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maeverose's review against another edition
slow-paced
2.5
TL;DR: I liked the themes and representation much more than the plot or execution. It was too dense for me, as well as too long. I struggled to understand the political negotiations, which make up the majority of the book. The tech/worldbuilding was never fully explained. It ended up boring me, unfortunately.
This book definitely isn’t for everyone. It’s largely political negotiations and navigating each other’s different cultures, which I can definitely see some people loving, but for me it was boring and often confusing. I really struggled with the political language throughout. I liked the leftist take, but the language made it hard for me to understand, and I felt like I was missing a lot. The technology and worldbuilding wasn’t really clearly explained. I grasped it better as the book went on, but I’m still not confident I fully understood it. I did enjoy the topics, the exploration of gender identity and expression (though I do think that was overdone a bit, especially with the Asterions, and that’s coming from a genderqueer person), the different ways of parenting, the Ringer’s culture. I liked the inclusion of queer and disabled people, as well as a jewish protagonist. However there were no obvious people of color. Nobody’s skin color or race is ever mentioned, that I noticed.
This book definitely isn’t for everyone. It’s largely political negotiations and navigating each other’s different cultures, which I can definitely see some people loving, but for me it was boring and often confusing. I really struggled with the political language throughout. I liked the leftist take, but the language made it hard for me to understand, and I felt like I was missing a lot. The technology and worldbuilding wasn’t really clearly explained. I grasped it better as the book went on, but I’m still not confident I fully understood it. I did enjoy the topics, the exploration of gender identity and expression (though I do think that was overdone a bit, especially with the Asterions, and that’s coming from a genderqueer person), the different ways of parenting, the Ringer’s culture. I liked the inclusion of queer and disabled people, as well as a jewish protagonist. However there were no obvious people of color. Nobody’s skin color or race is ever mentioned, that I noticed.
One thing I surprisingly (being a childfree genderqueer person) loved was the representation of motherhood in this book. To see people casually breastfeeding without judgment during a first contact meeting with aliens was so refreshing. Sci fi has historically been such a male dominated genre full of misogyny that its really is nice to have a book like this for a change. I also really liked the non traditional family dynamic, with co-parenting and queer parents.
I wanted to love this book based on the synopsis and my newfound love for cozy sci fi, but unfortunately it wasn’t quite what I wanted. Still a good book, just didn’t work for me.
I wanted to love this book based on the synopsis and my newfound love for cozy sci fi, but unfortunately it wasn’t quite what I wanted. Still a good book, just didn’t work for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping
Moderate: Sexual content, Excrement, and Colonisation
Minor: Cursing, Eating disorder, Transphobia, Religious bigotry, and Pregnancy
There isn’t an actual eating disorder, just lots of mentions of food which could be triggering.