Reviews tagging 'Classism'

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers

8 reviews

ekcd_'s review against another edition

lighthearted slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.75

The characters are lovable but only because they designed to be lovable. As a result they come off as unrealistic and one dimensional. Even the cantankerous foil to the other sickly sweet personas on board is given a tragic backstory designed to inspire the reader to love him. 

It’s an incredibly slow book, plot wise, and the few plot events we do see dont make sense. The characters have odd reactions - socially and culturally. And god knows Becky Chambers lives to talk about how different all her aliens are. There is a weird fixation on sex and sexual differences in the book which could have been a fun exploration in sexuality if it was done well but instead it felt like she was patting herself on the back for coming up with such sexually diverse races/species. Several times in the book she says outright “yeah XYZ is so different from humans” and like that’s it. 

I feel like I read a different book than all the critics (formal and informal) who have such high praise. This read like a YA novel or children’s cartoon that feeds the reader emotions with a spoon. I’m fact, most of the world building in general is fed to the reader with a spoon- it’s explicit and heavy handed OR it’s nonsense words that are never explained or expanded on. It’s clear the author uses letters and characters who are librarians to shoehorn in world building she wasn’t creative enough to build into the narrative. No nuance, no complexity. Just a feel good mill, which I personally do not like. I want moral ambiguity and conflict in my space opera. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Colonisation, Deadnaming, Police brutality, Drug use, Grief, Sexual content, Xenophobia, Cultural appropriation, Cursing, Toxic friendship, Violence, Alcohol, War, Death, Genocide, and Classism

Moderate: Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, and Blood

analenegrace's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This was a spectacular story with characters that felt so real it was hard to remember that one of them was essentially a dinosaur! (I would say Lizard but that is a slur in this book.) I look forward to reading the rest of the series. 

---

Content Warnings

Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, Racial slurs, Body horror, Classism, Death, Grief, and War

lastcomment314's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective 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

Join the crew of the Wayfarer on adventures big and small as they make their way through the galaxy on their biggest job yet. The story is told mainly through the eyes of new-to-long-haul-space-travel clerk Rosemary, but gives insights into the lives of the rest of the crew as well. I really enjoyed getting to see snippets of the lives of everyone on the crew, and how it made you sympathetic to all of the characters, even those who are less likeable at the onset. And as the different pieces of their lives interact with each other, the larger things that the story wants to emphasize start to come together beautifully. It's a story that celebrates humanity, but also aliens. It's a story that celebrates diversity, in many wonderful, beautiful flavors. 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Abandonment, Death, Cursing, and Colonisation

Minor: Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Xenophobia, Alcohol, Gun violence, Blood, Classism, and War

half2happy's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful 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? No

4.0

Solid character driven sci-fi, pretty light on the science but heavy on the interpersonal things. I did enjoy exploring this word but could have done without quite so many "quirky cute" characters and gone a little heavier into some of the histories of things. 

Would definitely read more from this author and even if you're not into sci-fi consider giving it a try.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Classism and War

cookiecat73's review against another edition

lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Gun violence, Torture, Chronic illness, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Terminal illness, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Alcohol, Blood, Confinement, Grief, Medical content, Violence, Acephobia/Arophobia, Death, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child abuse, Child death, Colonisation, Emotional abuse, Incest, Classism, Drug use, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Vomit, and War

sacredgayometry's review against another edition

adventurous funny hopeful inspiring 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? It's complicated

5.0

This is one of my favorite books I have ever read, and one of the best sci-fi novels of all time in my opinion. The story is compelling but the found family relationships are the real draw of the book. You will become attached to characters you didn’t expect to, and feel like part of the family yourself as the reader. The world building is fantastic and I felt like a tourist learning about strange and beautiful new places at times. I love this book.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Classism, Gun violence, Ableism, Animal death, Death, and Kidnapping

Minor: Xenophobia, Grief, Misogyny, Racism, Sexual content, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Ableism, Bullying, Alcohol, Animal death, Terminal illness, Cursing, Murder, and War

There are some challenging themes especially near the end of the book surrounding war, conflict, colonialism and xenophobia. There is challenging content surrounding death and grief as well as memory loss. Cultural misunderstandings and cultural differences are central to the book, and I felt were generally approached very respectfully. Otherwise a lighthearted read.

rosemarygrace1211's review against another edition

adventurous funny hopeful inspiring medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Genocide, Medical content, War, Death, Grief, Police brutality, Racism, Terminal illness, Violence, Animal death, Chronic illness, Classism, Murder, and Xenophobia

temporarilyhuman's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Hate crime, Torture, Chronic illness, Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, Terminal illness, Xenophobia, and Death

Moderate: Child death and Chronic illness

Minor: Classism, Slavery, Racism, Drug use, Cursing, War, Sexual content, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical trauma, Medical content, Body horror, Blood, Genocide, Gore, and Confinement