and if you looked past the very surface level "children losing their minds plot" I think you'll find a book full of metaphor, full of commentary about our human experience, our ties to Earth, and what it means to love something. I found this book to be just so beautiful, that it somehow made up for all of the flaws.
Was it perfect? Not by any means. But if you're looking for emotional sci-fi, it works. You have to be willing to look past the fact that all of these kids desperately need some recreational weed and just sink into the story, but if you can do that, it's worth it.