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A review by hachidoribug
A Half-Built Garden by Ruthanna Emrys
2.0
A large portion of the first 2/3 of this book could have been cut out, and to be honest it didn't feel much like a sci-fi novel until the last 1/3, but rather like some kind of gender studies story written by an undergrad who happens to like sci-fi. I firmly believe that people who are non-binary, gender non-conforming, trans, and gender-fluid absolutely need to be represented in every genre (not just for people who identify this way, but for all of us), especially as they have been and are underrepresented. However, the way that fictional alternative pronouns which can change depending on various factors and the obsessive, tedious emphasis on gender and pronouns in this book was so completely over the top that it felt to me like it makes a mockery of what is a serious subject (despite the good intentions of the author) and will just make the subject worse in the minds of people who aren't already on board with respecting a person's gender identity and pronouns. It also seemed odd that in 2083, this was still an issue which required people to wear pronoun badges, despite everyone wearing computer/network interfaces on their heads that don't even require them to type to give or receive information from the network or sensors (therefore, why would one not have a pronoun token programmed in which everyone could see via their mesh when they look at them). Some of the humans (such as the ones working for corporations using fictional, variable pronouns) felt much more alien than the actual aliens themselves.
There were also parts that felt very improbable and unnatural, such as everyone being very chilled out about aliens who look like giant isopods being around and it rapidly becoming normal to just hang out with them whilst doing mundane things at home and in the neighbourhood. If 2016-2021 taught us anything, it's that there definitely would have been some adverse, xenophobic reactions as well as conspiracy ideas surrounding the arrival of aliens on earth, and conflicts ensuing from this. Furthermore, there was what felt like a ridiculous false dichotomy regarding the decision of whether humans would go to space to live with the aliens or stay on Earth--the obvious solution that people who wanted to go could go and those who wanted to stay and work on restoring Earth could do so didn't come up until surprisingly late in the story.
***WARNING: spoiler alerts below***
The things I liked about this novel: the matriarchal structure of the Ringers' society and how this necessitated human mothers to lead rather than being made invisible; the implications of bringing one's children to diplomatic negotiations; the interesting idea of living in a household with a co-parenting couple to share the load of child rearing which goes back a bit more to a village structure of raising a family rather than everything being thrown onto the shoulders of just two overworked parents; the parallels between the historical Jewish story and the family's Passover seder with the situation in the story; the thought-provoking & unconventional ideas of what family can/could be; the relationships between Judy, her partner, and their alien lover; the hopeful trajectory of the fate of humans using science to advance the development of the human race as well as help restore the Earth's ecosystems.
Overall, I doubt whether I would have been able to finish the book had it not been an audiobook. The first 2/3 were painful to get through and at times infuriating and absurd, but the last 1/3 (if you can make it that far) was enjoyable and it felt like the writing matured as the book progressed.
There were also parts that felt very improbable and unnatural, such as everyone being very chilled out about aliens who look like giant isopods being around and it rapidly becoming normal to just hang out with them whilst doing mundane things at home and in the neighbourhood. If 2016-2021 taught us anything, it's that there definitely would have been some adverse, xenophobic reactions as well as conspiracy ideas surrounding the arrival of aliens on earth, and conflicts ensuing from this. Furthermore, there was what felt like a ridiculous false dichotomy regarding the decision of whether humans would go to space to live with the aliens or stay on Earth--the obvious solution that people who wanted to go could go and those who wanted to stay and work on restoring Earth could do so didn't come up until surprisingly late in the story.
***WARNING: spoiler alerts below***
The things I liked about this novel: the matriarchal structure of the Ringers' society and how this necessitated human mothers to lead rather than being made invisible; the implications of bringing one's children to diplomatic negotiations; the interesting idea of living in a household with a co-parenting couple to share the load of child rearing which goes back a bit more to a village structure of raising a family rather than everything being thrown onto the shoulders of just two overworked parents; the parallels between the historical Jewish story and the family's Passover seder with the situation in the story; the thought-provoking & unconventional ideas of what family can/could be; the relationships between Judy, her partner, and their alien lover; the hopeful trajectory of the fate of humans using science to advance the development of the human race as well as help restore the Earth's ecosystems.
Overall, I doubt whether I would have been able to finish the book had it not been an audiobook. The first 2/3 were painful to get through and at times infuriating and absurd, but the last 1/3 (if you can make it that far) was enjoyable and it felt like the writing matured as the book progressed.