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A review by nightxade
Astra by Naomi Foyle
4.0
Astra is a beautiful, beautiful book, featuring an intriguing post-apocalyptic world, and focused on its eponymous main character. Astra is just seven years old when Foyle invites us into her life and her utopian world, where the people live in harmony with Gaia, the earth mother, and work toward healing the earth after all the damage caused by war, neglect, and ignorance.
Foyle’s words are an elegant brush on paper, painting such vivid images across the reader’s mind as she builds her world through Astra’s young eyes. The story is told in third person, but from Astra’s point of view, which is a daunting task. Balancing effective story telling, while maintaining Astra’s immaturity is not easy, but Foyle does a stellar job, even as Astra grows into a teenager and deals with all the angst and anxiety that goes with. Unfortunately, while I think Foyle did an excellent job with this, it is also where the story simply does not work for me, because Astra’s personality becomes increasingly grating, outweighing her curiosity and the issues surrounding her.
As often happens in utopian stories, the utopia isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, and that is no different here. While the people of Is-Land seem to have the right intentions, when we learn about the Security Serum, it becomes obvious that this utopia is, not unexpectedly, based on control and obedience, as well as ignorance of the past and the outside world. Which makes things all the more difficult for Astra when her Shelter mother, Hokma, secretly prevents Astra from receiving the security shot that would turn her into a passive contributor to society. The ‘wild child’ Lil, who begins as Astra’s rival but becomes more than her friend, also plays a big role in Astra’s life, tempting her with glimpses and ideas beyond the controlled teachings of Is-Land. On top of having to deal with teenage angst, Astra must fight to maintain control over her emotions in order to avoid suspicion. Unfortunately, her combative nature does not make this easy, which is where I began to become as frustrated with her as her other parents, Nimma and Khlor, who are not privy to Hokma’s deception. I appreciate Astra’s struggle, but I have trouble with young adult novels that focus too heavily on the whining, selfishness, and petulance of teenagers. I know this is very much a part of teenage life, but it’s not the only part of teenage life and I find it a disservice when authors don’t balance the emotions on display.
I was also disappointed that I really didn’t get to see the positive results of Hokma’s plans, aside from the obvious fact that she would not be mind controlled. Hokma convinced Astra to go along with this plan by filling her head with the promise that she could become a “genius” if her brain is not numbed like the other children. I was never quite certain what the term “genius” construed here, because Astra does not show any particular aptitude. Still, there is obvious potential for her future, because she is not bound by the serum, and by the end of the book, Foyle positions the story with a lot of possibilities in terms of what Astra will choose to do next.
Still, I enjoyed the views Foyle expressed on certain aspects, and especially liked that she didn’t shy away from sexuality. This is a society where the human body and sexuality is treated with as much respect as Gaia herself (with the act of intercourse actually referred to as “Gaia worship.”) Sexuality is a topic that we often don’t find properly explored in genre fiction, with authors either brushing over it, or going to the violent and sexist extreme.
While this book wasn't as enjoyable for me as I'd hoped, I will still give it four stars, because it is still so very deserving of it.
www.BiblioSanctum.com
Foyle’s words are an elegant brush on paper, painting such vivid images across the reader’s mind as she builds her world through Astra’s young eyes. The story is told in third person, but from Astra’s point of view, which is a daunting task. Balancing effective story telling, while maintaining Astra’s immaturity is not easy, but Foyle does a stellar job, even as Astra grows into a teenager and deals with all the angst and anxiety that goes with. Unfortunately, while I think Foyle did an excellent job with this, it is also where the story simply does not work for me, because Astra’s personality becomes increasingly grating, outweighing her curiosity and the issues surrounding her.
As often happens in utopian stories, the utopia isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, and that is no different here. While the people of Is-Land seem to have the right intentions, when we learn about the Security Serum, it becomes obvious that this utopia is, not unexpectedly, based on control and obedience, as well as ignorance of the past and the outside world. Which makes things all the more difficult for Astra when her Shelter mother, Hokma, secretly prevents Astra from receiving the security shot that would turn her into a passive contributor to society. The ‘wild child’ Lil, who begins as Astra’s rival but becomes more than her friend, also plays a big role in Astra’s life, tempting her with glimpses and ideas beyond the controlled teachings of Is-Land. On top of having to deal with teenage angst, Astra must fight to maintain control over her emotions in order to avoid suspicion. Unfortunately, her combative nature does not make this easy, which is where I began to become as frustrated with her as her other parents, Nimma and Khlor, who are not privy to Hokma’s deception. I appreciate Astra’s struggle, but I have trouble with young adult novels that focus too heavily on the whining, selfishness, and petulance of teenagers. I know this is very much a part of teenage life, but it’s not the only part of teenage life and I find it a disservice when authors don’t balance the emotions on display.
I was also disappointed that I really didn’t get to see the positive results of Hokma’s plans, aside from the obvious fact that she would not be mind controlled. Hokma convinced Astra to go along with this plan by filling her head with the promise that she could become a “genius” if her brain is not numbed like the other children. I was never quite certain what the term “genius” construed here, because Astra does not show any particular aptitude. Still, there is obvious potential for her future, because she is not bound by the serum, and by the end of the book, Foyle positions the story with a lot of possibilities in terms of what Astra will choose to do next.
Still, I enjoyed the views Foyle expressed on certain aspects, and especially liked that she didn’t shy away from sexuality. This is a society where the human body and sexuality is treated with as much respect as Gaia herself (with the act of intercourse actually referred to as “Gaia worship.”) Sexuality is a topic that we often don’t find properly explored in genre fiction, with authors either brushing over it, or going to the violent and sexist extreme.
While this book wasn't as enjoyable for me as I'd hoped, I will still give it four stars, because it is still so very deserving of it.
www.BiblioSanctum.com