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misfitmoxie's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I need to do a second more focused read - read at a difficult time in my life, so was distracted some.
theadamholcombe's review
5.0
A gorgeous adventure of fungal mayhem, gay pirate warlocks, and some of the wildest worldbuilding and intrigue throughout.
This story was so fantastic, and is definitely in contention for a top read of the year. It was so engrossing with the story and the mysteries, and created some of the most interesting characters and worldbuilding I’ve seen in a book recently. This is a book worth reading if you, well, enjoy reading. I’ll be endlessly raving about it for quite some time.
OVERALL 5/5
This story was so fantastic, and is definitely in contention for a top read of the year. It was so engrossing with the story and the mysteries, and created some of the most interesting characters and worldbuilding I’ve seen in a book recently. This is a book worth reading if you, well, enjoy reading. I’ll be endlessly raving about it for quite some time.
OVERALL 5/5
salemander's review against another edition
5.0
so fun, so queer, love the weird alive city full of cool creatures and plants
meowyagnes's review
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
micheala's review
3.25
I have truely conflicting feelings about this one.
On the one hand: unbelievably cool world building (which is literally my favourite part of SFF) On the other hand: it gets pretty intense with the body horror. I also struggled to follow the story line - it really reminded me of the story telling style of Gideon the Ninth (no surprise reading the acknowledgement to see that Stronach and Muir are friends)
Everything I've seen about it indicates it's a standalone, however there are too many loose threads at the end for my personal preference unless it's book 1 in a series.
If you're a fan of really cool world building (literally - the way that fungus and organic matter is used is fascinating!), you're down with body horror, and ok with nonlinear convoluted narratives, I would definitely recommend it.
Also if you have any trauma related to The Church - specifically it's homophobia and gender roles - I would be aware that it's in there and it was very much spelled out.
Personally the body horror was too intense for me to feel like I genuinely enjoyed it, but I'm not mad I read it.
Heavy CW for body horror, homophobia, murder, policy brutality/corruption, gory, gun violence, and The Church vibs
On the one hand: unbelievably cool world building (which is literally my favourite part of SFF) On the other hand: it gets pretty intense with the body horror. I also struggled to follow the story line - it really reminded me of the story telling style of Gideon the Ninth (no surprise reading the acknowledgement to see that Stronach and Muir are friends)
Everything I've seen about it indicates it's a standalone, however there are too many loose threads at the end for my personal preference unless it's book 1 in a series.
If you're a fan of really cool world building (literally - the way that fungus and organic matter is used is fascinating!), you're down with body horror, and ok with nonlinear convoluted narratives, I would definitely recommend it.
Also if you have any trauma related to The Church - specifically it's homophobia and gender roles - I would be aware that it's in there and it was very much spelled out.
Personally the body horror was too intense for me to feel like I genuinely enjoyed it, but I'm not mad I read it.
Heavy CW for body horror, homophobia, murder, policy brutality/corruption, gory, gun violence, and The Church vibs
timinbc's review
3.0
Five for worldbuilding, four for characters, but penalties for plot jumps, confusion, and too many plot pieces.
The latter: we have a romance, a found family, a comes-into-her-magic, a dystopia, the standard pirate-ship section, a killer fog, a police procedural, bio-terraforming, magic, gods, and some high-tech stuff, all in one package. It's too much.
Pratchett fans will recognize Wajet as Sergeant Jackrum, but that's fine with me.
It was fun when, right in the middle, the protagonist And it becomes an important part of the plot.
I suspect #2 will be better organized and edited, and it will be very good.
The latter: we have a romance, a found family, a comes-into-her-magic, a dystopia, the standard pirate-ship section, a killer fog, a police procedural, bio-terraforming, magic, gods, and some high-tech stuff, all in one package. It's too much.
Pratchett fans will recognize Wajet as Sergeant Jackrum, but that's fine with me.
It was fun when, right in the middle, the protagonist
Spoiler
dies. Well, mostly dead. And the author did hint that it was possible.I suspect #2 will be better organized and edited, and it will be very good.
autothots's review
Enjoyed it, but dropped off and it's too complicated to pick back up- putting it back on the to read list for when I'm in the mood for something more narratively obtuse.
miriam_in_life's review
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
I wanted to like this book so fucking bad!!!!!! And when it worked it fucking worked but I felt like I got half a story or an excerpt! I just wish the world was more built out so all the socio-political elements felt grounded. I felt like I never fully understood the basis of the world so as we watch the world fall apart I can’t figure out what’s broken and not. But the characters and the parts that felt in focus was well done. So I think this just wasn’t for me but if you like weird little nonsensical books then go for it
gipete's review
3.0
Loved the premise and the world built (can never go wrong with pirates especially when they’re queer). was also such a delight to have a familiar kiwi voice throughout. However I didn’t follow what was going on a lot of the time and struggled to really connect with the story and the characters because of it