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jaredt's review against another edition
challenging
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
An unexpected and well explored journey over the years.
This is quite a creative take, dealing with the nature of space travel and the years that could be lost to it. Lots of buildup, backstory, and lore woven together to make all the pieces fit. After the first chapter I knew it was going to be a special, different kind of story than what I'm used to in the genre.
We meet lots of folks, and no matter how long they're in the pages, their roles carry weight, they feel like they have their own stories, and it's just what bits we get to see.
I will say this story, because of the way it is structured, probably won't be for folks that want a more typical 'we are going to follow this group of folks and ONLY this group and see how their stories end'. Everything is intertwined, and there are main characters that carry most of the way, but not everyone stays together, and its just by nature of the universe this story lives in, and the amount of years we follow through. The ending packs a weighted punch, but isn't needlessly punishing.
Overall, this is a story I really enjoyed, and think it is one that I will grow to love even moreso over time.
This is quite a creative take, dealing with the nature of space travel and the years that could be lost to it. Lots of buildup, backstory, and lore woven together to make all the pieces fit. After the first chapter I knew it was going to be a special, different kind of story than what I'm used to in the genre.
We meet lots of folks, and no matter how long they're in the pages, their roles carry weight, they feel like they have their own stories, and it's just what bits we get to see.
I will say this story, because of the way it is structured, probably won't be for folks that want a more typical 'we are going to follow this group of folks and ONLY this group and see how their stories end'. Everything is intertwined, and there are main characters that carry most of the way, but not everyone stays together, and its just by nature of the universe this story lives in, and the amount of years we follow through. The ending packs a weighted punch, but isn't needlessly punishing.
Overall, this is a story I really enjoyed, and think it is one that I will grow to love even moreso over time.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation
Moderate: Child abuse and Murder
Minor: Body horror, Genocide, and Sexual content
In relation to body horror,library_of_wonder's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse and Death
Moderate: Sexual content and Medical trauma
Minor: Emotional abuse
quinnjuliac's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
This book was incredible. Sweeping story of finding nonbiological family and the ties that bind us, in a dysphoric future where the earth has been obliterated by climate change and misuse, and other worlds are created and then colonized by capitalism. Really beautiful, highly recommend. The first half seems to be more about the dysphoric world created by the author and traveling through it, and the second half is really about relationships and the love we find and lose, and how worth it these losses are.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Physical abuse, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Vomit, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Colonisation
vsnuffles's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
"It felt like a funeral." - William Shatner describing his voyage to space in the Guardian. I read the article today and couldn't help being reminded of this book.
This was an excellent and incredibly depressing read. I recommend reading it with caution due to just how very sad it is - it's definitely worth it but you'll want to be ready for some self-care afterwards. Do not expect a happy ending unless you like being very sad.
More in-depth:
The world-building is excellent: it's such a well thought-out future setting and the details of it are so elegantly incorporated it never feels like too much or too little. The writing was so good it was almost poetic at times, it was quite beautiful and poignant. The characters are grey and interesting. You get to see how they impact each other and the book has an excellent way of zooming out through the first few chapters, expanding the world before it settles on a more continuous story. It is a very bleak story and world, quite dystopian in a way that would feel cyberpunk if it were more focused on the digital world. Some mild spoilers for the tone of the ending/story overall:I felt as though what hope there was for the characters was relentlessly crushed after being built up. To be fair, I think that this tone is set up well in the first chapter. But it is common for stories to pick up after tragedy and I would argue this one does not really pick up by the end in tone and the dystopian society is only more dystopian by the end.
If I had to say the story has a theme woven throughout I would have to say it is about cruelty and exploitation of humans through colonialization and capitalism. There is plenty more going on in the very well written characters, how they are shaped by their traumas in good and bad ways and being able to see how they grow based on how they react to their circumstances.
This was an excellent and incredibly depressing read. I recommend reading it with caution due to just how very sad it is - it's definitely worth it but you'll want to be ready for some self-care afterwards. Do not expect a happy ending unless you like being very sad.
More in-depth:
The world-building is excellent: it's such a well thought-out future setting and the details of it are so elegantly incorporated it never feels like too much or too little. The writing was so good it was almost poetic at times, it was quite beautiful and poignant. The characters are grey and interesting. You get to see how they impact each other and the book has an excellent way of zooming out through the first few chapters, expanding the world before it settles on a more continuous story. It is a very bleak story and world, quite dystopian in a way that would feel cyberpunk if it were more focused on the digital world. Some mild spoilers for the tone of the ending/story overall:
If I had to say the story has a theme woven throughout I would have to say it is about cruelty and exploitation of humans through colonialization and capitalism. There is plenty more going on in the very well written characters, how they are shaped by their traumas in good and bad ways and being able to see how they grow based on how they react to their circumstances.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Physical abuse and Grief
Minor: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Confinement, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Deportation
nziam's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
It has been almost two years and I am still thinking about this book
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Child abuse
20sidedbi's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Beautiful intricate and intense. A little hard for me to follow as an audiobook, but still good. This book has a hard ending. Not happy, but not all bad. Just hard.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Forced institutionalization, Abandonment, and Colonisation
Moderate: Violence and Murder
malhale's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Medical trauma, and Colonisation
Moderate: Death
Minor: Suicide and Suicide attempt
astroprojection's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Police brutality, Grief, Colonisation, and War
Moderate: Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Dementia, and Medical trauma
Minor: Emotional abuse, Cannibalism, Suicide attempt, and Pregnancy
johannab's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Dementia, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, and Colonisation
bookishplantmom's review against another edition
dark
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
I have pretty mixed feelings about this one. The story itself is really great and the writing is absolutely beautiful but they somehow don't go together...? Not to say that SF books can't have lyrical, poetic or literary value, obviously, but somehow here the stylistic choices the author made got in the way of the plot and of getting the know and love the characters. The choice to tell this tale from a 3rd person omnipresent narrator's perspective, which sometimes slipped into the characters perspectives, gave the story a fairytale/folklore tone but also muddied parts of the story. The plot here is rather complex, there is a lot going on with a lot of different characters across time and space. That alone is a great deal to keep tabs on with simpler writing styles. Add to it the 3rd person omnipresent narration as well as overlapping perspectives and goodness me it takes a lot of focus to stay with it. It was not *difficult* to read, but it commanded attention let's say. Since the writing style made it hard for me to connect with the characters I was more invested in the overarching plot than in their individual stories (except for Fumiko, she was fascinating). Unfortunately, the narration made the plot almost secondary to the writing so I was left feeling overall kind of meh about my reading experience. This is an amazing debut but some things just didn't land all the way for me in terms of the writing but the story itself was really very good!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical trauma
Moderate: Child abuse