Reviews tagging 'Blood'

The Actual Star by Monica Byrne

19 reviews

bailey_the_bookworm's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful 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

5.0

This book! Wow. It melted my brain in the best way. 
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caseythereader's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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. 
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nikichem's review

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adventurous emotional informative reflective tense slow-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? Yes

5.0

I finished this book and immediately started to reread it. I loved it so much but once you know how it ends you want to go back and enjoy all the Easter Eggs. I have been recommending this book like crazy. In each of the first three chapters, there were things that were shocking. I loved the ending. I loved the beginning and I loved the middle. I am not writer; I am a reader and this is the 1st book I can recall starting to read it again as soon as I finished it the 1st time. If you like speculative fiction, Slipstream, Science-Fantasy, Genre Blending, Visionary, Historical check this out it will change the way you view humanity. This book gave me Octavia Butler vibes and it also reminds me some of Cloud Cuckoo Land only based in Belize and with a span of 2000 years (1012 to 3012).
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aclaman's review

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adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring 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? Yes

4.75

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emeraldcityreader's review

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

3.75

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voidboi's review

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adventurous challenging emotional mysterious reflective 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? Yes

5.0

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.
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hammy91's review

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adventurous dark mysterious sad 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

4.75

Very interesting! I enjoyed the first two time periods so much that I didn't want it to end. 
The last time period which is in the future was very hard to follow at first, but I want to believe it's because I do not know any Spanish so I had no idea of the Spanish words and conversations. But I later found out there's a glossary in the back so I was referencing it while I read which was very helpful!
As I said, the first two was amazing, I especially enjoyed Leah's story. The Mayan time period was interesting too but during the middle part I felt the plot dragged out a little bit but eventually picked up and things got INTENSE. 
I love the ending which is basically all of Book 3 it was just so fun to see everything finally align together.
It wasn't an absolute five-star read but close enough! Definitely recommend!
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liormaleficent's review against another edition

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

5.0

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library_of_alexandra_'s review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious 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? No

3.5

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