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coffeebean216's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Gore, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Colonisation
Minor: Sexual harassment
fionamclary's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
However, Ammonite didn't really work for me as a sci-fi. The world felt far too Earthlike, and I often found myself forgetting that we were supposed to be on an alien planet in a universe where Earth also exists. Maybe Becky Chambers is too high of a bar for sci-fi worldbuilding, but if so then I am spoiled. I guess it's okay for the environment to be Earthlike since this is supposed to be a place habitable to humans, but I was frustrated with all the native life of the planet falling exactly into Earth taxonomic categories. The supposed futuristic technology felt dated, although maybe in 30 years, so will the tech of the great sci-fi authors of today. Also, why the Mirrors don't gain the additional sensory abilities that come with the virus after surviving it seemed like a moderately-sized plot hole to me. The whole espionage subplot was way underdeveloped; the final reveal was too predictable and also boring with little impact.
I'm glad to have read the debut of one of my favorite authors, but my expectations were let down in many ways. Menewood is still on my TBR (after a re-read of Hild since it's been 8 years) and I'm still excited.
Graphic: Animal death, Gore, Violence, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Confinement, Death, Genocide, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Alcohol
mar's review
- 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? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Animal death, Confinement, Kidnapping, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Death of parent, Murder, and Pregnancy
Minor: Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Torture
tangleroot_eli's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- As others have said, this book suffers from major pacing issues. I called it "medium-paced" because some parts are so fast and gripping I couldn't put the book down, while others plod along so slowly that I couldn't pick it up. I appreciate writers who can write a variety of speeds, but in Ammonite it was an impediment.
- Maybe this is just a personal problem, but I struggled to look at this book through the lens of its own time and not think about what we know now. Ammonite comes from the late '80s/early '90s school of feminist scifi, where writing women who were actual, fully developed characters was somewhat shocking. These days, a lot of things don't hold up well. What does the virus do to trans and nonbinary folks? Griffith is arguing that a world without men would be exactly the same as a world with them, but would the women of Jeep be "just like men" if they'd never experienced patriarchy and toxic masculinity?
- As always, I should not read author's notes. Griffith's note for Ammonite is a contradictory mess that goes something like, "Women aren't just like men! We're just like men!" Save yourself the heartache; stick with just reading the book.
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Terminal illness, Violence, Xenophobia, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Colonisation, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Excrement, Medical content, Grief, Pregnancy, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and War
Minor: Genocide, Suicide, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Abandonment
amandabcook's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Animal death, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Pregnancy, and Colonisation
trickphoenix's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Violence, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Death of parent
etosaurus's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
All I am is an empty shell. I look all right from a distance, but up close there’s nothing there, nothing behind the pretty whorls and brittle exterior.
Graphic: Animal death, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Sexual content, Death of parent, and Pregnancy
A central plot point in this book is a virus that attacks the respiratory system and has a high, sudden mortality rate, and the main character's mother also died of a sudden illness. Additionally, on the subject of anti-vax: