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greyreads's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
yeehaw_agenda's review against another edition
4.0
I really loved this book's format, world-building, and the way it blended sci-fi and fantasy without feeling shoehorned. I wish there'd been a bit more interrogation of some characters' ecofascism but otherwise I enjoyed it!
emiodo's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
helenabruhh's review against another edition
3.0
3.5
this is how you lose the time war meets sherlock holmes meets the last of us meets interstellar?
this is how you lose the time war meets sherlock holmes meets the last of us meets interstellar?
ashmeanything's review against another edition
3.0
A friend described a book once as being "mostly vibes", and that's the perfect description for this. The language is beautiful, moody, and ethereal, and it sets the tone well for an overall theme of loss and missed connections. However, it's not just that, and I think ambition outran the author here. In addition to a romantic story of reminiscing, there's a plot of terrorism and climate change that, while really interesting, is not able to reach its full potential. The two genres really fight for attention throughout, meaning that the tension of each kinda fizzles out by the end. Choosing an epistolary format was cool at first, but it ended up keeping distance between the two halves so they never quite met. The lovely prose really saved this and made it palatable, but I wanted the plot to get more focus.
Content warnings for mental health, illness and injury, terrorism, animal death and injury, apocalypse, loss, and mention of sexual assault.
Used for 2024 r/Fantasy Bingo (book club, hard mode); also fits small town (arguably), multi-POV, prologues & epilogues (hard mode), survival (arguably), reference materials (arguably hard mode), romantasy, and judging a book by its cover.
Content warnings for mental health, illness and injury, terrorism, animal death and injury, apocalypse, loss, and mention of sexual assault.
Used for 2024 r/Fantasy Bingo (book club, hard mode); also fits small town (arguably), multi-POV, prologues & epilogues (hard mode), survival (arguably), reference materials (arguably hard mode), romantasy, and judging a book by its cover.
alpal_collective's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
mysterious
reflective
slow-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
arcadiabooks's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
4.5
The writing in this book is really beautiful, mesmerizing and poetic. It's a story about love, hope, despair, the state of the future, humankind, nature, a search for something and someone, a story about longing.
I really liked this book, even tho it was quite slow paced, the poetic text and the well-written story kept me going. I appreciated the fact that the couple, Lumi and Sol, were a queer couple, Sol being to my understanding a non-binary person.
The state of the humankind in the book (after around 100 years from now) was realisticly built. Humans had found habitable places outside of Earth, and many started living in those new places, because the state of the environment was terrible on Earth. Nature was annihilated to say the leasy. Even after finding new places and hope, the humankind stayed the same: destroying what we have and keeping up with the hierarchies and structures where some people or places are worthier than the other.
Sol tried to make things turn to the better, but got swept away to something quite else. They thought of a better world where nature would be valued and tried to pursue with that value in mind. Only to be tangled in a more complicated situation that they probably even ever imagined.
The search of Sol by Lumi, their partner was quite interesting. Lumi really did love Sol and didnt give up the pursue no matter what. At first Sol seemed like a cold person, who had just disappeared without explanation, but as things progressed, I got to understand more. The characters are quite deep, which i like.
I dont know if I understood the ending though. That doesnt mean I didnt like it still. It left me thinking.Did the couple ever actually meet again? Or did they just meet in the place they created in their minds?
I really liked this book, even tho it was quite slow paced, the poetic text and the well-written story kept me going. I appreciated the fact that the couple, Lumi and Sol, were a queer couple, Sol being to my understanding a non-binary person.
The state of the humankind in the book (after around 100 years from now) was realisticly built. Humans had found habitable places outside of Earth, and many started living in those new places, because the state of the environment was terrible on Earth. Nature was annihilated to say the leasy. Even after finding new places and hope, the humankind stayed the same: destroying what we have and keeping up with the hierarchies and structures where some people or places are worthier than the other.
Sol tried to make things turn to the better, but got swept away to something quite else. They thought of a better world where nature would be valued and tried to pursue with that value in mind. Only to be tangled in a more complicated situation that they probably even ever imagined.
The search of Sol by Lumi, their partner was quite interesting. Lumi really did love Sol and didnt give up the pursue no matter what. At first Sol seemed like a cold person, who had just disappeared without explanation, but as things progressed, I got to understand more. The characters are quite deep, which i like.
I dont know if I understood the ending though. That doesnt mean I didnt like it still. It left me thinking.
chuckleszeclown's review against another edition
3.0
Conceptually interesting, world building was good, slow paced throughout. The written language was quite beautiful, and explored the characters well. The book leaves questions in my mind. Having said that, I think most people will struggle with the book due to the pacing
aethermoss's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- 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? Yes
3.75