A review by bloomingtea
Local Star by Aimee Ogden
3.0
thank you to netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a free ebook in exchange for an honest review! this has not affected my review in any way, all opinions are mine.
local star is an interesting and quick sci fi novella that is begging to be made into a longer book— or even a series.
i wanted to like this book so much more than i actually did. i really struggled at the beginning to understand what was going on with all the terminology, and even was unclear with some of the words at the end of the story. (i didn't realize there was a glossary until i reached it). while i do appreciate being thrown into the story, it felt like i was a little TOO thrown in, and i struggled to follow what was being said since so much was mechanical. meaning that it wasn't really important to the story, just triz's job.
i also wanted so much more background on the characters and cultures of this universe. while i ended up with an idea of what was going on by the end, i wanted a more in-depth exploration, because i think it really is incredibly interesting. i wanted to see more of what made this world work and actually SEE more of the relationships between the characters. i'm not sure if i ever entirely bought the relationships, although i very much wanted to.
also as a tiny note, i was disappointed that (if my memory is correct), all the explicitly trans and nonbinary characters were so minor. the fact that we never see nantha onscreen was such a disappointment—it felt like she really should have been an important character as well. i also wish that there had been MORE of the polyamorous aspect in this book, since romance really was on the backburner of this novella in my opinion.
really, i just wanted this story to be longer and take its time to develop the world, the characters, and the relationships. i think there's something really good here, but it ended up being rushed and slightly hard for me to understand with one read. i ended up rounding up to 3 stars because it stuck with me, and i kept thinking about the characters afterward, because i really wanted to know more.
2.5/5
local star is an interesting and quick sci fi novella that is begging to be made into a longer book— or even a series.
i wanted to like this book so much more than i actually did. i really struggled at the beginning to understand what was going on with all the terminology, and even was unclear with some of the words at the end of the story. (i didn't realize there was a glossary until i reached it). while i do appreciate being thrown into the story, it felt like i was a little TOO thrown in, and i struggled to follow what was being said since so much was mechanical. meaning that it wasn't really important to the story, just triz's job.
i also wanted so much more background on the characters and cultures of this universe. while i ended up with an idea of what was going on by the end, i wanted a more in-depth exploration, because i think it really is incredibly interesting. i wanted to see more of what made this world work and actually SEE more of the relationships between the characters. i'm not sure if i ever entirely bought the relationships, although i very much wanted to.
also as a tiny note, i was disappointed that (if my memory is correct), all the explicitly trans and nonbinary characters were so minor. the fact that we never see nantha onscreen was such a disappointment—it felt like she really should have been an important character as well. i also wish that there had been MORE of the polyamorous aspect in this book, since romance really was on the backburner of this novella in my opinion.
really, i just wanted this story to be longer and take its time to develop the world, the characters, and the relationships. i think there's something really good here, but it ended up being rushed and slightly hard for me to understand with one read. i ended up rounding up to 3 stars because it stuck with me, and i kept thinking about the characters afterward, because i really wanted to know more.