toastedoats42'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
5.0
Moderate: Physical abuse, Police brutality, Death, Murder, Racial slurs, Violence, and War
ekcd_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
It’s an incredibly slow book, plot wise, and the few plot events we do see dont make sense. The characters have odd reactions - socially and culturally. And god knows Becky Chambers lives to talk about how different all her aliens are. There is a weird fixation on sex and sexual differences in the book which could have been a fun exploration in sexuality if it was done well but instead it felt like she was patting herself on the back for coming up with such sexually diverse races/species. Several times in the book she says outright “yeah XYZ is so different from humans” and like that’s it.
I feel like I read a different book than all the critics (formal and informal) who have such high praise. This read like a YA novel or children’s cartoon that feeds the reader emotions with a spoon. I’m fact, most of the world building in general is fed to the reader with a spoon- it’s explicit and heavy handed OR it’s nonsense words that are never explained or expanded on. It’s clear the author uses letters and characters who are librarians to shoehorn in world building she wasn’t creative enough to build into the narrative. No nuance, no complexity. Just a feel good mill, which I personally do not like. I want moral ambiguity and conflict in my space opera.
Graphic: Chronic illness, Colonisation, Deadnaming, Police brutality, Drug use, Grief, Sexual content, Xenophobia, Cultural appropriation, Cursing, Toxic friendship, Violence, Alcohol, War, Death, Genocide, and Classism
Moderate: Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, and Blood
singalana's review against another edition
- 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? No
4.0
Minor: Hate crime, Medical content, Abandonment, Blood, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Violence, War, Alcohol, and Gun violence
cookiecat73's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Graphic: Cursing, Gun violence, Torture, Chronic illness, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Terminal illness, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Alcohol, Blood, Confinement, Grief, Medical content, Violence, Acephobia/Arophobia, Death, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Child abuse, Child death, Colonisation, Emotional abuse, Incest, Classism, Drug use, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Vomit, and War
idun_aurora's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Minor: Grief, Terminal illness, Alcohol, Blood, Colonisation, Drug use, Medical content, Physical abuse, Racism, and War
arthur_ant18's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, and Medical content
Moderate: War, Terminal illness, Confinement, Grief, and Xenophobia
Minor: Physical abuse, Suicide attempt, Violence, Genocide, and Sexual content
claudiamacpherson's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Moderate: Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Xenophobia, Colonisation, Cursing, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, War, Violence, Confinement, and Genocide
Minor: Death, Drug use, Hate crime, Medical content, Alcohol, Animal death, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Gun violence, Racial slurs, and Slavery
oliverreeds'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? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Body shaming, Chronic illness, Confinement, Drug use, Grief, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Racism, Terminal illness, Torture, Vomit, and War
beautifulpaxielreads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Ableism, Medical content, and Mental illness
Moderate: Blood, Confinement, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Violence, and Torture
Minor: Body shaming, Genocide, and Panic attacks/disorders
valereads's review
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I liked this book for what it was, a quiet story about people and relationships but because of the quiet episodic nature of this story it did kind of feel like the big action of the climax came out of nowhere which was a little off putting.
This book contained some interesting discussions about disability and bodily autonomy for disabled people. I thought the disabled rep was overall pretty good, especially regarding the character of Jenks and his feelings towards his disability, though it had a few significant issues. The first is the ending to Ohan's character arc. Another issue was with the species known as Aeluons. This species could not naturally hear or speak so had cybernetically altered themselves to fit in with the rest of society. This isn't a bad premise in of itself, mirroring the issues deaf people face in real life (i.e. cochlear implants etc.) but there was no discussion around the implications of this - it was just accepted as fine which stuck me as off for a book which discussed issues of autonomy for disabled people so much with other characters and this is such a significant issue within the Deaf community. And maybe this is a bit nitpick-y but it definitely rubbed me the wrong way that for all the disability rep the supposedly unlikable character who calls people slurs and who the reader is supposed to dislike, Corbin, is autistic coded.
I know that that probably seems like a lot of complaints but overall I did enjoy this book, enough that I am absolutely continuing on to the sequel, which is a big deal for someone who generally doesn't like sci-fi at all.
If you enjoy character and relationship driven stories with casual queer rep and the found family trope as well as some interesting, if not always perfectly executed, conversations about disability and autonomy I'd highly recommend this book.
Content Warnings: There's some graphic violence in this story as well as discussions of war including the use of genetic based weapons. There's also some scenes of prisoner abuse.
Graphic: Ableism, Chronic illness, and Violence
Moderate: Death, Gun violence, Physical abuse, and Racism
Minor: Sexual content