nabecker13's review
- 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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Sexual violence, Emotional abuse, and Body horror
Moderate: Death and Kidnapping
sfbookgirl's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
After reading E. K. Johnston’s Star Wars book Ahsoka, I was really excited to delve into another young adult space story by Johnston. I am not sure if what I was given by NetGalley was a really rough draft, but this story unfortunately read like an unfinished draft. The book is about a young girl named Pendt Harland who lives on her family’s spaceship in which she is despised by her entire family. Pendt, eager to escape her fate of forced insemination, manages to secretly leave her family’s ship and sells herself to a set of young adult male twins to help continue their family line by becoming pregnant.
I was taken aback by the middle-grade writing interwoven with very adult themes. These themes include sexual content, human trafficking, confinement, and uncomfortable medical content. What else bothered me about Aetherbound was the inappropriate use of an eating disorder plotline which I found to be unnecessary and potentially triggering for young adult readers. The other plotlines were unfinished, the writing was poor, and the main character’s choices inadvertently imply that it is ok for women’s bodies to be used at the discretion of a man.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content, Trafficking, Sexual content, Sexism, Pregnancy, Kidnapping, Forced institutionalization, Eating disorder, Confinement, and Child abuse
melaniereadsbooks's review
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Thank you to Penguin Teen and Netgalley for the arc of this book!
Can we talk about how gorgeous this cover is?!
Pendt grew up knowing she was only worth the good she could do for the spaceship and her Family, and that her body was worth more than herself. On Brannick station, Ned and Fisher strain against the way they are trapped in their roles by their genetic heritage. The three make an alliance that seems to get what each of them want, but as the threat of the empire and Pendt's family looms, they will have to pull off unlikely schemes to survive.
I really enjoyed the plot of this book! I was immediately hooked with Pendt's personality and her struggles with her family. She is such a strong character and was able to stay soft and caring even through her upbringing. I also immediately loved Fisher when his pov started. I loved the found family aspect and enjoyed the building relationships between Ned, Fisher, and Pendt.
My complaint about this book is that it felt like it was building up to something that it never got to. I'm not sure if this is supposed to be a series or not, but this entire book kind of felt like an extended exposition that was building up to something. It almost felt like a prequel? I really enjoyed the story, but it just felt like more action needed to happen. The pacing was a little strange, and every time I started to really enjoy a section it would change. I definitely think this could continue into a series with more action.
That being said, I would definitely read this again and really loved the plot and characters!
Pub Date: May 25, 2021
Can we talk about how gorgeous this cover is?!
Pendt grew up knowing she was only worth the good she could do for the spaceship and her Family, and that her body was worth more than herself. On Brannick station, Ned and Fisher strain against the way they are trapped in their roles by their genetic heritage. The three make an alliance that seems to get what each of them want, but as the threat of the empire and Pendt's family looms, they will have to pull off unlikely schemes to survive.
I really enjoyed the plot of this book! I was immediately hooked with Pendt's personality and her struggles with her family. She is such a strong character and was able to stay soft and caring even through her upbringing. I also immediately loved Fisher when his pov started. I loved the found family aspect and enjoyed the building relationships between Ned, Fisher, and Pendt.
My complaint about this book is that it felt like it was building up to something that it never got to. I'm not sure if this is supposed to be a series or not, but this entire book kind of felt like an extended exposition that was building up to something. It almost felt like a prequel? I really enjoyed the story, but it just felt like more action needed to happen. The pacing was a little strange, and every time I started to really enjoy a section it would change. I definitely think this could continue into a series with more action.
That being said, I would definitely read this again and really loved the plot and characters!
Pub Date: May 25, 2021
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Eating disorder, Kidnapping, Medical content, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, and Trafficking
Minor: Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Gore, and Grief
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