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nebulous40's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
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? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
futureofmydays's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
tense
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? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Grief, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Cancer, Child death, Cursing, Fatphobia, Genocide, Hate crime, Blood, Excrement, and Murder
Minor: Confinement, Domestic abuse, Drug use, and Infertility
iviarelle's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
2020
In hindsight, I like this book somewhat less than I did before. It's still a promising first entry to a series, no doubt, and there's a lot to be done with the intrigue and mysteries it sets up... but there are also a lot of little problems that add up to a much less enjoyable experience when I start looking a little deeper.
Maybe the best example of this is that the way the story treats rape is downright insensitive, to understate it vastly. At one point, Miller assumes that Julie must have been raped, because she suddenly starts taking a martial arts class, and gets really good at it quickly. The story never indicates in any way that he's wrong about this assumption; on the contrary, Miller's "hunches" are proven right time and time again. In Holden's case, at one point he thinks about how he's drunk and Naomi's drunk and he would hate himself in the morning for taking advantage but he should go for it, ask her to sleep with him. Later, their first sexual encounter begins while she's been drinking and he hasn't. The word rape isn't ever brought up in conjunction with this, possibly because the writers only viewed rape as a violent act by a stranger, as so many people (particularly, people who are under significantly less threat of being raped) do. Maybe she'd be okay with it in the morning (as she was in the latter instance) and maybe she wouldn't, but... the very fact that Holden's thoughts admit that sleeping with someone drunk would be "taking advantage" shows that at some level, he and the writers know it would be rape... and yet they do it later anyway, not just with no consequences, but with the actual reward of starting a relationship with her.
And I can't go without mentioning the extraordinarily shitty cops in the story. Miller more or less considers himself accountable only to his superiors, not any real sort of law. He has his own moral code and his own definition of justice and will carry those out no matter what orders he's been given or by whom. And the worst part is that, again, he's shown to be right to do so by the story. That's... not a good look.
It's a little frustrating, because it was so recently that I first read this book, I feel like I should have looked a little closer all this time. I think the later books do less of this sort of thing? But I can no longer be sure, and that's frustrating to me.
=====
2017
This was a pretty good book. The science felt solid (except for the acceleration giving ships gravity thing, I never felt like that was quite as well explained as everything else, why should acceleration forward give gravity downward?), the characters were all given depth, none of the men were particularly rewarded for toxic masculinity. I could've done with a few more women in major, active roles in the narrative, especially who don't end up love interests, but it was generally enjoyable. When I want another hard science fiction fix, I'll likely turn to the next book in the series.
In hindsight, I like this book somewhat less than I did before. It's still a promising first entry to a series, no doubt, and there's a lot to be done with the intrigue and mysteries it sets up... but there are also a lot of little problems that add up to a much less enjoyable experience when I start looking a little deeper.
Maybe the best example of this is that the way the story treats rape is downright insensitive, to understate it vastly. At one point, Miller assumes that Julie must have been raped, because she suddenly starts taking a martial arts class, and gets really good at it quickly. The story never indicates in any way that he's wrong about this assumption; on the contrary, Miller's "hunches" are proven right time and time again. In Holden's case, at one point he thinks about how he's drunk and Naomi's drunk and he would hate himself in the morning for taking advantage but he should go for it, ask her to sleep with him. Later, their first sexual encounter begins while she's been drinking and he hasn't. The word rape isn't ever brought up in conjunction with this, possibly because the writers only viewed rape as a violent act by a stranger, as so many people (particularly, people who are under significantly less threat of being raped) do. Maybe she'd be okay with it in the morning (as she was in the latter instance) and maybe she wouldn't, but... the very fact that Holden's thoughts admit that sleeping with someone drunk would be "taking advantage" shows that at some level, he and the writers know it would be rape... and yet they do it later anyway, not just with no consequences, but with the actual reward of starting a relationship with her.
And I can't go without mentioning the extraordinarily shitty cops in the story. Miller more or less considers himself accountable only to his superiors, not any real sort of law. He has his own moral code and his own definition of justice and will carry those out no matter what orders he's been given or by whom. And the worst part is that, again, he's shown to be right to do so by the story. That's... not a good look.
It's a little frustrating, because it was so recently that I first read this book, I feel like I should have looked a little closer all this time. I think the later books do less of this sort of thing? But I can no longer be sure, and that's frustrating to me.
=====
2017
This was a pretty good book. The science felt solid (except for the acceleration giving ships gravity thing, I never felt like that was quite as well explained as everything else, why should acceleration forward give gravity downward?), the characters were all given depth, none of the men were particularly rewarded for toxic masculinity. I could've done with a few more women in major, active roles in the narrative, especially who don't end up love interests, but it was generally enjoyable. When I want another hard science fiction fix, I'll likely turn to the next book in the series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Mental illness, Violence, Vomit, and Police brutality
Moderate: Medical content and Grief
Minor: Rape and Sexual assault