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rynaissanceenby's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
This book has a much different vibe than the other two trilogies Wagers h s written, but it's a fun vibe nonetheless. It's so light-hearted and fun. It almost reminds me of the way Nancy Drew books read. Even though the stakes are high, there's so much humor and labor throughout the story that it's hardly a stressful read. I think my main criticism of the book is that some of the representation felt very forced and almost like tokenism. Don't get me wrong, I'll take my representation where I can get it, but the way people from underrepresented groups were introduced felt like it unnecessarily drew too much attention to their marginalized characteristic rather than having it come up naturally in the story when relevant. This surprised me because I think Wagers has handled this well in their other books and even in this book, some of it was handled really well. Just some of them felt very shoehorned in.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Abandonment, Cursing, and Death
Minor: Alcohol and Violence
lanid's review
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Religious bigotry, Violence, Emotional abuse, and Alcohol
caseythereader's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
slow-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
4.0
- Y'all know I love a Gays In Space book, and A Pale Light In The Black is super queer. Named on the page we have asexual, bisexual, lesbian, gay, nonbinary and trans characters, plus poly and disability rep as well.
- There's a lot going on in this book, with the crew both training for the annual Boarding Games competition between space military branches, their regular missions, and the mystery that's hounding them. It made for a lot to keep track of, and things started off slow with so many people and ranks and relationships to learn. It took about 200 pages to get to the meat of the plot, but toward the end things really picked up.
- The universe Wagers has built is fascinating, and I hope to see both aspects of the setting and some of the secondary characters expanded on in the next book.
- There's a lot going on in this book, with the crew both training for the annual Boarding Games competition between space military branches, their regular missions, and the mystery that's hounding them. It made for a lot to keep track of, and things started off slow with so many people and ranks and relationships to learn. It took about 200 pages to get to the meat of the plot, but toward the end things really picked up.
- The universe Wagers has built is fascinating, and I hope to see both aspects of the setting and some of the secondary characters expanded on in the next book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Death, Murder, Alcohol, Blood, Cursing, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Violence, and Fire/Fire injury
foreverinastory's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Space gays are my favorite gays.
Rep: Latine/x female CO in a WLW relationship with two children, biracial asexual female MC, polyamorous bisexual female MC, side character that loses an arm, nonbinary side characters. Very queer normative world.
CWs: Alcohol consumption, blood, death, kidnapping, medical content, murder, violence, past mentions of child abuse/neglect and emotional abuse (parent/children), religious bigotry, stalking, sexual content (mainly lots of innuendo).
Rep: Latine/x female CO in a WLW relationship with two children, biracial asexual female MC, polyamorous bisexual female MC, side character that loses an arm, nonbinary side characters. Very queer normative world.
CWs: Alcohol consumption, blood, death, kidnapping, medical content, murder, violence, past mentions of child abuse/neglect and emotional abuse (parent/children), religious bigotry, stalking, sexual content (mainly lots of innuendo).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Blood, Death, Kidnapping, Medical content, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Religious bigotry, Sexual content, and Stalking
kmcdonell's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Disappointingly bland for a novel that two different blurbs compared to Becky Chambers. Some good parts, like Jenks' personality and backstory, especially her storyline with Luis, and Max's storyline with her brother.
But the writing just felt very shallow, surface level. Almost all of the action happened off screen, or switched to a detached viewpoint, like the games commentators. It became incredibly frustrating that it kept building up to big events, then immediately cutting away to hours or days after. It didn't even show the final boarding action that decided the winner of the games! This felt like lazy writing to me, and made it largely an unsatisfying read. It read like a first draft, which had promise but needed a lot of tightening and more active action scenes.
I probably would not have continued past the first two chapters if it wasn't for book club. It was a very slow start, and very slow paced, with most of the main action going down in the last 30 pages. I did warm to and care about the characters as I got further in, but the constant skipping over the main action made it too frustrating to rate higher. Another thing that bothered me was the megalomaniac capitalist great grandfather ending up not being the villain, because there was another even worse genocidal psychopath, who was almost cartoonishly villainous. And it stretched belief pretty far that this secret organisation had been operating for a hundred years, and remained a secret. With that many people involved, the idea that there would be not a single leak is comically optimistic. The book was also surprisingly pro cop and pro capitalism for a queer author.
Overall, there were some fun parts, but I don't think I would recommend it.
But the writing just felt very shallow, surface level. Almost all of the action happened off screen, or switched to a detached viewpoint, like the games commentators. It became incredibly frustrating that it kept building up to big events, then immediately cutting away to hours or days after. It didn't even show the final boarding action that decided the winner of the games! This felt like lazy writing to me, and made it largely an unsatisfying read. It read like a first draft, which had promise but needed a lot of tightening and more active action scenes.
I probably would not have continued past the first two chapters if it wasn't for book club. It was a very slow start, and very slow paced, with most of the main action going down in the last 30 pages. I did warm to and care about the characters as I got further in, but the constant skipping over the main action made it too frustrating to rate higher. Another thing that bothered me was the megalomaniac capitalist great grandfather ending up not being the villain, because there was another even worse genocidal psychopath, who was almost cartoonishly villainous. And it stretched belief pretty far that this secret organisation had been operating for a hundred years, and remained a secret. With that many people involved, the idea that there would be not a single leak is comically optimistic. The book was also surprisingly pro cop and pro capitalism for a queer author.
Overall, there were some fun parts, but I don't think I would recommend it.
Content Warnings
Minor: Emotional abuse
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