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jturcios95's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
ahart1's review
inspiring
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
hjswinford's review
4.0
4.5 stars
This was ambitious and beautiful. It was unique and epic.
And YES there is gender essentialism. The world has u-turned from a leisure society to, once again, a fight for survival. There is a reason for that within the narrative and I think it was well handled. Kudos to Swan for approaching this complex set of themes with such grace.
This was ambitious and beautiful. It was unique and epic.
And YES there is gender essentialism. The world has u-turned from a leisure society to, once again, a fight for survival. There is a reason for that within the narrative and I think it was well handled. Kudos to Swan for approaching this complex set of themes with such grace.
momokomoon94's review
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.0
jmsr418's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.0
kyra_hinton's review against another edition
Hints at pedophilia, on page assault, and child pregnancy all in the first two chapters. Couldn’t keep going.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness and Pregnancy
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Medical trauma, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
rmartin300's review
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.0
It was slow and meh for me. I struggled to finish and only skimmed the ending so I probably missed key points of the conclusion.
antimony's review
reflective
slow-paced
- Loveable characters? No
2.0
i really wanted to like this — I was hoping for something sorta like station eleven, showing the beauty of humanity despite the postapocalyptic setting, but instead I got a (boring) treatise on how We Must Repopulate The Earth Because Pregnancy Is A Miracle!!!!!!!! also it dragged in the first half so I put it down for a week to read my interlibrary loans and the only thing I felt upon picking it up at the end of said week was dread at the boredom returning. so.
the thing that really drove me crazy abt this book was not that it was boring. there were a few interesting things and if it had just been boring I would have given it three stars but alas! instead almost every character was obsessed with how The Miracle Of Childbirth = The Miracle of Womanhood = Destiny!!!! and like just sliding past how simplistic of a view that is I just did not like reading about it. maybe a mom would appreciate it, idk, but I do not like Repopulating Humanity just as a theme in general. it's very unpleasant like maybe humanity doesn't NEED to be repopulated?? and it always takes a higher roll on women. but then again many of the women in this book seem delighted to just incubate The Future of Humanity and I just don't like reading that!!! (if this review feels unfairly focused on penelope's storyline that's bc it's most of what I read after my break and the stuff before the break is so far away as to be of no consequence. but the first half was probably 3 stars anyway.) like penelope is abt to have her daughter and BEFORE SHES EVEN BORN is saying to her You My Daughter Are Destined To Populate The Land and the question of what if said daughter never wants to destroy her body in service of Populating The Land is never considered.
bare minimum i did enjoy that Moon decided NOT to Populate The Land and continue the society (bc her uncles were SOO icky anyway. so thank god) but STJLLL she still heard her whole life that it was her Destiny. overall I did not enjoy this book sorry!!!!
the thing that really drove me crazy abt this book was not that it was boring. there were a few interesting things and if it had just been boring I would have given it three stars but alas! instead almost every character was obsessed with how The Miracle Of Childbirth = The Miracle of Womanhood = Destiny!!!! and like just sliding past how simplistic of a view that is I just did not like reading about it. maybe a mom would appreciate it, idk, but I do not like Repopulating Humanity just as a theme in general. it's very unpleasant like maybe humanity doesn't NEED to be repopulated?? and it always takes a higher roll on women. but then again many of the women in this book seem delighted to just incubate The Future of Humanity and I just don't like reading that!!! (if this review feels unfairly focused on penelope's storyline that's bc it's most of what I read after my break and the stuff before the break is so far away as to be of no consequence. but the first half was probably 3 stars anyway.) like penelope is abt to have her daughter and BEFORE SHES EVEN BORN is saying to her You My Daughter Are Destined To Populate The Land and the question of what if said daughter never wants to destroy her body in service of Populating The Land is never considered.
bare minimum i did enjoy that Moon decided NOT to Populate The Land and continue the society (bc her uncles were SOO icky anyway. so thank god) but STJLLL she still heard her whole life that it was her Destiny. overall I did not enjoy this book sorry!!!!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pregnancy
Moderate: Incest
sunscour's review
2.0
This was a mish mash of What the Hell. We follow a family for many generations, with prominent themes of child abuse and pedophilia. Climate change (I think) was the theme. I think I would have enjoyed the book more had it been packaged as generational mental illness and the long terms effects on a family rather than a science fiction story. And the bit on Mars, just plain filler to make up the page count.