Reviews with content warning for Violence - Truth of the Divine

A very satisfying follow up to Axiom's End, however much more darker and introspective.

A raw look into PTSD, suicide, and self harm which can be quite graphic, however does not pull any punches in the story that it is telling.

I didn't particularly care for the Cora / Kaveh romance subplot which slows the middle of the book down somewhat (which is why I deducted half a star), but picks up when the focus is Cora and the Amygdaline or Kaveh and the Amygdaline as you get a glimpse into the culture clash and the potential for human reaction which comes to a head in the final part of the book.

The debates around how you would grant aliens personhood were genuinely thought-provoking as well as the looks into how we deal with our own emotions (the quote being most standout to me being "why do we dismiss how our parents taught us relationships as 'daddy issues')

While the ending left me melancholy, I am looking forward to Book 3 and where the themes take me next

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notbambi's review against another edition

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dark reflective tense slow-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? Yes

4.0

I love Kaveh Taherian as a podcaster, but man, he is not a great audiobook narrator. He reminds me of my high school students reading aloud for the class. Luckily, Stephanie Willis and Abigail Thorn are great.

This book rakes Cora and Ampersand through the coals emotionally. Cora is dealing with PTSD, and she self-harms a few times in the book. Early on, the focus is on the pair having very different perspectives on relationships and mental health, which was a very cool and effective way of exploring how alien Ampersand really is.

Later in the book, the emphasis shifts to new characters, Kaveh and Nikola, who have a similar getting-to-know-you arc as Cora and Ampersand in book one, although less antagonistic to start. It also shifts to the broader political debate around whether aliens should be extended human rights.

I like the way that this book explores the idea of just how alien an alien can be while still being somewhat relateable and knowable to humans. I like how it argues that the way people treat the aliens is a reflection of our worst impulses and fears being used to justify the stripping of rights in the real world.

I really liked a lot about this book, but it wasn't a five star for me. For me, some of the writing got a little cringey. The pop culture/meme references were a bit much and didn't always feel natural. This book is quite long and I can't help but feel like some of the subplots could have been trimmed. I didn't need Kaveh and Cora's date at the club.

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jenny_d's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional 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? No

3.75

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aglimpseinto's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.25

The story goes into some dark spots and it led me on a spiral regarding humanity and our worth. Not recommended to someone who might be struggling with their mental health but it's an engaging story that kept me wanting to know what would occur next.

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qoutrot's review against another edition

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dark emotional 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? Yes

3.0

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annajfehr's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful sad tense 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

4.75

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lostwaterbottle's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

There’s different flavors of alien sci fi. In this one, the aliens evolve with many of the same flaws of humanity. I find that hard to believe because is supposes a predisposition/nature of intelligent life for violence. From that perspective this reads more as a story using aliens to warn readers of the danger of right wing politics.

Some readers might feel there’s too much politics in this story, but I think the author is pretty accurate in imagining how the US would react to first contact. If immigrants at the border move us closer to authoritarianism and the government actively supports the genocide in Palestine, then of course that rhetoric would be used toward ETs.

I did appreciate the depiction of PTSD in Cora and what she was going through as a young person with a traumatic past. Her character felt real and believable to me. I’m disappointed that

the sex between her and Kaveh when she was clearly distressed and not in the right headspace to give consent, was never addressed but we just moved past it. <\spoiler>

It was a little slow for me in the second half- I didn’t even tear up at the end tbh. I’m used to more dramatic and smutty books tho. If read the next one. I hope to see a redemption arc for Sol and Cora’s family. I’m also curious as to how humanity preps for meeting the superorganism.

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