Reviews

Brutal and bleak, Lucy's tale is one that doesn't even really need it's SF elements. A lot of people find themselves trapped in a life that they don't deserve, one of few meaningful choices, doing things that they'd rather not be doing. It's just that in Luce's case she's literally been born to do the job she does as an alien servant of even more alien masters.

Luce is a serv, appearing human but with a fiery source in her chest that causes pain when she's around other servs and even more pain when she's around her alien masters. Lots of servs have drug habits in an effort to deal with this inevitable pain. It's not clear why the aliens made the servs that way, but it's typically cruel of them. Luce's story is complex; unique among servs she was raised by a human family so has a foot in both camps, which gives her expectations of a life that most other servs will never have. But she is a serv, and for most servs there's simply no escape.

Great writing with an impressive allegory to modern life, but really dark and bleak and horrible. Not really what I read fiction for really, but understand that my rating is more a reflection of distaste for what I'm reading rather than the level of quality of the work.

shybunnymia's review against another edition

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2.0

Not the best book to read for me. Or maybe this book is not for me.

lizardskin's review against another edition

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5.0

This book ranks among the best books I've read this year. I'm honestly surprised that I haven't seen mention of it anywhere--this should have been nominated for awards, something. I first came across this book around the time it came out, on the shelf of a bookstore, and was immediately drawn in by the amazing cover art. The writing is beautiful, visceral, and gripping. The combination of the otherwordly and the setting of contemporary Boston/New England is perfectly executed--normally I'm resistant to contemporary settings, for no particularly good reason, but in this book it doesn't feel jarring or forced. It also manages to deal with the topic of slavery/servitude in a way that doesn't feel heavy-handed or like it's trying to impart some great message. Instead, it highlights the misery of an experience that is completely dehumanizing and utterly inescapable, but which the characters fight to survive nonetheless.

The only thing that bugged me a little is

that I would have liked just a little more information about what really is going on with the Nafikh, and why the service system is the way it is. Especially with everyone needing to have jobs in the human world--like, the Nafikh designed this whole system, couldn't they make servs that didn't run the risk of attracting human attention? Why are they even allowed to buy themselves out anyways, with human money? Also, couldn't the sentries just destroy the gates and cut the Nafikh off? I assume the Nafikh built the gates, and could fix them from the other side. But also, why do the sentries/servs even care whether or not humans get hurt, or find out about them, since the Nafikh are obviously powerful enough to deal with the fallout. Even though they haven't invaded earth and just use it as a weird vacation spot, there's no reason to assume they couldn't deal with humanity if it tried to fight them off. Anyways, I don't need an explanation of how everything works, but I feel like there needed to be just a little bit more in the way of hints or suggestions to explain why the system stays the way it is.

Anyways, this book is great, I highly recommend it.

jubileejen's review against another edition

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3.0

This sci-fi novel follows Lucy; she looks human but she is actually a serv created by aliens to attend to their every whim on earth. Unlike other servs, Lucy was raised by humans and is an outcast among outcasts. Her life is one of pain and misery as she clings to her human life while doing her serv duties. This book reads more like dark contemporary fiction with some sci-fi elements, as it is very bleak and horrifying at times. The sci-fi elements are less fleshed out, which worked with the story for the most part. Just as Lucy is in the dark about her origins and the larger alien dramas, so are the readers. Overall an interesting story with a relatable main character trying to make the right choices in difficult situations.

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