A review by lostwaterbottle
Truth of the Divine by Lindsay Ellis

adventurous challenging dark reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

There’s different flavors of alien sci fi. In this one, the aliens evolve with many of the same flaws of humanity. I find that hard to believe because is supposes a predisposition/nature of intelligent life for violence. From that perspective this reads more as a story using aliens to warn readers of the danger of right wing politics. 

Some readers might feel there’s too much politics in this story, but I think the author is pretty accurate in imagining how the US would react to first contact. If immigrants at the border move us closer to authoritarianism and the government actively supports the genocide in Palestine, then of course that rhetoric would be used toward ETs. 

I did appreciate the depiction of PTSD in Cora and what she was going through as a young person with a traumatic past. Her character felt real and believable to me. I’m disappointed that 
the sex between her and Kaveh when she was clearly distressed and not in the right headspace to give consent,  was never addressed but we just moved past it. <\spoiler>

It was a little slow for me in the second half- I didn’t even tear up at the end tbh.  I’m used to more dramatic and smutty books tho. If read the next one. I hope to see a redemption arc for Sol and Cora’s family. I’m also curious as to how humanity preps for meeting the superorganism. 
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