Reviews

nothing like logging a book on storygraph and realizing you got the ugliest cover after thinking it actually wasnt so bad smh

anyways this was a fun one! I think I like her shorter stories better than her longer books, and she always has some funny ass random one liners in the middle of the deep political and human nature thoughts lol

alreadyemily's review against another edition

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3.0

This was a hard book for me to read in 2019. Spending a lot of time in the POV of a cocksure, ignorant, aggressive, sexist, racist, anti-intellectual, colonialist and oppressor construing facts as “fake news”, spreading lies, and pushing his own agenda ahead in the face of all common sense, ethics, and the censure of his peers!?  

FAR too familiar and something I could easily get from simply watching the news.   Sorry Le Guin, your idea to include the perspective of the bad guy is nice and all, and the story's concept is solid, but in my current when/where it was often excruciating.

scheersy's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

samants's review against another edition

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dark reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Davidson's cruelty was a little overdone at times in my opinion, and I was wavering on how realistic a cartoonishly evil man was in a colonial setting when I feel like most evil is systemic, but then I thought about how many cartoonishly evil men I have read about in nonfiction books. Maybe it's just wishful thinking of me to say that his evil was exaggerated.
I liked the inclusion of a "benevolent colonizer" in Lyubov but felt like his character was not interrogated as deeply as it could have been. He obviously
feels guilt about what he has done wrong, but his last thoughts are that he is a traitor to his people (though I can see how this might be up for debate) rather than that he and his people have done a terrible thing. Then again, maybe his action speak louder than his last thoughts: he did not alert the fellow colonizers to the fact that something was amiss
. I had more questions about
Selver's feelings toward him (why he essentially deemed Lyubov "not like other Terrans")
, but I suppose things get complicated once you get to know each other and I guess their relationship reflected that.
Overall a deeply heartbreaking look at colonialism with obvious parallels to Vietnam and *gestures vaguely at the world*. Cuts deeper with the current Israeli genocide on Palestinians.
A super interesting look into what the League looked like in its very early days (pre-Ekumen) and indeed why it was established in the first place. Who knows how many worlds like Athshe had to suffer and burn before the strict protocols we see in the other books were established.
The ending...
Athshe will never be the same again, and no amount of "we will never leave you alone again" promises will change that, even if colonizers did promise that and make good on their promise, which has never happened. Colonialism can never truly be undone. The survivors just have to pick up the pieces and move on. I get so sad thinking about what the Philippines could have been without colonialism. Heartbreaking doesn't even begin to describe it.

Looking forward to discussing this in book club. I think the discussion will be quite interesting.

Free Palestine

bee_daisy's review against another edition

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challenging emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

makelikeatree's review against another edition

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dark reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

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