The design and UX isn't done, Rob and Abbie, okkurrrr! đ
tachyondecay's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I was not expecting to fall for this book quite as hard as I did. If you asked me how Earth Girl ended up on my to-read list, I could not tell you. But my library had a copy (I love my library!). The description is lacklustre and didnât make me too excited, but within a few pages I was on Jarraâs side, and within about 3 chapters I was loving this book. It made me giddy, at points ⌠I think that might have been how much this book was a needed, escapist story right now.
Jarra is turning 18 and has decided to study pre-historyâthat is, the history of humanity before it spread out amongst the stars in the Exodus, thanks to portal technology. However, Jarra is also an apeâor, in less pejorative terms, Handicapped. She lost the genetic lottery, and her immune system cannot handle non-Earth worlds, even for a minute. As a result, Jarra can never leave Earth and faces discrimination from the ânormsâ who visit this planetâincluding the rest of her university class, because Jarra stubbornly decides to go to an off-world university, which holds all of its first-year courses on Earth.
Letâs start with the uncomfortable thing: Jarra is a Mary Sue. She has a chip on her shoulder the size of the planet, but she cleverly turns this to her advantage, posing as a Military kid to explain her lack of origin from any of the settled interstellar sectors. Her experience on other Earth dig sites means she quickly rises in the esteem of her professor and then her peers, and although we are repeatedly told to expect some kind of drama and blowback when they find out she is an ape, we are simultaneously told how amazing everyone thinks she is. Jarra expertly leads a rescue! Jarra can fly a plane when not many others are qualified for that! Oooh, turns out Jarraâs lie about being Military isnât such a lie after allâŚ.
I am not going to apologize for Jarraâs Mary Sueness. Itâs a thing, and if it turns you off the book, I get it. Iâm wary of reading the sequel because of thisâI adored Jarra in this book because, despite the story itself being so intent on warping her life, she resolutely makes mistake after mistake and reflects and criticizes herself, and that is the kind of characterization I like to see. But Iâm not sure her self-awareness can survive a sequel where apparently the fate of all humanity is in her hands? YeahâŚ.
But if you can look the other way and get past Jarraâs Mary Sue-ness, then whatâs left is a book that tries to explore how we make assumptions about others. Jarraâs professor is aware of her status, and at first he assumes that means she wants to make trouble, so he gives her a hard time. She doesnât like him for this. But they gradually come to respect one another, and Janet Edwards puts a fair amount of effort into making this a dynamic and believable process. The same goes for Jarraâs relationships with her peers, particularly the love interest of the book. Although it isnât exactly subtle (and this is lampshaded in the book itself, several times over, shifting cultural norms and all), the love story is an interesting subplot that really tests Jarraâs commitment to flying under the radar.
Towards the end of the book, things go off the rails. A tragedy causes Jarra to disassociate and actually believe her Military persona is true for a while. This ⌠was weird. I did a double-take. I think what bothered me about it is the haphazard way Edwards had treated the subject of mental health up until that pointâJarra was distrustful of psychologists, while her best friend loved them, but overall Edwards hadnât really discussed Jarraâs mental health or anyone elseâs mental health in much detail. So for this kind of episode to take place without warning or explanation, it felt very contrived, just as its resolution felt sudden and convenient.
Indeed, my least favourite thing about Earth Girl is its ending. Edwards wraps everything up very quickly, with quite a lot accomplished off-page and then told to our protagonist after she wakes up, having been taken off the board Bella Swanâstyle (by being knocked unconscious). Itâs a narrative bait-and-switch that I donât appreciate, particularly when it comes to the much-anticipated, teased moment when Jarraâs peers learn that they have been learning next toâand fromâan ape. I definitely feel cheated by that, and itâs why this book, despite being so fun for me, is not getting a higher rating.
In other words, Earth Girl is a mess from a literary standpointâits protagonist is a delightful Mary Sue, and its plot is a convolution of predictable and unpredictable (but contrived) ideasâyet somehow, it all comes together into one of the most compelling and enjoyable stories Iâve read this year. And you know what I say: story comes first. This is not a great novel, but it is a great and enjoyable story.
Originally posted at Kara.Reviews.
Moderate: Grief, Medical trauma, and Violence
Minor: Genocide
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