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A review by arielmerm8
The Mars House by Natasha Pulley
4.0
I don't know what I was expecting when I picked up The Mars House, but a political intrigue, queer slow burn romance, dystopian climate disaster, fake marriage, sci-fi refugee story was everything I didn't know I needed to read!
The book follows January, who lives in climate-ravaged London. When flooding hits and everyone must evacuate, he is faced with a decision: with Earth overwhelmed and dying, he agrees to immigrate to the terraformed Mars colony of Tharsis.
Once there, he's what's known as an "Earthstronger." Gravity on Mars makes immigrants far stronger than humans born on Mars. As a refugee, his options are limited and he faces discrimination (I love how good sci-fi can take relevant issues and tweak them to make them accessible).
To make matters worse, he's humiliated Senator Gale when cornered into an interview. Gale is campaigning to require all Earthstrongers to naturalize, a dangerous medical procedure to make them "less dangerous." January loses his job because of the interview and is now in even more dire straights. This leads to an arranged marriage to help Gale save their campaign.
What follows is a political mystery involving crooked politicians, dogs who see ghosts, and mammoths who can communicate with humans!
January was such a pure, well written character. Having survived disaster after disaster, he maintained the belief that most people are good. His self-depreciating humor and willingness to stand his ground for what is right made him true "hero" material. And Gale! Born into money and power, Gale rose to every challenge with grace and pragmaticism even if they would rather have been attending linguistics lectures or conversing with mammoths.
The author's writing style felt unique in a good way. Pulley writes descriptively, and in a way that shows she's done her research. Having a main character studying the etomology of languages was a clever way to add realness to the mixed languages spoken on Tharsis. While I tried to appreciate the use of footnotes to help explain some of this, I found it took me out of the story and would have preferred it included in the text. Maybe it would feel different with a physical copy as opposed to the ebook.
Overall, this was a fascinating read that kept me engaged. I hope it finds its audience, as it is unique and well-deserving of attention.
*****
I received this eARC from @netgalley and publisher Bloomsbury @bloomsburybooksus in exchange for an honest review.
The Mars House will be released March 19, 2024.
#NetGalley #bookreview #arcreview #themarshouse
The book follows January, who lives in climate-ravaged London. When flooding hits and everyone must evacuate, he is faced with a decision: with Earth overwhelmed and dying, he agrees to immigrate to the terraformed Mars colony of Tharsis.
Once there, he's what's known as an "Earthstronger." Gravity on Mars makes immigrants far stronger than humans born on Mars. As a refugee, his options are limited and he faces discrimination (I love how good sci-fi can take relevant issues and tweak them to make them accessible).
To make matters worse, he's humiliated Senator Gale when cornered into an interview. Gale is campaigning to require all Earthstrongers to naturalize, a dangerous medical procedure to make them "less dangerous." January loses his job because of the interview and is now in even more dire straights. This leads to an arranged marriage to help Gale save their campaign.
What follows is a political mystery involving crooked politicians, dogs who see ghosts, and mammoths who can communicate with humans!
January was such a pure, well written character. Having survived disaster after disaster, he maintained the belief that most people are good. His self-depreciating humor and willingness to stand his ground for what is right made him true "hero" material. And Gale! Born into money and power, Gale rose to every challenge with grace and pragmaticism even if they would rather have been attending linguistics lectures or conversing with mammoths.
The author's writing style felt unique in a good way. Pulley writes descriptively, and in a way that shows she's done her research. Having a main character studying the etomology of languages was a clever way to add realness to the mixed languages spoken on Tharsis. While I tried to appreciate the use of footnotes to help explain some of this, I found it took me out of the story and would have preferred it included in the text. Maybe it would feel different with a physical copy as opposed to the ebook.
Overall, this was a fascinating read that kept me engaged. I hope it finds its audience, as it is unique and well-deserving of attention.
*****
I received this eARC from @netgalley and publisher Bloomsbury @bloomsburybooksus in exchange for an honest review.
The Mars House will be released March 19, 2024.
#NetGalley #bookreview #arcreview #themarshouse