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kaziteega's review
3.0
wilovebooks's review
4.0
laurav's review
5.0
I love science fiction and I have watched many movies with aliens and space travel and read several books covering the same (although not as many books as I would like). I never really wanted to go off and become an astronaut, but I have been fascinated with stars and wondering about other planets and solar systems and if there really are little green men out there somewhere. So, I was really excited to get this book and have a chance to dive into space.
This book was amazing. The plot is inventive and it's a fresh take on the sci-fi/alien theme. The world that Elizabeth Guizzetti creates and her attention to detail about the other planets and the aliens, even down to the biology and plant-life is amazing and creates this vivid picture. I loved the descriptions of the lifeforms that Abby runs into and the various planets that she visits (maybe that's the biology nerd in me, but I found it fascinating). Guizzetti has created such an intricate world and she fully knows and explores that world and its rules to create a wonderful story.
The characters were all interesting and flushed out. I really liked Abby, as well as Cole and the Alekos family. I wanted to know more about them, I cared about what happened to them, and I enjoyed reading Abby's journey.
I was sucked in from the first page. I couldn't stop reading either. I just wanted it to keep going and going. I didn't want the book to end. I don't know if there will be more in Abby's tale, but I hope there is, because I love these characters and this world and I want to know more. I highly recommend this book, especially if you're a fan of science fiction.
harveyjoy53's review
5.0
I never realized until recently that I’m not a big fan of science fiction. I always assumed that I liked both scifi and fantasy (seeing as how they are usually clumped together), but I realized that I hadn’t read very many scifi books. So, I was afraid that I wouldn’t like this book but I took the chance anyway since it sounded very interesting. It also came with high recommendations from my two best friends.
The writing is very well done. So well done, in fact, that oftentimes I started to feel exactly what the characters were feeling (which is rather hard to do). I really loved the science parts interspersed with the story. Instead of just describing aliens and technology, Guizzetti actually explained it scientifically which I really enjoyed. Her imagination to create this story and these species is incredible. And it was so easy to picture it with the way she wrote it down.
The plot was interesting, though I can’t say I was really surprised by the turn of events. I really enjoyed the second half of the book with the new worlds and species. I loved seeing the interaction between the crew members and their friends off ship.
WARNING: The first half of the book is really intense. It contains explicit rape and mention of rape. This book could be very triggering to certain people. I personally had a hard time reading through those parts and even after it took me a while to sort through my thoughts and feelings on it. It is not for the faint of heart.
One of my favorite parts of the novel was the fluid sexuality. I loved how the fact that fluid sexuality was a norm and that it wasn’t a huge focus of the novel was refreshing. It was nice to see that it was a part of the book without having a huge spotlight focused on it. Actually, their outlook on sexuality and sex in general was really nice and I wish that our society was like it.
Like my fellow nerds, I would highly recommend this book to fans of science fiction. However, I do have to warn that it isn’t for the faint of heart and it could be really upsetting for some people.
ashl3y44's review
4.0
I had a hard time with this novel I’m not going to lie. I was a science nerd and I know about all the planets and the physics of everything. I still had a hard time, I found the language in the beginning to be a little more complicated then I’m used to.
I couldn’t help but get immersed in Abby’s story. She was an earthling in the year 3062, she was a librarian and the only thing she worried about was finding a husband. She lived in a cramped apartment building with four other siblings, and then they were informed that there was a ship landing from another planet. When the other people arrived they promised the earthlings a better life on their planet Kipos. Abby was excited she could go and maybe go back to school. They got all the necessary testing and then they were off, Her and her two siblings went to the new planet. There were the things the people didn’t tell the earthlings, and when Abby gets to Kipos she finds herself in a difficult situation.
Guizzetti, talks about major things such as suicide and rape, but she portrays it so beautifully, that I didn’t find myself offended by the situation. She shows you that no matter where you go there are people that won’t always be nice.
Abby finds herself running, to find a new way of life on this planet. She finds someone who is willing to help her and Abby gets the life she always dreamed of.
Guizzetti describes the environments of different planets beautifully and I had no trouble imagining what they would look like.
Abby is strong and independent. Even though she lost everything by traveling to Kipos, she still manages to pull through and overcome the things that have been done to her. She does what’s right for her, even though she was dealt a really bad hand; she manages to find everything she ever wanted. She is also timid, emotional, and that’s what makes her story so easy to fall in love with.
