alexperc_92's review
5.0
One of the best written, most heartbreaking stories I've read. It touched so many issues, making me cry, laugh and scream at the book. I love Kalp, that's the truth for this book and I wish there were more people like Gwen and Basil.
lolajoan's review
4.0
For a story about furry blue aliens and time travel, this has a lot of emotion and heartbreak. The conceit is clever and the story is well crafted. Frey seems to have a knack for developing tension and anticipation without it being a sledgehammer of anxiety, which is nice. My only complaint is that Basil's character seemed spotty to me - he did/said things that seemed out of character just to advance the plot, and his jokey/insouciant geekyness was laid on a little too thick sometimes - even the most cocky of nerds knows when a joke is inappropes. But the other characters were pretty believable, and even the trickiness of time travel was handled pretty adroitly. Recommended with a warning that you'll probably tear up at least once.
alexandra_92's review
5.0
One of the best written, most heartbreaking stories I've read. It touched so many issues, making me cry, laugh and scream at the book. I love Kalp, that's the truth for this book and I wish there were more people like Gwen and Basil.
dan_ackerman's review
4.0
THIS BOOK isn’t what I thought it was going to be. For one, it’s bittersweet. It opens with a tragedy. Triptych moves through settings and time frequently but never becomes hard to follow. It also changes its point of view character fairly often and I thoroughly enjoyed reading from the POV of Kalp, an alien refugee from a destroyed world. The pace also waffles at times, moving very quickly in some parts, then slowing to one that focuses on cozy domesticity. The contrast works.
I also didn’t expect this book to be as good as it was. I am a deeply biased person and the more I read, the more I come to realize how finicky I am. But this book is good; it never felt like a chore to read and the writing style kept its action tight, its romance sweet, and its characters blessedly complex. Often (especially in science fiction), we’re given static, one-dimensional characters. Basil could have been nothing more than a cowardly, sharp-tongued nerd, Gwen could have been a ‘strong woman’ with blunted emotions, and Kalp could have easily stayed a sweet, naïve thing, lost and hurting. And they were those, sometimes. But they were also more than that and tagging along as the book peeled back the layers of it characters proved enjoyable.
Frey also goes out of her way to create an alien that is humanoid but still clearly not of our world. I appreciated this more when reading from Kalp’s POV; learning more about his physiology, culture, and perception of the world is a refreshing change from aliens that are either mostly like humans or monstrously inhuman.
Of course, not every element of the book worked for me. The main conflict in the book revolves around people targeting the thrupple for homophobic and xenophobic reasons; violence against people who don’t fall into the banality of cis-heteronormativity will always leave a bad taste in my mouth. It’s an old story and I just don’t like sad endings. I want, I need to see queer people happy at the end of it all. I need that light. More than that, this is the first time that I’ve been given a main character who is nonbinary and that character dies because of humanity’s intense hatred for things that are Other.
I knew it wasn’t coming, that it couldn’t be, but I held out so much hope that somehow the three of them would find a way back together. The ending, overall, wasn’t unsatisfactory, but I also got the sense that Kalp, in the end, didn’t matter. Yes, he was a driving force for change in both Basil and Gwen, but in the end, he is gone. Basil and Gwen move towards a future from which Kalp feels excised. The next part of their life is about finding a way to still be together without him and I understand that dwelling in loss isn’t healthy, but to go from the violent death of a partner to moving on in a matter of weeks feels abrupt.
I also didn’t expect this book to be as good as it was. I am a deeply biased person and the more I read, the more I come to realize how finicky I am. But this book is good; it never felt like a chore to read and the writing style kept its action tight, its romance sweet, and its characters blessedly complex. Often (especially in science fiction), we’re given static, one-dimensional characters. Basil could have been nothing more than a cowardly, sharp-tongued nerd, Gwen could have been a ‘strong woman’ with blunted emotions, and Kalp could have easily stayed a sweet, naïve thing, lost and hurting. And they were those, sometimes. But they were also more than that and tagging along as the book peeled back the layers of it characters proved enjoyable.
