Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

Cantique pour les étoiles by Simon Jimenez

17 reviews

handove's review against another edition

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slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

fumiko was the most interesting character by far and even then i just wanted them to fucking do something & the plot to move on the entire time
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sarah984's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

I liked this book a lot, but I do wish that I had read it before The Spear Cuts Through Water since that book refined a lot of the interesting touches in this one and took them farther, with more confidence. I liked the characters and the overall plot, but the big time skips made a lot of it feel sort of distant and I found the third section a bit silly.
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chris_reads's review against another edition

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adventurous 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

4.0

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metanav's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional sad tense slow-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? Yes

4.5

patience is necessary—i nearly dnf this book but i persevered and it paid off. i didn’t start to enjoy it until the story leaves the first planet, but the imagery and characters were beautiful and the sci-fi world building felt familiar but also fresh. pacing is slow at times but it gives you time to really get to know the characters and it definitely made me emotional near the end

just keep in mind content warnings, i added what i could remember but it probably isn’t all exhaustive. 
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bangarangbec's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious 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? Yes

4.25

Beautiful sci-fi narrative. This cast was endearing and following them through these many, many years was so worth it. I would've read twice as many words about them and all the things they did and all the ways they grew together. 
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zsabella's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective 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? Yes

3.5

I think 2024 is the year I fully realize that I’m deeply fond of speculative, character-driven science fiction. I loved how the vanished birds gives off a distinct feeling of negative space and technological minimalism that doesn’t distract from the characters’ interactions. it’s frankly impossible not to immediately buy into every relationship nia has ever formed. simon jimenez writes natural dialogue so easily it feels like reading a transcript of *real people* conversing, arguing, courting, etc. but not at the cost of world building—he can easily evoke beautifully sparse images of futuristic cities, natural environments, and different planets within the universe he’s imagined.

I do think the third act could’ve been a bit tidier and had a less abrupt transition, but it’s a small nitpick in the grand scheme of a heartwrenching story. at its core this is a found family, coming of age cosmic drama that reflects on the figurative and literal power of human connections and what ordinary, but conflicted, people are willing to do to preserve them.
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lakeofstars's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective slow-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? Yes

5.0

this book was hand catered for me i think
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avocadosocks's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.25

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srm's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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jaredt's review against another edition

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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. 
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