Reviews with content warning for Injury/Injury detail - Truth of the Divine

Still interested in the world and the bigger questions this book raises, but overall it wasn't as strong as Axiom's End. The plot felt more aimless and contrived at points and the alien characters less completing. The biggest drawback for me was how dark the content matter got, and how uncritically much of it was presented. The reading experience was so dark I almost gave up reading at multiple points.

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pizzasprite's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

3.0

I have strongly conflicting feelings about this book.

It a took a while for me to get around to reading this one, since the plot of Axiom's End was so heavily based in American politics, which I am completely uninterested in as a non-American. However, Truth of the Divine does a better job exploring the international implications of first contact than Axiom's End did. The first half of this book was, well, divine - I was extremely interested in the relationship between Cora and Ampersand, and the urgency of resolving the main political conflicts continued on from the first book. I thought Kaveh was a much-needed different perspective to contrast Cora's limited viewpoints. I think that telling the story of first contact from a journalist's POV much more interesting than from a "militarist" perspective. I also loved Nikolas! The alien culture that Ellis has fabricated is truly fascinating, I almost wish this series was all about aliens with no human characters. The way Cora's PTSD and panic attacks were depicted were equally heartbreaking and sympathetic. This book depicts mental illness more earnestly than anything I have read recently.

The second half of the book is much weaker. The tension between Cora and Ampersand dissolved completely, since Ampersand is largely absent beyond Act 2. The sexual relationship between Cora and Kaveh made me so, so, so uncomfortable. It felt very gratuitous and came out of nowhere, almost like an editor insisted on their romance. In the author's notes, Ellis mentions that Kaveh used to be two characters, and you can definitely see that in the writing. There were many instances in which I felt like I could not continue reading, because their age difference and unbalanced power dynamic made me feel that uncomfortable. Early on, it's established that Cora feels very lonely, and needs another human to talk to: if Kaveh had remained her friend/mentor, this dynamic would have been perfect. However, the fact that they begin sleeping together makes their bond feel extremely creepy and toxic. This makes it difficult to "root" for Kaveh as a protagonist. I wish the book focused on the relationship between Ampersand and Cora, especially since their romance is alluded to early in the book. I suspect/hope this will be explored more in the next book.

I will probably read the next book in the series, to ultimately see what happens to Ampersand. But this one definitely left a foul taste in my mouth.

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peytonktracy's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

This book was utterly unflinching in its brutal portrayal of PTSD, grief, and processing incomprehensibly huge emotional challenges and quandaries. It was deeply uncomfortable at times too for a whole multitude of reasons, most of which had to do with the author's very direct approach to these topics. I really enjoyed getting to witness Ellis' take on how the world might react to First Contact, the beautiful and ugly parts, and it felt so realistic at times it was easy to forget it hadn't happened. I also really loved Kaveh as a character and seeing his journey throughout the story as well. I only had two small complaints, and one of which doesn't even feel like a complaint but more of an observation and maybe even praise for Ellis' writing. That one is that sometimes it felt like we, the readers, were so thoroughly encapsulated in Cora's head, that we were also shrouded by her mental illness and it was hard at time to grasp the events happening because we were viewing it through the stormy emotional turmoil of her panic attacks. But this was where having Kaveh as a character and counter-perspective to Cora's really excelled because we could see what was happening from outside that hurricane as well. My second complaint was that I missed Ampersand in this book a lot. I was so invested in their journey as well, and because the plot was what it was (no spoilers) it felt like they just kinda popped in and out, and I hope we see more of them in the third book - which I will definitely seek out.

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netthauser's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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momo916's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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

4.75

Ellis covers a lot of ground in this book, from PTSD to the very nature of human society. The tone is, of course, much darker than the first book, but it feels appropriate given the escalating stakes and the unavoidable trauma incurred by the world she has created. This book was much harder for me to finish than the first was, laden as it is with grief, loss, and a staggeringly disappointing view of humanity (or at least the United States) it paints. I recently described this series as the nexus of Phantom of the Opera, aliens, and social commentary, but that comment absolutely indicates more brevity than is accurate. It is all of those things, that is true, but this whole journey is laced with such complexity and darkness that it feels incomplete. It is very well done, cynical as it is.

My only true gripe is that, while their presence was appropriate given the circumstances, some of the social commentary quips were a little on the nose. Granted, their absence would have been notable, so I'm not sure if this is just me being nitpicky. Though this is not at all indicative of poor writing or storytelling, I also did at times get a bit annoyed at Cora

for her pigheadedness and myopic pursuit of reunification with Ampersand at all cost, especially since it did eventually cost her the man she loves

.

I have rated this book 4.75 stars because I reserve a 5 star rating for books that I would immediately read again. This doesn't necessarily mean that I think the other books I have rated at 5 stars were better than this one.

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