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3.46 AVERAGE
3.46 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
reflective
sad
tense
fast-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
Good hard(ey) sci-fi with main characters being children (except for alien antagonists). That led author to depict multiple choices between lesser evils, quick but simple expansion of the world, lots of young adults-like prose with nonrealistic action scenes etc. But the book as a whole is really good — it's well-written both plot-wise and language-wise; it is rather modern (so closer to Gibson than to War of the Worlds).
adventurous
hopeful
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I received a free copy of the ebook for review.
I really enjoyed this. It was creepy at times but also had some heartwarming moments. It is brutal, bleak, emotional, and hopeful. Violet, one of the main protagonists, is a fascinating character that happens to be a trans woman. There is a lot of character development and themes of family and "family". There is also a very interesting exploration of alien technology and this idea that aliens might not be able to be perfect at controlling or understanding humans. The concept of the othermother is horrifying but also fascinating!
There is mention of abuse and violence which is perpetrated by children.
I really enjoyed this. It was creepy at times but also had some heartwarming moments. It is brutal, bleak, emotional, and hopeful. Violet, one of the main protagonists, is a fascinating character that happens to be a trans woman. There is a lot of character development and themes of family and "family". There is also a very interesting exploration of alien technology and this idea that aliens might not be able to be perfect at controlling or understanding humans. The concept of the othermother is horrifying but also fascinating!
There is mention of abuse and violence which is perpetrated by children.
adventurous
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:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Violence
dnf at 211 pages
the depiction of violence against children in this book is really. concerning. i know it's aimed at a YA audience whatever that means but
anyway the reason i put this down and instantly deleted it off my phone was the torture hallucination the trans mc goes through that was so incredibly awful to read and combined w WAY too much use of her deadname and other characters misgendering and othering her made me want to die. i think i'll go read something else thanks
the depiction of violence against children in this book is really. concerning. i know it's aimed at a YA audience whatever that means but
Spoiler
an older child coercing a younger one into helping him torture a captured alien & later holding him at knifepoint and threatening to beat him like he's beaten other children before does not strike me as particularly appropriate for an audience on the younger end of this demographic. especially when said older child is then revealed to be a patient from a psych ward (?!?!?!?) w stereotypical 'psychopath' traits.anyway the reason i put this down and instantly deleted it off my phone was the torture hallucination the trans mc goes through that was so incredibly awful to read and combined w WAY too much use of her deadname and other characters misgendering and othering her made me want to die. i think i'll go read something else thanks
A quick paced story with unexpectedly impressive character development. I was happy to see a trans character whose role was so much more than just to be "the trans character." Interesting examination of family dynamics, both positive and negative, and friendships developed in crisis situations.
Although obviously this is first in a series, this book brings the story to a good closing spot without a tiresome cliffhanger ending. That said, I will definitely check out the next book.
Overall an extremely good debut novel from an author who is clearly going places.
Although obviously this is first in a series, this book brings the story to a good closing spot without a tiresome cliffhanger ending. That said, I will definitely check out the next book.
Overall an extremely good debut novel from an author who is clearly going places.
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Lord of the Flies meets Coraline + aliens in this sci-fi novel.
This book was okay. I'd recommend it to anyone seeking a diverse YA novel, but I can't give it higher than a 3-star rating as I doubt I'll remember the plot in a year.
Besides the diversity, there wasn't much in the book that I loved.
- It has very strong millennial energy; I enjoyed Gloom, and his quips occasionally made me exhale strongly through my nose.
- It's unclear if this series will receive further entries. I would love one that explored what happened afterward and what was happening in other parts of the world. However, if this remains a standalone, there isn't a cliffhanger, and I liked how things left off.
I disliked it far more, but this will delve into spoilers:
-I did not like Violet by the end of the book. I didn't like how long she grappled with selling Bo out to the aliens for a make-believe, perfect world. It was just super icky to me. I didn't enjoy the weird alien heaven/hell concept in general, and I wish they had just focused on framing it as your happiness looks like.
- The other character choice that I really didn't like and honestly detracted from my enjoyment of the story was the Wyatt asylum reveal that came with a healthy dosage of fearmongering toward severe mental illness. There is enough demonization of mental illnesses in media, and it felt very unnecessary and was ham-fisted to provide an explanation for why he was secretly so evil.
This book was okay. I'd recommend it to anyone seeking a diverse YA novel, but I can't give it higher than a 3-star rating as I doubt I'll remember the plot in a year.
Besides the diversity, there wasn't much in the book that I loved.
- It has very strong millennial energy; I enjoyed Gloom, and his quips occasionally made me exhale strongly through my nose.
- It's unclear if this series will receive further entries. I would love one that explored what happened afterward and what was happening in other parts of the world. However, if this remains a standalone, there isn't a cliffhanger, and I liked how things left off.
I disliked it far more, but this will delve into spoilers:
-
-
Loved Violet and Bo as characters but the pace was way too slow for me. Not a book that’s easy to breeze through. Glad for the ending though.
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No