I enjoyed this but in the end it left me a bit cold. It felt like the first two acts were building towards something huge and revelatory, but the ending felt like it petered out without really tying up most of the loose ends.

Some of the sexual content felt corny to me, especially contrasted with the grand arcs of the overall storyline and took away from the overall experience. I think it would have been better to gloss over it a little more and let the reader fill in the gaps with their imagination.

Contrary to other reviews I don't think Laviaja is supposed to be taken as some sort of perfect utopia, but just another version of civilisation with pros and cons, similar to how modern society is very different from the Mayan society, but in no way perfect. As we know, anything presented as a utopia is usually nothing of the sort, and I think that holds true here. Byrne cites Black Mirror as one of her influences and I think the 3012 portion of the book should be taken in that same vein - a possible future.

The Laviaja sections were my favourite, and I would personally love to see more development of it, both before and after the events of The Actual Star. We know some history of the Age of Emergency - aspects like nomadism, mutual aid and the push back against hoarding of resources all make sense in that context. But naturally given the format, there is a huge gap between what we know of today, and where Laviaja is in 3012. And of course there's scope to see how things play out, especially given Niloux's theory about the location of further cortadas.

Thanks to Harper Voyager for the free copy of this book.

 - Wow, how do I even review a work like THE ACTUAL STAR? This book is a massive undertaking, telling the stories of three sets of people in three timelines each a thousand years apart. We watch as their stories braid, repeat, differ, and merge.
- I saw elements of Ursula LeGuin, Octavia E. Butler, Simon Jimenez, and more from across decades of sci-fi and fantasy literature in this story.
- I felt deeply invested in each timeline, and was on the edge of my seat as the stories came together. It’s quite a feat to make a slow paced, 600+ page novel a page turner.
- Story aside, the writing is fantastic, too. Beautifully written, with the recurring elements never becoming too heavyhanded. 

Genius storytelling and worldbuilding, thoughtful reflection on change, religion, humanity, place, entropy, and so much more. Every time I started a new chapter I would be excited all over again to see what was happening with Ixul, or Leah, or Niloux (and the surrounding characters). Discovering the threads running between each time was delightful. I loved the structure of this novel, and how it collapses in on itself. 

In particular, the world of Laviaja was fascinating, and the conflict between Niloux and Tanaaj was the perfect framing for a refreshingly nuanced look at utopia. I both longed for a society like Laviaja, and found it difficult at many times. I was pulled in strongly and challenged by the characters and the way they think about their world.

Also, this book has an excellent acknowledgements section, which only impressed upon me more the labor and care that the author took to create such an intelligent and compassionate story.