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A review by ksorianotaylor
The Actual Star by Monica Byrne
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
an interesting take on intergenerational trauma in the form of three eras that add up to the founding of a “utopian” religion. while i didn’t really love any of the characters, the book was definitely a fun/exciting read. definitely scratched that “i want to solve a mystery” itch. i felt like the pacing was great in that it’s slow at the beginning when you’re learning about everything and the events leading up to the main plot are taking shape and by the end it’s racing alongside the journey.
definitely saw some big “twists” coming, but i think that was intentional. and there were enough that i didn’t catch them all. the world building to me was just so-so, but the connections between the three settings were super interesting. one of the books it reminded me of that hasn’t been brought up yet is the fifth sacred thing by starhawk, so people might enjoy that.
i’m rating it a little lower i guess because while i overall enjoyed the book, a lot of it seemed unbelievable to me (which is a dumb reason for a sci-fi book i know). but like leah as a character was boring and kind of stock-y to me (also why didn’t she have a cell phone? in 2012?!) likewise ajul and ixul were the least interesting part of the 1012 era, and ket suffered from weird wise-child syndrome. the 3012 era had the most promise to me but it was super hard for me to believe that a dispersed nomadic society dedicated pluralism would ALL so dogmatically believe in the laviaja/st leah religion. also there was just sooo much unsexy sex. (that i don’t think was intentional.) like i would have expected to see more fun sex stuff happening in 3012 with endless ~future~ possibilities? but instead we got tired twincest and leah. and i think the author could have used more queer/trans input in those relationships. ahh sorry now that i said it leah was so boring!
also the kriol and spanish that people complained about is definitely intelligible/context oriented, i did not have a problem with it at all.
definitely saw some big “twists” coming, but i think that was intentional. and there were enough that i didn’t catch them all. the world building to me was just so-so, but the connections between the three settings were super interesting. one of the books it reminded me of that hasn’t been brought up yet is the fifth sacred thing by starhawk, so people might enjoy that.
i’m rating it a little lower i guess because while i overall enjoyed the book, a lot of it seemed unbelievable to me (which is a dumb reason for a sci-fi book i know). but like leah as a character was boring and kind of stock-y to me (also why didn’t she have a cell phone? in 2012?!) likewise ajul and ixul were the least interesting part of the 1012 era, and ket suffered from weird wise-child syndrome. the 3012 era had the most promise to me but it was super hard for me to believe that a dispersed nomadic society dedicated pluralism would ALL so dogmatically believe in the laviaja/st leah religion. also there was just sooo much unsexy sex. (that i don’t think was intentional.) like i would have expected to see more fun sex stuff happening in 3012 with endless ~future~ possibilities? but instead we got tired twincest and leah. and i think the author could have used more queer/trans input in those relationships. ahh sorry now that i said it leah was so boring!
also the kriol and spanish that people complained about is definitely intelligible/context oriented, i did not have a problem with it at all.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Incest, Self harm, and Blood