Reviews with content warning for Animal cruelty - To Be Taught, If Fortunate

Reviews tagging 'Animal cruelty'

To Be Taught, If Fortunate by Becky Chambers

32 reviews

marisam104's review against another edition

4.75

adventurous informative inspiring reflective medium-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: No

Content Warnings

alexalily's review

5.0

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Content Warnings

maeverose's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous emotional inspiring reflective fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: N/A

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

This was so fun. Now I just wanna go visit other planets… science can you advance a little faster pls?

TL;DR — Themes/Features:
-s c i e n c e
-planet exploration
-little alien creatures
-discussions on humanity
-lgbtq rep (ace, bi/pan, trans)
-non monogamous relationship

This is a book about humanity, our relationship to science, and as always with Becky Chamber’s books it touches a bit on politics and ethics, which I love.

It’s also a book about a group of astronauts looking for and studying life on other planets. Lots of descriptions of different kinds of environments and the creatures that live there.

If you’re a space or biology nerd I think you’d love this book. It has a decent focus on the science, definitely more than Becky Chamber’s other books. On the other hand it’s not inaccessible on that front either. I’m fascinated by science but not very knowledgeable on it and I understood everything perfectly fine. It’s explained in a very accessible way.

Some of my favorite quotes:

“We walked for a time, our footsteps echoing in all directions. Had there been such echoes in this canyon before? I wondered. Was the air here accustomed to carrying sounds beyond those it created on it’s own?”

(On leaving no trace:)
“What if the exact place where your craft landed is where two bacteria of separate species met for the first time, and what if their meeting would have resulted in a symbiosis that would have led to the emergence of a new species, and you, you bastard, just wiped out that entire reality?”
(Followed a moment later by:)
“At some point, you have to accept the fact that any movement creates waves, and the only other option is to lie still and learn nothing.”

“The walls were made of thick glass, and behind it was the dense network you find below every forest. Roots interlocking like fingers, with gossamer fungus sprawled symbiotically between, allowing for the peaceful exchange of carbon and nutrients. Worms traversed roads of their own making. Pockets of water and pebbles decorated the scene. This is what a forest is, after all. Don’t believe the lie of individual trees, each a monument to it’s own self-made success. A forest is an interdependent community. Resources are shared, and life in isolation is a death sentence.”

Content Warnings

poppyersej's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous emotional inspiring reflective 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: No

A very satisfying read! To Be Taught If Fortunate is thoughtful and thought-provoking, sweet and serious. It is not too hot or too cold, it is just right!

Content Warnings

silviaaa's review against another edition

4.25

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Content Warnings

nikenacs's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous challenging hopeful informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Read #1 (summer 2021): Nightly read aloud story time with friends over Discord. A friend read this to us and I occasionally fell asleep, so I missed some small parts, but I LOVED IT. Absolutely exactly my cup of tea, will definitely read more by Becky Chambers.

Read #2 (March 2023): Loved it even more when consciously reading by myself, if that was even possible. This book is everything. It legit changed how I look at humanity, science and space exploration. I will be recommending this to absolutely anybody with even a passing interest in scifi.

Content Warnings

gamja's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous emotional inspiring medium-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: Complicated

Content Warnings

kris386's review against another edition

1.0

slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

I appear to be in the minority, but I absolutely hated this book. The whole thing was incredibly dull and the characters were equally awful. I went in expecting a story about astronauts stranded in space after something happens on Earth. I didn't expect to need a content warning for "animal" torture and death. It was disturbing and added nothing to the overall story, in my opinion. And, worse, the ending rendered the death completely unnecessary. The characters were already vaguely detestable prior to that horrific event and afterward I just wanted them all to waste away in space for the rest of their artificially prolonged lives anyway. So I don't know what everyone else saw in this book, but I clearly missed it.

Content Warnings