Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

To Be Taught, If Fortunate by Becky Chambers

7 reviews

eatingbrains's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Listened to this as an audiobook during a road trip and it kept me engaged the entire time.  I don't think that this will be enjoyed by all since for a sci-fi it focuses more on the crew and slice-of-life moments, rather than the planets they explore, and the discoveries they make.

It does bring up the topic that there is a lot to be said about the ethics of science and experimentation.  I think it all can be boiled down into something along the lines of having good intentions does not inherently guarantee that anyone/thing remains unharmed in the end or even in the midst of the process.  This is true for the scientists themselves and/or their subjects.

Becky Chambers has done an excellent job of making distinct and memorable characters that feel real because the book runs  the gamut of human emotions.  There's quite a bit of existential dread, and it can be rather heavy at times, but it also has it's moments of fun, enchantment, excitement, joy, and happiness.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Colonisation, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Abandonment, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Eating disorder, Excrement, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Suicide attempt

chloetremain's review

emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25

This was a fascinating sci-fi novella from Becky Chambers with an ending that I didn’t anticipate. It started a bit slow but was definitely worth reading. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abandonment

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Cursing, and Grief

There is not a content warning tag for it, but contains

Spoiler

natural disaster in the form of a solar flare that destroys all technology

switchywitchsitch's review

adventurous emotional inspiring mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Freaking excellent. Visionary and creative. The ending (no spoilers) is one that has really stuck with me. I need other people to read it and talk to me about it, because I'm still not done processing six months later.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment and Confinement

Moderate: War, Suicidal thoughts, and Mental illness

potatogrr's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative medium-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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death

Minor: Confinement and Abandonment

martinatan's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional informative mysterious fast-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror and Suicide attempt

Minor: Confinement, Sexual content, Abandonment, and Grief

readingsofaslinky's review

adventurous dark hopeful reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Confinement, Dysphoria, Abandonment, and Grief

Minor: Animal death, Body horror, War, and Suicide attempt

nikenacs's review against another edition

adventurous challenging hopeful informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

• 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

5.0

Read #1 (summer 2021): Nightly read aloud story time with friends over Discord. A friend read this to us and I occasionally fell asleep, so I missed some small parts, but I LOVED IT. Absolutely exactly my cup of tea, will definitely read more by Becky Chambers.

Read #2 (March 2023): Loved it even more when consciously reading by myself, if that was even possible. This book is everything. It legit changed how I look at humanity, science and space exploration. I will be recommending this to absolutely anybody with even a passing interest in scifi. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Confinement, Abandonment, and Medical content

Minor: Animal death, Vomit, Animal cruelty, and Suicidal thoughts