Frey also goes out of her way to create an alien that is humanoid but still clearly not of our world. I appreciated this more when reading from Kalp’s POV; learning more about his physiology, culture, and perception of the world is a refreshing change from aliens that are either mostly like humans or monstrously inhuman.
Of course, not every element of the book worked for me. The main conflict in the book revolves around people targeting the thrupple for homophobic and xenophobic reasons; violence against people who don’t fall into the banality of cis-heteronormativity will always leave a bad taste in my mouth. It’s an old story and I just don’t like sad endings. I want, I need to see queer people happy at the end of it all. I need that light. More than that, this is the first time that I’ve been given a main character who is nonbinary and that character dies because of humanity’s intense hatred for things that are Other.
I knew it wasn’t coming, that it couldn’t be, but I held out so much hope that somehow the three of them would find a way back together. The ending, overall, wasn’t unsatisfactory, but I also got the sense that Kalp, in the end, didn’t matter. Yes, he was a driving force for change in both Basil and Gwen, but in the end, he is gone. Basil and Gwen move towards a future from which Kalp feels excised. The next part of their life is about finding a way to still be together without him and I understand that dwelling in loss isn’t healthy, but to go from the violent death of a partner to moving on in a matter of weeks feels abrupt.
dearbhla's review
5.0
When the aliens came it was nothing like the way science fiction and popular culture had predicted it. There was no invasion, instead they were refugees. Their own planet had collapsed, killing the majority, only a few escaped. Earth took them in and began to integrate them into human culture.
Of course there were plenty of differences.
And then the rumours of a conspiracy started. And the possibility that the aliens were actually invaders, invaders by stealth.
Gwen and Basil were part of the Institute’s team of specialists, responsible for trying to learn about the aliens. Their culture, their technology, their language. They even take one of the aliens into their house. Into their lives. Is it possible that Kalp is acting against them?
As far as I can remember I picked this book up because I’d seen the author quoted somewhere, something to do with gender and female authors in science fiction, and being advised to publish under J. M. rather than something more identifiably female. And the plot of the book itself seemed interesting. I’m so glad I did read it because this book is wonderful.
It starts off with the death of Kalp. That’s his body falling to the floor in the opening line, and basil reacting to it. And then suddenly we are in the past, with Gwen’s parents and Gwen as a baby. The story then moves to Kalp’s point of view as he tries to integrate himself into human society. He calls himself “he” even though they are much more gender neutral in his culture. Gender only really matters when you intend to procreate. And finally back to after Kalp’s death, the causes, the reasons for it, and the fall out from it.
It is so well written, every character voice is different and distinct. I really connected with them as they told their stories. Poor Kalp who has lost everything when his home world was destroyed and who is trying so hard to fit in, to be part of Basil and Gwen’s life. All he wants is to find a home of his own.
And Basil and Gwen, who go through so much together.
It’s just a great read. So gripping, I found it so hard to put down.
But it isn’t just an entertaining story. It is all about gender, and sex roles and dynamics. About how prejudiced some people are, and how that can have such huge impacts on other people. Kalp, as I mentioned, decides to take on the male descriptive pronoun, but his lack of understanding of what makes something culturally male or female serves to point out ridiculous we are for thinking that cooking if for women, for example. It isn’t a huge hammer in the book. Kalp decides to be known as male and never makes a big deal about it again, but it comes up in subtle ways throughout the story that his gender isn’t so important to him as it might be to a human.
It isn’t a perfect book. But I thoroughly enjoyed it, and really recommend it to anyone interested in a first-contact story of a different kind.
Of course there were plenty of differences.
And then the rumours of a conspiracy started. And the possibility that the aliens were actually invaders, invaders by stealth.
