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therealkathryn's review against another edition
3.0
Maybe it's unfair to compare this to the author's two previous books, that is setting a high bar. It was a quick read (I read it while in line at passport control, about 1 1/2 hours) but I did not find the story as compelling as her prior books.
mygeekblasphemy's review against another edition
4.0
I don't think this is quite what I was looking for when I bought it. I was hoping for a different sort of story, and there's a part of me that's a little disappointed the novella went this direction instead. That being said, it's extremely well-written -- I mean, I was just pulling out quotes left and right -- and a particularly effective piece of psychological horror. (Psychological horror is interesting. It's not normally my favorite flavor of horror, but I can like it when it's very well done, and it is well done here. It's just that psychological horror often seems to be considered, like, the elite of horror, like all other horror is beneath it, and that kind of annoys me. Like when literary spits down at genre as if it's inherently better, not just different.)
There are a lot of things in this story that could easily go campy (and hey, I wouldn't knock it because I enjoy camp), but turn out to be unexpectedly and effectively disturbing instead because of Valentine's sparse, elegant prose. I wasn't sure how I felt about the ending at first (which is not unusual for me, with this type of ending), but I feel like it's really grown on me. The narrator is somewhat unreliable (it's not a spoiler), but because that's presented up front, it doesn't strike me as a cheat, so I'm okay with it. And I think that Dream Houses is the perfect length -- it needs some room to breathe, but a full length novel would probably have been a mistake. All in all, Genevieve Valentine manages to do a lot of things I normally don't like and make them work pretty well for me, which is actually a whole other level of impressive.
My only real problem with the story is that the main character makes a couple of choices or decisions that drive me nuts because I don't believe them. I can't really say what they are without getting into spoilers, but I found them pretty frustrating because -- even though they are relatively small moments in the story -- this character is such a practical survivor that I just expect better of her. Not that smart characters can't or shouldn't make mistakes, but these irked me because I just couldn't buy them.
I would still recommend it, though, especially if things like Alien, 2001: A Space Odyssey, or Moon were your jam. (If it helps, I like 2 out of 3 of those.)
There are a lot of things in this story that could easily go campy (and hey, I wouldn't knock it because I enjoy camp), but turn out to be unexpectedly and effectively disturbing instead because of Valentine's sparse, elegant prose. I wasn't sure how I felt about the ending at first (which is not unusual for me, with this type of ending), but I feel like it's really grown on me. The narrator is somewhat unreliable (it's not a spoiler), but because that's presented up front, it doesn't strike me as a cheat, so I'm okay with it. And I think that Dream Houses is the perfect length -- it needs some room to breathe, but a full length novel would probably have been a mistake. All in all, Genevieve Valentine manages to do a lot of things I normally don't like and make them work pretty well for me, which is actually a whole other level of impressive.
My only real problem with the story is that the main character makes a couple of choices or decisions that drive me nuts because I don't believe them. I can't really say what they are without getting into spoilers, but I found them pretty frustrating because -- even though they are relatively small moments in the story -- this character is such a practical survivor that I just expect better of her. Not that smart characters can't or shouldn't make mistakes, but these irked me because I just couldn't buy them.
I would still recommend it, though, especially if things like Alien, 2001: A Space Odyssey, or Moon were your jam. (If it helps, I like 2 out of 3 of those.)
liacooper's review against another edition
4.0
our protagonist awakes alone on a 6 yr long deep space haul after the rest of the crew dies; a meditation on survival. intercuts with their childhood. i was expecting whimsical from the cover, what i got was grim and haunting.
warnings for cannibalism.
warnings for cannibalism.
laureen0515's review against another edition
2.5
I remember thinking that this book was fine. Unfortunately, I have forgotten just about everything that I read in this book, which is not exactly a ringing endorsement.
tyrshand's review against another edition
4.0
Extremely creepy novella set in the depths of space. Is Amadis crazy? Is the AI? Both? Plenty of shivers to go around...
declaired's review against another edition
4.0
Deeply, deeply creepy, in the way that being alone in the dark is creepy. I started reading before bed and had to get up to shut my door. It's the quiet horror of time and the self-- of the terror of love and hope. And it's in space!
burningupasun's review against another edition
4.0
Well that... was really weird. In a good way? It was a really good character-focused story but also, you know, really creepy and intense. Kinda wish I hadn't read so much of it while I was eating, haha.
tyrshand's review
4.0
Extremely creepy novella set in the depths of space. Is Amadis crazy? Is the AI? Both? Plenty of shivers to go around...
gilmae's review
3.0
I'm enjoying short novellas lately. Yeah, it's less commitment, but also because the form nudges the writer towards getting on with things and away from dwelling on explanations and world building. Or at least the masturbatory laying out of all the world building they did, look at my world building, isn't it great. Aren't *I* great.
Anyway.
I enjoyed how when it does pull back and show you what happened before the plot it was completely not what I expected. I enjoyed how when the plot comes to an end it's not where I expected. But if I'd been paying attention to what I thought was a partial inspiration- 2001: A Space Odyssey - I probably would have expected it more.
It ended the way it needed to.
Anyway.
I enjoyed how when it does pull back and show you what happened before the plot it was completely not what I expected. I enjoyed how when the plot comes to an end it's not where I expected. But if I'd been paying attention to what I thought was a partial inspiration
It ended the way it needed to.
catevari's review
3.0
I had really high hopes for this novella; I've read the author's non-fiction work and enjoyed it greatly, hoping that would transfer to a similar like of her fiction; the premise is one of my ABSOLUTE favorite to read (or see): an interstellar traveler wakes up from cryogenic sleep to find that things have gone terribly, terribly awry. And to be absolutely fair, the reasons this story was not more enjoyable for me are entirely personal. I can look at it and recognize that it's well written while also being able to say it wasn't the story for me and it didn't tell me the story I was hoping it would.
I was hoping for something more prosaic and more practical, more about the rigors of survival in space (with possible horror or thriller trappings, I'm not picky), whereas what Valentine wrote is more of a poetical character meditation that winds back and forth through time as our protagonist, Amadis, winds her way through interminable gulfs physical space. If I were more inclined to poetry or if my expectations had not been so particularly primed, I probably would've liked this a lot more. It's very well written and the hints of world building we get are artfully artless in how they're embedded and revealed. Valentine knows how to suck you into a story, I just wanted more from it (or perhaps just different things) than what I got. That's certainly not Valentine's fault and I'll definitely give another work of hers a shot.
I was hoping for something more prosaic and more practical, more about the rigors of survival in space (with possible horror or thriller trappings, I'm not picky), whereas what Valentine wrote is more of a poetical character meditation that winds back and forth through time as our protagonist, Amadis, winds her way through interminable gulfs physical space. If I were more inclined to poetry or if my expectations had not been so particularly primed, I probably would've liked this a lot more. It's very well written and the hints of world building we get are artfully artless in how they're embedded and revealed. Valentine knows how to suck you into a story, I just wanted more from it (or perhaps just different things) than what I got. That's certainly not Valentine's fault and I'll definitely give another work of hers a shot.