I have to say that, if I liked it then you probably will too even if you have never read a sci-fi novel before. When I went into this book, I was expecting something lite and fluffy, it was the farthest thing from my expectation, it was intense, and it was hard to put down. Most of all it was believable I found myself, thinking maybe one day this might actually happen, or that maybe there are other planets out there that could be discovered.
Overall I found I really loved this book, I don’t recommend it for younger readers, but if Guizzetti can make a believer out of me. I’m sure she can make you a believer too.
Find this and other reviews at Moms Reading Corner
alexandragriffin's review
4.0
tl;dr - |✭✭✭✭✩| Overall, I kind of loved this book. Not to say that it was perfect, or didnt have moments where I was frustrated with the characters. But I found myself wishing there was more when I finished the story.
Description (from Goodreads) Without an influx of human DNA, the utopian colony on Kipos has eleven generations before it reaches failure. Earth is over ninety light years away. Time is short. On the over-crowded Earth, many see opportunity in Kipos's need. After medical, intelligence, and physiological testing, Abby and her younger siblings, Jin and Orchid, are offered transportation. Along with 750,000 other strong immigrants, they leave the safety of their family with the expectation of good jobs and the opportunity for higher education. While the Earthlings travel to the new planet in stasis, the Kiposi, terrified the savages will taint their paradise, pass a series of indenture and adoption laws in order to assimilate them. When Abby wakes up on Kipos, Jin cannot be found. Orchid is ripped from her arms as Abby is sold to a dull-eyed man with a sterilized wife. Indentured to breed, she is drugged and systematically coerced. To survive, Abby learns the differences in culture and language using the only thing that is truly hers on this new world: her analytical mind. In order to escape her captors, she joins a planetary survey team where she will discover yet another way of life.
I picked this book up at my work because it was part of the local authors/ signed copies endcap. I had started reading it at the register one slow night, and was intrigued. I bought it, then months later finally got to reading it. Its hard to describe this book (not just because I finished it like 3 months ago), because it was so different than what I was expecting, and I don't want to ruin that for people. It was kind of enjoyable to see the story unfold the way it did, wondering where it was going to go next, and surprise me.
Our main character, Abby, was at times absolutely infuriating to follow. But her story felt real, its something that has definitely happened to people immigrating to a new society, and in this book's case, literally a new world. Perhaps thats why I got so frustrated to her. I didn't want the things to happen to her like they were, but as a reader we are powerless to stop it. So we have to go on the same journey she does, and it isn't exactly a pleasant journey.
This book is definitely more science fiction than fantasy. There is a lot of talk about the different technology used, the space ships and the physics involved in their space flight. Sometimes it went over my head, but overall it was interesting and felt as though it made the read a little more challenging. I definitely enjoyed this book and the story telling, as I mentioned in my little blurb at the beginning, I finished the book and was sad there wasn't more to read and explore. I would suggest this book to others who enjoy the scifi/space travel genre.
ian's review
3.0
The first half of the book is very slow, and I struggled to follow along with what appeared to be two separate narratives and two separate sets of characters (Abby and Cole) who interact only twice during the course of the book. Contributing to the confusion are the disparate timelines and aging timelines. In the book, people who travel using FTL will only age months for years or decades happening planetside.
The book deals with some very sensitive subjects like immigration, rape, slavery, and discrimination. The author is careful not to go too graphic, however, this means that the intensity of the emotions the characters feel sometimes doesn't make sense to the reader who didn't really get a full grasp at the time of what the characters went through.
The descriptions of space travel, space ships, and the different planets are very detailed and intriguing, but I felt that sometimes the POV was lacking emotional depth and description. This improves towards the end of the book, as Abby final starts overcoming her PTSD and dealing head-on with her emotions.
The narrative evolves from an immigrant story into almost a space travel narrative by the end. I feel the author could have done a bit more to tie the two halves together. The ending seems to come out of the blue, and as a result feels a bit heavy handed. Yet it was a satisfying conclusion, tying up the dangling thread of Abby's escape and her new life aboard the Revelation into one satisfying package.
Three stars, although I have a feeling that someone who enjoys sci-fi more might enjoy this more than I did.