Gwen and Basil were part of the Institute’s team of specialists, responsible for trying to learn about the aliens. Their culture, their technology, their language. They even take one of the aliens into their house. Into their lives. Is it possible that Kalp is acting against them?
As far as I can remember I picked this book up because I’d seen the author quoted somewhere, something to do with gender and female authors in science fiction, and being advised to publish under J. M. rather than something more identifiably female. And the plot of the book itself seemed interesting. I’m so glad I did read it because this book is wonderful.
It starts off with the death of Kalp. That’s his body falling to the floor in the opening line, and basil reacting to it. And then suddenly we are in the past, with Gwen’s parents and Gwen as a baby. The story then moves to Kalp’s point of view as he tries to integrate himself into human society. He calls himself “he” even though they are much more gender neutral in his culture. Gender only really matters when you intend to procreate. And finally back to after Kalp’s death, the causes, the reasons for it, and the fall out from it.
It is so well written, every character voice is different and distinct. I really connected with them as they told their stories. Poor Kalp who has lost everything when his home world was destroyed and who is trying so hard to fit in, to be part of Basil and Gwen’s life. All he wants is to find a home of his own.
And Basil and Gwen, who go through so much together.
It’s just a great read. So gripping, I found it so hard to put down.
But it isn’t just an entertaining story. It is all about gender, and sex roles and dynamics. About how prejudiced some people are, and how that can have such huge impacts on other people. Kalp, as I mentioned, decides to take on the male descriptive pronoun, but his lack of understanding of what makes something culturally male or female serves to point out ridiculous we are for thinking that cooking if for women, for example. It isn’t a huge hammer in the book. Kalp decides to be known as male and never makes a big deal about it again, but it comes up in subtle ways throughout the story that his gender isn’t so important to him as it might be to a human.
It isn’t a perfect book. But I thoroughly enjoyed it, and really recommend it to anyone interested in a first-contact story of a different kind.
faethered's review
1.0
I really, really wanted to like this book. I was excited about it. I love stories heavily featuring aliens, especially when they employ alien POV. I love stories with polyamory. I love time travel. This book has all of those things, but could not make it work for me.
The structure of the book is non-linear, with an opening scene that makes very little sense on first read. The first section drops lots of references to things the reader doesn't understand yet, which are finally explained in the second section. I see what the author tried to do here, but it didn't work for me at all. I spent way too long being totally confused about the plot, and by the time things were finally explained, I'd forgotten what the explanation was for. In the end, I lost interest so completely that I stopped reading. I think the book would have worked a lot better with a more linear structure, even with the time travel.
The structure of the book is non-linear, with an opening scene that makes very little sense on first read. The first section drops lots of references to things the reader doesn't understand yet, which are finally explained in the second section. I see what the author tried to do here, but it didn't work for me at all. I spent way too long being totally confused about the plot, and by the time things were finally explained, I'd forgotten what the explanation was for. In the end, I lost interest so completely that I stopped reading. I think the book would have worked a lot better with a more linear structure, even with the time travel.
nightxade's review
3.0
The worst part about Triptych is falling in love with Kalp, just as the humans, Gwen and Basil do, all the while knowing that he dies. No, that’s not a spoiler. His murder occurs right in the first few pages of the book and I was impressed by the way Frey’s clipped and intense descriptions conveyed Gwen and Basil’s emotional turmoil.
Unfortunately, the next chapter was a bit problematic with Basil seeming to suddenly develop a British accent and affectations, too much focus on the inside jokes that result when people from the future visit the past, and far too much time spent with the use of parentheses mid-sentence to redundantly point out the actual (obvious) intent and emotion of a particular character’s thoughts. Fortunately, while annoying, I could get used to Basil’s poor British representation as time passed, and the parenthesized thoughts were confined to that one section.
