Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Do You Dream of Terra-Two? by Temi Oh

36 reviews

ssinforshort's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective fast-paced

• 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

This was not what I expected at all. 

I thought I was going to be reading a sci fi novel that would mostly take place on another planet, instead this was so character driven and less about space or exploring new planets. 

This a book about human nature, family, love, and purpose. It just happens to be set in space. 

Even though it was way different than I thought, I appreciated the journey. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Mental illness, Suicide, and Grief

Moderate: Death and Terminal illness

zombiezami's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

5.0

This is some of the best science fiction, specifically space science fiction, I've ever read. The author masterfully captures the dichotomy between the hope of space travel, especially as a way to save humans from themselves, and the reality of the nationalism and child abuse that would occur if children were trained up to participate in it from a young age. The fact that things were already going off the rails before the group even got into space goes to show how willing governments are to screw over their best and brightest for political capital. So many cover-ups and scandals. 

The vibe of the book to me is the tension of feeling forced to smile in front of an audience but like your smile is unconvincing so you smile bigger to compensate

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cursing, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Sexual content, Car accident, Death of parent, Acephobia/Arophobia, and Abandonment

Minor: Drug use, Racism, and Alcohol

colorism

madipenn's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful sad tense 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? Yes

4.25

Predictably, things go wrong when a group of people are sent off into space. But that's just about where the predictability ends; I couldn't predict how something would play out or when things may go wrong.
It was a breath of fresh air to see kids-- especially the gifted kids, the chosen kids-- be written as kids, seeing them have regrets and making the wrong decisions, seeing them processing intense and complex emotions.
I understand the open-endedness but I longed for a resolution and more story when I got to the end.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Death, Mental illness, Rape, and Grief

Moderate: Confinement, Eating disorder, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Terminal illness, Blood, and Vomit

Minor: Alcohol

beaingleby's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional 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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement

Moderate: Confinement, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Sexual assault, and Grief

talonsontypewriters's review against another edition

emotional reflective slow-paced

• 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

2.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Confinement, Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Medical content, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body horror, Eating disorder, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Vomit, and Car accident

Minor: Animal death, Cancer, Racism, Terminal illness, Death of parent, and Alcohol

sillyhily's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• 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

4.0

I really picked this book up because of the title, the glitchy Terra-two paperback cover, and it had a sci-fi sticker at my local library. I did not intend to fall so deeply into its grasp and find myself bounding through chapters as quickly as I did. I found it so tragically gripping an idea from the beginning and I needed to explore more. It was truly as fucked up as I’d hoped it would be, in better more interesting ways than I could’ve imagined.

The characters through which you understand the story were so devastatingly young and that was never once forgotten. They experienced the trauma that is becoming one's self in the void of space with limited company. Individuals all of which were so unique and intentional. The backgrounds were a catalyst for the storytelling, they helped you understand how they came to be and how they would come to understand each other. I was gripping this novel knowing that the young characters could not yet comprehend the lengths and bounds at which they are growing and learning. I could feel myself, younger again, similarly lost desperate for answers and definitives, which is why this novel had me so critically in its vice. The twists and turns were so unexpected and empathetically crafted to carry the story adrift to the far end of our galaxy.

Minor critic at most, I wanted more about the world. I can understand why we have such a limited perspective considering the characters are children. Often, most children have limited understanding and comprehension of their world, much less, when they are thrust into outer space at a meager eighteen. Even without the complete understanding of the world the timeframe it was set in is certainly strategically chosen. I can remember 2012, how desperate the world was to understand at the very dawn of the age of technology that would change the face of the world as we knew it. 2012 was so distinct. But I am still left wondering what this fictional earth was like, mainly mentioned in passing, I found myself so confused by technological advancements while still confounded by its deficits. Other than just wanting more of the world, I also desperately wanted to know the adults, specifically the ones also on the mission. Every time the children did something audacious and reflected on their ever calm and stern veteran astronaut team I could feel myself itching to know more about them. Children tend not to know how complex adults can be because they themselves are so carried away with their own interesting and unique lives. But I do see how this is the children's story, not the adults, I just found myself wishing for a chapter from each of them to see how they understood the children they were tasked with caring for. And how their perspectives changed on the outcome of the mission as the story moves along. Specifically, it also would've been interesting to hear about the Physician position, and if those characters were included then seeing the switch of perspectives when characters are shifted for the mission. Similar to how Jesse's recount is hopeful, it could've been an interesting juxtaposition to see both physicians' reactions. 

NOTE on the character of Harry: 
Possibly quite an unpopular opinion from what I've noticed in many people's reviews on different platforms, but, I disagree with ignoring the character of Harry and his choices so quickly. I don't think he's particularly the "villain" of the story, but he is a major bully, assisted by his gender, class, and race, which garnered him immediate status over the other children of the mission. For Harry's character and this representation of him in the book to make it to the final draft is quite a commentary on the way the patriarchy, racism, and sexism persist in this fictional world as well. We have quite a limited lens, because the main characters barely scrape into young adulthood before they are sentenced to the mission, but Harry is a very clear representation of what is happening down on earth. I think that not acknowledging how he refuses to see the humanity in Jesse until Jesse risks his own life for Harry and Poppy's survival is to negate the author's words. Harry, the image of a patriarchal society and the result of generational wealth, could not, until he was faced with certain death and subsequently saved from it by someone he previously deemed unfit to stand alongside him, recognize the humanity in another person. Harry, in the text, uses Poppy, the young beautiful white woman, for sex and attention, terrorizes Jesses, a man he doesn't deem worthy of the status of being on the mission, and ignores everyone else for basically the entire book unless they have a position of power which he deems worthy of possessing, and his closeness to those adult characters is only in an effort to gain their power and wield it for himself. He sucks, I don't give a fuck if he "had a hard life"??? Boo hoo. Cry somewhere else. 
All this to say I loved the book and the characterization of Harry by Temi Oh, which I thought to be one of the most valuable contributions and done in a very strategic and thoughtful way.
 

 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Mental illness and Violence

Minor: Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Eating disorder, and Car accident

laurajeangrace's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective medium-paced

• 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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Grief

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Suicide, and Blood

emsavors's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

• 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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cancer, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Eating disorder, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

crweber25's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

• 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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Alcohol, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

foiblesandfiction's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful informative sad tense 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

I've seen this book described as The 100 meets Becky Chambers and yes, that rings true.  It's slice of life with philosophical discussions in space.  The characters are so flawed and so loveable.  I missed them when it was over and I still miss them now.

Also, this book is really, really long and has very little plot.

So, if you're ready to journey through space with some highly intelligent (almost to their detriment) young adults who are working through their own moral dilemmas while also working to solve humanity's greatest downfall, buckle up and hop on board.  

Reading recommendations: time, a cozy seat, and a warm blanket with a cuppa.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Cancer, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail