Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

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

24 reviews

thaliareads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious tense 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

5.0

I really enjoyed this book. I don't remember where I read it, but trying to describe this book to a friend, I ran across a review that said that this is more of a people book than a science fiction book. I adored this book and while it had a cool science fiction setting, it was ultimately about the people on the journey, their interactions with each other, and their interactions with other species and crews. 

I can't express enough appreciation for how cool it was just seeing all of the described species and all of their different cultures and the depth to which they are explored. It's absolutely wild. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Violence, Gun violence, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Alcohol and Cultural appropriation

I'm behind on reviews, so it's been a couple moths since I read this, and I wouldn't be surprised if I missed a content warning or two.

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. 

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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

annamorgan27's review against another edition

adventurous lighthearted slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief, War, Vomit, Death, Gun violence, Alcohol, Medical trauma, and Sexual content

thoseoldcrows23's review against another edition

adventurous funny 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

5.0

This is just as wonderful as everyone says it is. This sort of slice-of-life thing in a Sci-Fi setting really works for me, but it's the characters are really that shine here. If you love a big cast you can emotionally invest in, this is the book for you. I can see why some might find it a bit boring, but for me it was damn near perfect. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia

Moderate: Torture, Terminal illness, Chronic illness, Colonisation, Death, Blood, Child death, Grief, Alcohol, War, Vomit, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Confinement and Cursing

anni_swanilda's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful relaxing sad tense fast-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Cursing, Death, Gore, Grief, Confinement, Violence, Vomit, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Terminal illness, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Medical content and Blood

Minor: Ableism, Alcohol, and War

eni_iilorak's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Death, Terminal illness, Police brutality, Confinement, Grief, and Gun violence

Moderate: Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Racial slurs, Blood, Racism, Violence, War, Medical content, and Xenophobia

Minor: Cursing

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. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abandonment, Death, Cursing, and Colonisation

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

cnnr876's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny lighthearted 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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief, Death, Xenophobia, War, and Violence

Minor: Alcohol and Drug use

amphibianwitch's review against another edition

lighthearted reflective medium-paced

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

1.0

Me estaba planteando darle 3 estrellas a este libro. Está bien, la narración es entretenida, el wordbuilding es chulo y los personajes son interesantes. Ha habido ciertas cosas, como que la narración fuera tan parcial a favor de según que personajes o algunas partes de exposición que se me hicieron un poco rollo, pero lo normal.

Sin embargo, sí hay cosas que no puedo pasar por alto. Durante la lectura no me estaba dando la sensación de que el libro fuese muy trans-friendly ni nb-friendly, pero no estaba segura de ello. Desde luego no me ha parecido nada ace ni aro-friendly, y de hecho no se lo recomendaría a una persona arromántica ni asexual. Pero lo que me ha terminado de cabrear es una cosa que pasa casi al final y que se analiza en este artículo (en inglés) mejor de lo que lo podría explicar yo. Me ha parecido dañino y me es completamente imposible reconciliarme con esta lectura tras ello. Una pena.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Ableism, Vomit, Acephobia/Arophobia, Terminal illness, War, Drug use, and Alcohol

akincses1992's review against another edition

challenging funny lighthearted slow-paced

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

1.0

Great characters but too long and not worth the read. Any conflict is resolved too quick and too neat. It’s almost 500 pages and nothing happens. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Colonisation, Violence, Terminal illness, Alcohol, and Chronic illness

Minor: Xenophobia, Cursing, and War