Scan barcode
bibliomaineiac's review against another edition
2.0
More like 2.5 stars. The book started out reminding me of a sexist, cheesy grade B 60's sci-fi movie. When on the first page, it talks of a woman's breasts as "cantaloupe-sized", I just had to laugh. It just was a huge, cheesy mess. It did finally improve, to the point, I was able to read right along, and enjoy the story for the most part. But I can't say I really LIKED it. Even knowing that it has sequels, I have no desire to read them.
avoryfaucette's review against another edition
4.0
I'm in love with the concept, and though occasionally the writing can slump a little, for the most part it keeps moving. To be honest, it's just so freaking novel - a huge extended family of women descended from a long-lived alien builds a spaceship and colonizes a planet. It sounds hokey, but it's just so lovely. This is the kind of fantasy novel you read when you just need to get away and live on a cloud for a while. (Oh yeah, and everyone's a lesbian. By the way.)
wyrmes's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia, Sexual content, Incest, Sexism, and Lesbophobia
Minor: Grief and Sexual assault
vasha's review against another edition
2.0
I fear I can't agree with the enthusiasm of the person who recommended this to me. In discussing my reservations about the book, I will skip over certain purely scientific problems (such as egregious misunderstandings of basic biology), which do matter to a book that purports to be science fiction, but are really peripheral to its main concerns.
The book is concerned with the description of a utopia, and therefore, in order to have anything interesting to say, must have some notion of the social, economic, and ecological interactions that go into the makeup of a community. Yet there is very little sign that the author has thought much about the way that real people interact with each other. Her blithe passing over of all real problems is purely unbelievable! To take one example, in describing education, she says that teachers are not really needed in the perfect society -- "Instruction is easy, mostly electronic". And I'm saying to myself : No way, no how. Learning is complicated, children need interaction with teachers who work with their individual strengths and identify where they need additional help... But after all, the children in this story are all, to a girl, hyper-intelligent, focused, superhumanly perfect : And that is the indication of where "Daughters of a Coral Dawn" truly goes wrong, right from the first page.
The characters are not human. They are supposedly hybrids with an alien species. And they are all more intelligent, more socially attuned, more morally developed, etc., than any actual person could be. So when the author decided to people her utopia with these paragons, she instantly lost the possibility of discussing how humans, with all their flaws, could behave in new circumstances. And how is the reader supposed to identify with the characters, or imagine herself in the story? You might say that Materna sounds like a nice place to live, but how could you actually live there? It is not worthwhile discussing how such a society could work without being willing to engage with the complexities of human nature. And it is frankly wildly improbable that Laurel, the only supposedly purely human character, could fit in there. The author even squandered her one chance to create a character that the reader could relate to by making Laurel accept her new circumstances too easily.
I give the book some credit for sweetly romantic relationships, but even that is undermined by sketchy characterizations and pedestrian writing. I am not inclined to award consolation prizes for books with good intentions that fail as badly as this one does, so two stars is the most I can give it.
The book is concerned with the description of a utopia, and therefore, in order to have anything interesting to say, must have some notion of the social, economic, and ecological interactions that go into the makeup of a community. Yet there is very little sign that the author has thought much about the way that real people interact with each other. Her blithe passing over of all real problems is purely unbelievable! To take one example, in describing education, she says that teachers are not really needed in the perfect society -- "Instruction is easy, mostly electronic". And I'm saying to myself : No way, no how. Learning is complicated, children need interaction with teachers who work with their individual strengths and identify where they need additional help... But after all, the children in this story are all, to a girl, hyper-intelligent, focused, superhumanly perfect : And that is the indication of where "Daughters of a Coral Dawn" truly goes wrong, right from the first page.
The characters are not human. They are supposedly hybrids with an alien species. And they are all more intelligent, more socially attuned, more morally developed, etc., than any actual person could be. So when the author decided to people her utopia with these paragons, she instantly lost the possibility of discussing how humans, with all their flaws, could behave in new circumstances. And how is the reader supposed to identify with the characters, or imagine herself in the story? You might say that Materna sounds like a nice place to live, but how could you actually live there? It is not worthwhile discussing how such a society could work without being willing to engage with the complexities of human nature. And it is frankly wildly improbable that Laurel, the only supposedly purely human character, could fit in there. The author even squandered her one chance to create a character that the reader could relate to by making Laurel accept her new circumstances too easily.
I give the book some credit for sweetly romantic relationships, but even that is undermined by sketchy characterizations and pedestrian writing. I am not inclined to award consolation prizes for books with good intentions that fail as badly as this one does, so two stars is the most I can give it.
wanderlust13's review against another edition
5.0
I’m not sure who recommended this book to me but it was a lovely read. I’ve never read something from the sci-fi genre before as I usually stick to fantasy. But I was tired of reading the boring heterosexual plot lines and wanted to venture into something new and the lesbian sci-fi plot line was quite interesting to read. I’m sure it’s not for everyone, as are most books, but it was a great read nonetheless! The writing was great, the characters were amazing, and the humor was more than enough to satisfy me.
anl2633's review
4.0
This was so good. I have now found a new favorite trope, and it's badass women noping the hell off this planet and building a much better, more perfect civilization on another world that's filled with only women. Makes my heart so happy. Actually, when I was reading it, I found myself wishing so deep in my heart it hurt that we had something like this in real life. An island or something like it just for women. But all there is is some elitist wellness retreat for rich cishet women called SuperShe. Oh well. Perhaps the sapphic version is in the works.
The only thing that got old after a while was that every single woman in this book was perfect: perfect hair, perfect body, perfect eyes, skin, voice, etc. They're all glamorously athletic, unbelievably smart, godlike, and have flawless morals. They're all too perfect. So it was hard for me to relate to these characters, they were so untouchable. I can't be mad at it since this was such a positive portrayal for lesbians and most of them are technically aliens, but I still wish there were more dimensions to the women on Maternas that made them human.
All in all, this book was fun and exciting and drew me in so quick. The added bonus is that it's an 80s classic of queer literature. I can't wait to read other works by Katherine Forrest and works that were inspired by this one.
The only thing that got old after a while was that every single woman in this book was perfect: perfect hair, perfect body, perfect eyes, skin, voice, etc. They're all glamorously athletic, unbelievably smart, godlike, and have flawless morals. They're all too perfect. So it was hard for me to relate to these characters, they were so untouchable. I can't be mad at it since this was such a positive portrayal for lesbians and most of them are technically aliens, but I still wish there were more dimensions to the women on Maternas that made them human.
All in all, this book was fun and exciting and drew me in so quick. The added bonus is that it's an 80s classic of queer literature. I can't wait to read other works by Katherine Forrest and works that were inspired by this one.