The next section introduces Kalp and is the highlight of the book. The few remaining aliens of Kalp’s world who escaped its destruction have arrived on earth, welcomed by the Institute (formed by the UN or such) with integration as the goal. Kalp is teamed with Gwen and the brilliant science-type, Basil. I enjoyed reading about Kalp’s awkwardness and seeing humans and humanity through his eyes. Frey did an excellent job with this and with the creation of this alien race and their physiology and customs. This part of the book clearly defines it as a bittersweet love story.
There is some tension created in the knowledge that triptych is fated to fall apart and the knowledge that perhaps it could be saved with some convenient time travelling, but I felt the conclusion of the book fell a bit flat. As expected with alien encounter stories, fear and prejudice is a prominent theme, but I did not enjoy the dastardly plan revealed at the end in a rather clumsy series of “action” sequences and a villain who was rather two dimensional.
Overall, not a bad book and certainly very impressive for a first novel.
Unfortunately, the next chapter was a bit problematic with Basil seeming to suddenly develop a British accent and affectations, too much focus on the inside jokes that result when people from the future visit the past, and far too much time spent with the use of parentheses mid-sentence to redundantly point out the actual (obvious) intent and emotion of a particular character’s thoughts. Fortunately, while annoying, I could get used to Basil’s poor British representation as time passed, and the parenthesized thoughts were confined to that one section.
The next section introduces Kalp and is the highlight of the book. The few remaining aliens of Kalp’s world who escaped its destruction have arrived on earth, welcomed by the Institute (formed by the UN or such) with integration as the goal. Kalp is teamed with Gwen and the brilliant science-type, Basil. I enjoyed reading about Kalp’s awkwardness and seeing humans and humanity through his eyes. Frey did an excellent job with this and with the creation of this alien race and their physiology and customs. This part of the book clearly defines it as a bittersweet love story.
There is some tension created in the knowledge that triptych is fated to fall apart and the knowledge that perhaps it could be saved with some convenient time travelling, but I felt the conclusion of the book fell a bit flat. As expected with alien encounter stories, fear and prejudice is a prominent theme, but I did not enjoy the dastardly plan revealed at the end in a rather clumsy series of “action” sequences and a villain who was rather two dimensional.
Overall, not a bad book and certainly very impressive for a first novel.
banana29's review
5.0
Triptych's exploration of heteronormativity touched me in places that I didn't even know existed. The characters and their relationships make the sci fi problems Frey creates, very real and very relevant to the human reader. It is a very brave first novel, and I found it surprisingly accessible for something that I consider outside of my genre. I will definitely pick up J.M. Frey's next novel.
raphae11e's review
4.0
Triptych, I think, is a pretty good example of when you shouldn't judge a book by its cover. This is admittedly one of the ugliest cover images I've ever seen, complete with its low-res quality; as an artist, it was cringe-worthy enough that I avoided carrying it to my classes. I felt like I was gonna get "Oh, what's that that you're reading?" looks.
But I digress. This is actually, all things considered, a pretty fantastic book.
Good things first! Frey's grasp of world-building was frankly incredible; it's clear that she put the most effort into developing the alien culture and biology, because everything else sort of seemed to come second. I'm a huge sucker for good world-building, and I think Frey integrated it well here; it wasn't so dense that it seemed like she was just dumping info on you, but was clearly still well thought out and nuanced in a way that made it unique from other well-known alien species in sci-fi media. Kalp himself was also an awesome character. The other reviews I've read of this book on here seem to agree with me: Kalp is undoubtedly the most developed of the three main characters, and the most endearing. I also found myself enjoying Basil's voice a bit, because he does have a very distinct voice, which I always appreciate in writing. In addition, I commend Frey for attempting a plot that includes time travel. I've always been a fan of this sort of plot line, so I know as well as anyone how completely WRONG this sort of thing can go if it's not well thought out. As I read through it, I didn't find any immediate plotholes that were created by the inclusion of time travel, so well done.
