evelynyle_88'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
4.0
Graphic: Violence, Death, and Genocide
Moderate: Transphobia, Bullying, and War
Minor: Child abuse, Confinement, and Emotional abuse
tigger89'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? Yes
4.0
This book has a lot of aliens in it. Something I would've liked to see more of(hopefully we will, in future books) is a deeper dive into their cultures, not just a quirky rundown of how they are but why they're that way. I wish I'd known when I picked the book up that there was a glossary in the back, because it would have saved me a fair bit of confusion and flipping back and forth. More authors should put the glossary in the front, so we have it when we need it instead of being surprised by it at the end!
The one thing that I didn't like about the book was how the story jumped from scene to scene, suddenly being jerked along to the next thing(in media res, even) as soon as the prior thing resolved, and often with retroactive narration to fill the gap. This can be an excellent technique to use once or twice, but it felt overused here. The book wasn't very long, so I feel like we could have afforded a few more lengthy transitions.
What I feel like the story did very well was the cast of characters, specifically the recruits from Earth. There's four of them for a total of five Earthlings, plus Tina. They're all of varied ethnic and cultural backgrounds, bringing different strengths to the team. It's a strong cast to carry the plot through the rest of the trilogy, and I look forward to seeing what the other parts have in store.
Moderate: Violence, Genocide, Gun violence, and War
indeedithappens's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
Moderate: Body horror, Bullying, Fire/Fire injury, Medical trauma, Torture, Abandonment, Classism, Colonisation, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Grief, Kidnapping, Violence, Cursing, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Confinement, Drug use, Gun violence, Medical content, Gaslighting, Genocide, Sexual content, Slavery, War, and Xenophobia
Minor: Child abuse, Child death, Police brutality, Sexism, Deadnaming, Lesbophobia, Physical abuse, Transphobia, Homophobia, and Death of parent
stacyaj'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
4.0
Moderate: Death and War
twistykris'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? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Death, Violence, War, and Genocide
Moderate: Transphobia
Minor: Physical abuse
anniereads221's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, War, Violence, Transphobia, Xenophobia, Torture, Murder, Mental illness, Grief, Death, Confinement, Genocide, Child abuse, and Bullying
thewildmageslibrary's review against another edition
3.5
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Genocide, Violence, and Death
Moderate: Body shaming, Grief, Gun violence, Medical content, Xenophobia, Gore, War, and Mental illness
Minor: Bullying, Transphobia, Child abuse, and Fatphobia
librarianlayla's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- 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
4.0
Jam packed with action, wit and positive representation.
The World building is immense, so much thought has been put into the history and the plethora of cultures. Such a fully fleshed out galaxy really pulls the reader in.
The only reason this story doesn't get the full 5 stars from me is that I felt there was so much information loaded in straight from the go, that some of the connections between characters seemed rushed. I felt some characters didn't get their chance to shine and some relationships were fast tracked so quickly that it didn't feel as genuine as it should have.
But I did really enjoy the book and look forward to the sequel.
Moderate: Blood, Emotional abuse, Xenophobia, Violence, Colonisation, and War
Minor: Physical abuse, Child abuse, Transphobia, and Abandonment
chippyreads's review
- 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? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Gun violence, Genocide, and Murder
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, War, and Grief
Minor: Police brutality and Transphobia
valpyre's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
3.5 stars
it honestly took me a <i>really</i> long while to get into this book. i am glad i stuck with it -- it has a lot of heart and nuance. i personally found the plot fairly straight-forward (which is not a bad thing!) and for me, that gave it a more childish vibe than i was expecting. i did come to appreciate that as a balance to some of the heavier topics that were dealt with throughout, and i thought it was a fresh tone considering the protag and friends were teenagers. the dialogue throughout was kind of simplistic, in my opinion, and sort of broke immersion for me at times.
i enjoyed the inclusivity throughout the book, because anders showed that having such decency throughout didn't make for a utopia. the book actively confronted some of the more meta features of itself (like the types of alien species represented). i enjoyed and was touched by my listening experience, but i doubt that i'll be continuing the series.
Moderate: Genocide, Murder, Violence, Gun violence, Xenophobia, Mental illness, Medical content, and Death
Minor: War, Transphobia, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, and Fatphobia