vaguely_pink'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? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Death, Grief, Colonisation, and Slavery
Moderate: Death of parent, Gun violence, Medical content, Pregnancy, Racism, Terminal illness, Violence, Murder, Animal death, Biphobia, Body horror, Cancer, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, and Gore
Minor: Cursing, Homophobia, Sexual content, Suicide, and Vomit
amelew's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, Suicide, and Animal death
katiehicks's review
- 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
4.25
Graphic: Murder, Slavery, Violence, Death, Death of parent, and Child death
Moderate: Animal death and Cancer
Minor: Car accident and Confinement
noreadingdegree'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
4.0
Graphic: Gore, Violence, Slavery, Murder, Infidelity, Grief, Death, and Animal death
Moderate: Cancer, Homophobia, and Terminal illness
Minor: Sexual content and Car accident
ohlhauc's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
The separation of the novel into these three acts was an effective structure to write a first contact novel. Usually we see what happens in the immediate aftermath but by choosing to choose these time frames, we get to see how big events change us in large and small ways, and how quickly we can adjust to such change.
What made the book remarkable was its ending and the themes it covered. Drawing parallels to colonial invasions and slavery (and there were some flashbacks to this time), this was a devastating, poignant reflection on the devastation that can happen when an invading culture clashes with native inhabitants and the social trauma that results when
Spoiler
a significant portion of the population is decimated through genocide or murder -- and even parallels to mass incarcerationSpoiler
. While some people have mentioned that they didn't like the vagueness behind the Ynaa's purpose on the islands and the open ending, those were my favourite parts. It reflects the realities that when a group of people go through pain, closure doesn't come neatly tied up in a bow and knowing why something was done doesn't make its impact less painful. The reflections the ending raises definitely bumped this novel up from one that was just okay to one that I ended up liking.What didn't work for me was that I didn't care about the characters. As a society and on the whole, I cared and got emotional during the dramatic scenes but individually, we spent so little time with the characters, that I found it hard to fully connect and understand the characters. The story was told from multiple perspectives by main characters, as well as quite a few secondary and even tertiary characters. It felt like a collection of short stories of different people reflecting on the same event, but each story felt incomplete and I would've liked to see more background.
Overall, I do recommend this book if you're interested in science fiction, literature reflecting on colonialism, and vivid writing with multiple characters.
Graphic: Genocide, Gun violence, Slavery, and Violence
Moderate: Infidelity, Murder, and Sexual content
Minor: Animal death
catapocalypse'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
4.25
I felt a few things could have been further fleshed out, including a few of the POV characters' stories, but this is still a strong all around read, for me! Though it is standalone at this time, I honestly would read a sequel about what happens to a few of the characters in the aftermath, and what a few decide to do going forward!
Graphic: Blood, Death, Gun violence, Infidelity, Murder, Slavery, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Violence, and Grief
Minor: Animal death
rorikae'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
The story follows a number of inhabitants of the Virgin Islands before and after an alien ship lands on its coast and aliens, who closely resemble humans, start to infiltrate the island's society. The main part of the story takes place a year after one of these aliens, who are called the Ynaa, brutally murders a boy and the tensions between the Ynaa and the humans on the island reach a boiling point.
Turnbull's exploration of colonization through a science fiction lens allows the reader to delve deeper into the experience of colonization both through the eyes of the colonizer and those who are being colonized. He does this by weaving through a number of individual's perspectives, mostly humans who are impacted by the Ynaa's arrival and one Ynaa who has been set as the ambassador to the island. It really succeeds in its careful consideration of the lived experiences of its characters. We follow them through their everyday lives, seeing how the Ynaa have impacted even simple interactions. Though there is a cataclysmic, devastating set of events toward the end of the book, I think the story's real power is in its small moments. The one thing I did find frustrating was that in the audiobook, the narration jumped from character to character without indication and sometimes it was hard to realize that we were on to a new perspective.
I would recommend this book if you are looking for science fiction that is focused on the lives of its characters more than the logic of the world. We don't learn a great deal about the Ynaa but that isn't necessary as the story is truly about their impact on the world that surrounds them.
Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Cancer, Death, Genocide, Murder, Slavery, and Violence
Minor: Suicide and Drug use