Now, negatives. I'll admit that I never really warmed to Gwen's character. I think part of that stems from the very negative light she's depicted in at the beginning of the book: starting in medias res was a good decision, in my opinion, but also ensures that the reader is entirely unaware of Gwen's motivations or thoughts. I was presented with a dead Kalp, a distressed Basil (as this section was written from his point of view), and an entirely unmoved Gwen. I found myself disliking her immediately. Though my feelings towards her became a bit more positive throughout the novel, and her motivations did become clear by the end, she never felt justified enough in her reaction-- her prolonged hatred of Kalp, even with no clear evidence of his treachery-- for me to like her. I feel that it's also worth mentioning the villain, Aitken. In my opinion, she felt very shoehorned in: I understand that the antagonist was meant to be shadowy, unknown, therefore making the reveal more satisfying. However, considering how more than half of the book passed with precisely NO mention of ANY antagonist, nor of any central conflict, her inclusion felt very last minute. It seems to me that more hints towards her role as antagonist should have been included, because as it is, her role of "xenophobic bigot who's angry about alien-on-human sex" was literally not hinted to at all. It felt very cliche-- something with Frey seems aware of, because she literally describes Aitken as a "comic book villain," or something near to that, at one point. There were plenty of other side characters who were shown to be resistant to interspecies relationships, but I think the only time Aitken was shown to share this view was during the dance, when she left the room after Kalp joined Gwen and Basil. It was such a tiny detail, so inconsequential as I read it, that I literally only JUST remembered it as I'm writing this review. I appreciate Frey's attempt at a villainous reveal, but she should know that no reader will be satisfied by such a reveal if they had no way to anticipate it on their own.
Maybe this next part is just due to personal tastes. I felt that the treatment of Kalp at the end of the book was a bit strange: after all, this entire plot revolved around him, his coming to Earth and integration into Basil and Gwen's lives, his suspected treachery, the intolerance surrounding their relationship. Yet at the end, there is no mention of his funeral, nor is there ever a cohesive moment where Basil and Gwen discuss what had happened. In the last few pages, Basil even says something akin to "well, Kalp is dead and we miss him, and we're widows without him, but let's get human married and leave it at that." I understand that perhaps the message here was supposed to be one of acceptance and moving on from a severe loss, but something about it still felt underdeveloped. After all, almost an entire section was devoted to the death of their child, the sadness and mourning-- and yet Kalp's death barely receives a fraction of that attention.
In addition, while I enjoyed Frey's writing very much, there were a few bits of syntax she picked up that I wish she would've toned down on. I enjoyed her use of lengthened sentences to give a sense of urgency or, for example, when Kalp was being introduced to something new and felt overwhelmed by all the stimulus. I did not enjoy, however, her repeated use of putting synonyms for a word in parenthesis directly after said word. In theory, this could be a clever device used to draw attention to a character's indecision on how to describe something, or the possible double meaning of a sentence. It loses that cleverness when it's used multiple times on every page. What was even more infuriating to me was that this writing device appeared ONLY in the section written from Evvie's point of view. I don't understand why Frey ascribed to such a thing and then just... stopped. Maybe that's nitpicking, but I believe that much of Frey's strength as a writer comes from her particular style. That means that when she trips up, it seems all the more notable.
All in all, I give this book four stars mainly for Kalp and his species. Without the amount of care that was put into crafting his culture, his personality, I doubt this book would have been as enjoyable. I certainly hope to read more from Frey in the future!
But I digress. This is actually, all things considered, a pretty fantastic book.
Good things first! Frey's grasp of world-building was frankly incredible; it's clear that she put the most effort into developing the alien culture and biology, because everything else sort of seemed to come second. I'm a huge sucker for good world-building, and I think Frey integrated it well here; it wasn't so dense that it seemed like she was just dumping info on you, but was clearly still well thought out and nuanced in a way that made it unique from other well-known alien species in sci-fi media. Kalp himself was also an awesome character. The other reviews I've read of this book on here seem to agree with me: Kalp is undoubtedly the most developed of the three main characters, and the most endearing. I also found myself enjoying Basil's voice a bit, because he does have a very distinct voice, which I always appreciate in writing. In addition, I commend Frey for attempting a plot that includes time travel. I've always been a fan of this sort of plot line, so I know as well as anyone how completely WRONG this sort of thing can go if it's not well thought out. As I read through it, I didn't find any immediate plotholes that were created by the inclusion of time travel, so well done.
