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zarhara's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
reflective
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? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Murder, and Suicide
Moderate: Animal death, Gun violence, Addiction, Blood, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Body horror, Slavery, Xenophobia, Gaslighting, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Abandonment, Cannibalism, and Hate crime
shoshin's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-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
3.5
I enjoyed the book a great deal, liked its exploration of the nature of the self, and found some of what it did very intriguing (space whales that communicate through their barnacles!) but I thought it dragged in places and wanted parts of its universe to be better developed.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Stalking, Kidnapping, Self harm, Medical trauma, Abandonment, Blood, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, and Violence
Moderate: Infidelity
nettleviolet's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.75
It's really hard to review this book. I really loved the aliens. I loved the construction of the world, and the world building. I loved the concepts of individuality, of how we construct a mostly harmonious society, of free-will vs community wellness, gravity as a force that we can control etc etc. This book made me think a LOT and I think those explorations were good. If I were reviewing the themes explored it would be 5 stars. Super interesting themes explored in great ways.
However, this book took me FOREVER to finish. I found the writing was just jarring. It is a first person narrative of a kinda sassy main character who has two cats, whose best friends are an AI and a slutty, mischievous man. However, all the world building and complex physics and political structures are described in this first person narrative and I feel like it was a really jarring shift. It was very hard to get into the narrative and the world-building from the first person, because the constructs of this universe were really complex -- especially the explorations of creating and navigating through gravity. But it was worth it to get through it, because the ideas are really great.
It's hard to strike a balance, in sci-fi, of creating a world with none of the same rules that we live in (ie: in space, with a massive multi-alien empire) and also create loveable and relatable characters. This balance wasn't there in this book but it was still worth reading.
However, this book took me FOREVER to finish. I found the writing was just jarring. It is a first person narrative of a kinda sassy main character who has two cats, whose best friends are an AI and a slutty, mischievous man. However, all the world building and complex physics and political structures are described in this first person narrative and I feel like it was a really jarring shift. It was very hard to get into the narrative and the world-building from the first person, because the constructs of this universe were really complex -- especially the explorations of creating and navigating through gravity. But it was worth it to get through it, because the ideas are really great.
It's hard to strike a balance, in sci-fi, of creating a world with none of the same rules that we live in (ie: in space, with a massive multi-alien empire) and also create loveable and relatable characters. This balance wasn't there in this book but it was still worth reading.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore and Suicide
Minor: Genocide
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