Reviews tagging 'Grief'

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers

76 reviews

anjasshelf's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful 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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Police brutality, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Torture, Colonisation, Death, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Drug use

misty_kb's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

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

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Death and Grief

Minor: Sexual content and Xenophobia

ekcd_'s review against another edition

lighthearted slow-paced

• 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

The characters are lovable but only because they designed to be lovable. As a result they come off as unrealistic and one dimensional. Even the cantankerous foil to the other sickly sweet personas on board is given a tragic backstory designed to inspire the reader to love him. 

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. 

---

Content Warnings

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

kassidyreads's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful lighthearted slow-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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Xenophobia, War, Grief, and Terminal illness

Minor: Violence, Sexual content, and Drug use

oceanescence's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Violence, and Mental illness

Moderate: Death and War

Minor: Drug use and Sexual content

annamorgan27's review

adventurous lighthearted slow-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief, War, Vomit, Death, Gun violence, Alcohol, Medical trauma, and Sexual content

analenegrace's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This was a spectacular story with characters that felt so real it was hard to remember that one of them was essentially a dinosaur! (I would say Lizard but that is a slur in this book.) I look forward to reading the rest of the series. 

---

Content Warnings

Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, Racial slurs, Body horror, Classism, Death, Grief, and War

novella42's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted fast-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

I love this book too much to do it justice with a review. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, Terminal illness, Violence, and Xenophobia

Moderate: War

Minor: Genocide, Animal death, Sexual content, and Drug use

thoseoldcrows23's review against another edition

adventurous funny hopeful medium-paced

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

5.0

This is just as wonderful as everyone says it is. This sort of slice-of-life thing in a Sci-Fi setting really works for me, but it's the characters are really that shine here. If you love a big cast you can emotionally invest in, this is the book for you. I can see why some might find it a bit boring, but for me it was damn near perfect. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia

Moderate: Torture, Terminal illness, Chronic illness, Colonisation, Death, Blood, Child death, Grief, Alcohol, War, Vomit, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Confinement and Cursing

savvylit's review against another edition

adventurous emotional lighthearted slow-paced

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

2.5

My dislike of this book is solely based on the fact that I think the "cozy sci-fi" genre is not for me. This is a fun and wholesome book. The characters are loveable. Ultimately, though, I found the plot to be shallow. Not only that, but the primary antagonists, the Toremi, were severely under-explained. Why did they attack the Wayfarer? It seemed like the Toremi were just bad for the sake of being bad and to add a little drama to the otherwise almost-boring positivity that this story exudes.

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet was a frustrating read. It put me in a slump. I debated just not finishing but I felt like all the rave reviews and accolades that this book received meant that I should give it a fair try and finish. Regardless, I now know that I am just not going to be a cozy sci-fi enjoyer.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Death, Terminal illness, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Grief