Now, negatives. I'll admit that I never really warmed to Gwen's character. I think part of that stems from the very negative light she's depicted in at the beginning of the book: starting in medias res was a good decision, in my opinion, but also ensures that the reader is entirely unaware of Gwen's motivations or thoughts. I was presented with a dead Kalp, a distressed Basil (as this section was written from his point of view), and an entirely unmoved Gwen. I found myself disliking her immediately. Though my feelings towards her became a bit more positive throughout the novel, and her motivations did become clear by the end, she never felt justified enough in her reaction-- her prolonged hatred of Kalp, even with no clear evidence of his treachery-- for me to like her. I feel that it's also worth mentioning the villain, Aitken. In my opinion, she felt very shoehorned in: I understand that the antagonist was meant to be shadowy, unknown, therefore making the reveal more satisfying. However, considering how more than half of the book passed with precisely NO mention of ANY antagonist, nor of any central conflict, her inclusion felt very last minute. It seems to me that more hints towards her role as antagonist should have been included, because as it is, her role of "xenophobic bigot who's angry about alien-on-human sex" was literally not hinted to at all. It felt very cliche-- something with Frey seems aware of, because she literally describes Aitken as a "comic book villain," or something near to that, at one point. There were plenty of other side characters who were shown to be resistant to interspecies relationships, but I think the only time Aitken was shown to share this view was during the dance, when she left the room after Kalp joined Gwen and Basil. It was such a tiny detail, so inconsequential as I read it, that I literally only JUST remembered it as I'm writing this review. I appreciate Frey's attempt at a villainous reveal, but she should know that no reader will be satisfied by such a reveal if they had no way to anticipate it on their own.
Maybe this next part is just due to personal tastes. I felt that the treatment of Kalp at the end of the book was a bit strange: after all, this entire plot revolved around him, his coming to Earth and integration into Basil and Gwen's lives, his suspected treachery, the intolerance surrounding their relationship. Yet at the end, there is no mention of his funeral, nor is there ever a cohesive moment where Basil and Gwen discuss what had happened. In the last few pages, Basil even says something akin to "well, Kalp is dead and we miss him, and we're widows without him, but let's get human married and leave it at that." I understand that perhaps the message here was supposed to be one of acceptance and moving on from a severe loss, but something about it still felt underdeveloped. After all, almost an entire section was devoted to the death of their child, the sadness and mourning-- and yet Kalp's death barely receives a fraction of that attention.
In addition, while I enjoyed Frey's writing very much, there were a few bits of syntax she picked up that I wish she would've toned down on. I enjoyed her use of lengthened sentences to give a sense of urgency or, for example, when Kalp was being introduced to something new and felt overwhelmed by all the stimulus. I did not enjoy, however, her repeated use of putting synonyms for a word in parenthesis directly after said word. In theory, this could be a clever device used to draw attention to a character's indecision on how to describe something, or the possible double meaning of a sentence. It loses that cleverness when it's used multiple times on every page. What was even more infuriating to me was that this writing device appeared ONLY in the section written from Evvie's point of view. I don't understand why Frey ascribed to such a thing and then just... stopped. Maybe that's nitpicking, but I believe that much of Frey's strength as a writer comes from her particular style. That means that when she trips up, it seems all the more notable.
All in all, I give this book four stars mainly for Kalp and his species. Without the amount of care that was put into crafting his culture, his personality, I doubt this book would have been as enjoyable. I certainly hope to read more from Frey in the future!