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A review by thecaptainsquarters
Do You Dream of Terra-Two? by Temi Oh
1.0
Ahoy there me mateys! I received this sci-fi eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. So here be me honest musings . . .
I wanted to read this debut ever since I saw it described as "The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet meets The 100." I know nothing about The 100 but sadly this book did not live up to the comparison to the Becky Chambers work. In fact this book walks the plank!
Pros:
- The author's writing shows promise. For a debut novel, I felt the writing style itself was decent.
- I finished it in one day.
- I really enjoyed the concept of ten astronauts going on a mission to set up a colony on an Earth-like planet.
- I enjoyed the set-up of the novel and how the author chose to countdown to the launch and beginning of the mission.
But there were a bit too many problems to make me like this book:
Cons:
- The character point-of-views were the six young teenage astronauts on the mission. I really would have liked some of the chapters to have been from the experienced adult astronauts.
- The teenagers all seemed to have an extreme problem - an eating disorder, depression, hallucinations, etc. I found it hard to believe that every one of them would have got through the selection process with a major illness.
- Actually, two of the adults had major problems - a terminal illness and a grief/anger problem.
- At no time was there any real oversight from the supposedly in-charge adults on the ship.
- The characters were not really fleshed out and I often didn't know which character was speaking during dialogue sections because they sounded too similar in tone. In addition the blurb claims there were four adults on board. I just finished it and I can only remember three? Captain, Engineer, and Medic. Who was the fourth? If that person existed then I mixed them in with the Engineer.
- The world-building of the shipboard life did not seem realistic or detailed enough.
- The majority of the story centered on the teens fighting with each other and odd relationship dramas.
- Once the actual countdown to the launch occurs, the plot began to disintegrate. The middle of the story was too long and drawn out. The 520 page story could have used substantial trimming.
- Also the ending in particular seemed a bit ridiculous with a deus ex machina rescue and lackluster ideas of what happened to the characters. The story really doesn't have a good resolution. There were also a lot of mystical occurrences that I didn't like involving dreams and other woo-woo.
I am sad that this book didn't meet any of me basic expectations. I do think I could read the author's potential future books but I think I would have to read reviews of them first before committing to the time.
So lastly . . .
Thank you Saga Press!
Check out me other reviews at https://thecaptainsquartersblog.wordpress.com/
I wanted to read this debut ever since I saw it described as "The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet meets The 100." I know nothing about The 100 but sadly this book did not live up to the comparison to the Becky Chambers work. In fact this book walks the plank!
Pros:
- The author's writing shows promise. For a debut novel, I felt the writing style itself was decent.
- I finished it in one day.
- I really enjoyed the concept of ten astronauts going on a mission to set up a colony on an Earth-like planet.
- I enjoyed the set-up of the novel and how the author chose to countdown to the launch and beginning of the mission.
But there were a bit too many problems to make me like this book:
Cons:
- The character point-of-views were the six young teenage astronauts on the mission. I really would have liked some of the chapters to have been from the experienced adult astronauts.
- The teenagers all seemed to have an extreme problem - an eating disorder, depression, hallucinations, etc. I found it hard to believe that every one of them would have got through the selection process with a major illness.
- Actually, two of the adults had major problems - a terminal illness and a grief/anger problem.
- At no time was there any real oversight from the supposedly in-charge adults on the ship.
- The characters were not really fleshed out and I often didn't know which character was speaking during dialogue sections because they sounded too similar in tone. In addition the blurb claims there were four adults on board. I just finished it and I can only remember three? Captain, Engineer, and Medic. Who was the fourth? If that person existed then I mixed them in with the Engineer.
- The world-building of the shipboard life did not seem realistic or detailed enough.
- The majority of the story centered on the teens fighting with each other and odd relationship dramas.
- Once the actual countdown to the launch occurs, the plot began to disintegrate. The middle of the story was too long and drawn out. The 520 page story could have used substantial trimming.
- Also the ending in particular seemed a bit ridiculous with a deus ex machina rescue and lackluster ideas of what happened to the characters. The story really doesn't have a good resolution. There were also a lot of mystical occurrences that I didn't like involving dreams and other woo-woo.
I am sad that this book didn't meet any of me basic expectations. I do think I could read the author's potential future books but I think I would have to read reviews of them first before committing to the time.
So lastly . . .
Thank you Saga Press!
Check out me other reviews at https://thecaptainsquartersblog.wordpress.com/