jfuel's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Spoiler
I didn't enjoy the vomit zombie/alien stuff as much. It wasn't that it was so terrifying or gross, it just felt like kind of a letdown after the big build up.Moderate: Cursing
Minor: Violence, Gore, and Vomit
espea's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Gore, Gun violence, Medical trauma, Blood, Body horror, War, Death, Murder, and Genocide
Moderate: Alcoholism, Cursing, Drug use, Grief, Violence, Classism, Pandemic/Epidemic, Alcohol, Vomit, and Suicidal thoughts
jvanwago's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
That said, I didn’t love the characters. Holden in particular seemed too artificial.
My biggest beef with the book was how Holden always got his way, no matter how implausibly plotted.
Spoiler
His YouTube uploads start two wars? Holden continuously convinces Top Men that he should be in the middle of all the action? It strains credulity too much.Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, and Vomit
pvbobrien's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Murder, Body horror, Gore, Death, and Violence
Moderate: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Cursing, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Police brutality, Medical content, and War
Minor: Suicide, Xenophobia, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Fatphobia, Sexual content, Cancer, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Rape, Trafficking, and Vomit
iono's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Body horror, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence
Moderate: Blood, Grief, War, Suicide, Murder, Death, Excrement, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Genocide, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Racism, and Hate crime
Minor: Alcoholism, Cancer, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Sexual content
ekcd_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
I read the book after watching the first episode of the show and fell in love so hard I don’t think I can be impartial about evaluating the books good-ness.
Deep characters, realistic dialogue, deep lore and world building.
A note on the writing of relationships …
Spoiler
It’s the one and only sci fi book I have ever read, written by a man (men?) that had a sex scene WITHOUT bodily objectifying women. Without bodily objectifying anyone. Such a minor plot point, less than two pages, but for me it reframed my expectations of the book. No weird porny misogyny. Just an earnest description of what it means to share intimacy
One aggravating, potential plot hole (hence the half star deduction)
Spoiler
Why the fuck wouldn’t they just crash Eros into the sun as planned? It’s great for the plot to have it land on Venus but it was so out of character and out of dynamic
I’m not mad though, because I would have hated for this to only be one book. But I hope they get their shit together on the next one tbh
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Blood, Medical content, Excrement, Police brutality, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Vomit, Murder, Body horror, Death, War, Cursing, Gore, and Gun violence
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Confinement, Drug use, Racism, Sexual violence, Abandonment, Cancer, Sexual assault, Torture, Alcohol, and Suicide attempt
yoursupremewrites's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Spoiler
Humanity is spread over the Milky Way from Earth all the way to the asteroid belt and the consequences of that expanse (ha see what I did there?) of space when it comes to the analysis of this world's political intrigue was awesome. If something was happening in the Belt, because humans have been colonializing asteroid satellites in our galaxy's asteroid belt for generations in this world's timeline, then news about what's happening there would take lots of time to reach other pockets of civilization spread across the galaxy. Add to that a crew of of Belters and Earthers who are set up to solve a mystery regarding a newly discovered alien bioweapon that threatens to throw the galaxy into full out war and you have yourself an modern sci-fi epic that's deeply captivating and arresting.Spoiler
Moderate: Gun violence, Cursing, Death, Medical content, Racism, Alcoholism, Body horror, Murder, Drug use, Genocide, Violence, and War
futureofmydays's review against another edition
- 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
4.75
Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Racism, Racial slurs, Mental illness, Gun violence, Grief, Gore, and Death
Moderate: Murder, Hate crime, Genocide, Fatphobia, Excrement, Blood, Cancer, Child death, and Cursing
Minor: Confinement, Domestic abuse, Drug use, and Infertility
s_p_a_r_k_s's review against another edition
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Body horror, Death, and Gore
Moderate: Blood, Cursing, Genocide, Hate crime, Murder, Police brutality, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence
Minor: Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Sexual content, and Sexual violence
While there's no racism, sexism, or homophobia, the story deals with the systemic oppression of people living in the Asteroid Belt (most of whom are people of color), with blunt parallels drawn to modern day racism and imperialism. The oppression can be graphic, and side characters express bigoted thoughts towards residents of the Belt with high frequency. As an action-adventure story set in a Solar System on the brink of war, there are frequent gun battles, as well as space battles between spaceships. Main characters die with little to no warning in these sequences. Usually these deaths aren't excessively gory, but