A review by glitterdeww
To Be Taught, If Fortunate by Becky Chambers

adventurous informative reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

Overall, I was really hoping that this novella would be more than what it turned out to be. I don't think I disliked it... but man, I just wanted it to give something different. 

(Also, trigger warning that "the dog dies in this one." Even if that doesn't make sense, you'll understand when you get there. I hadn't seen that mentioned so... Fair warning.)

The best thing I took from this story was absolutely the world building. Sometimes there was a lot of exposition, and in those sections I lost some interest, but the descriptions of space exploration in this story were very beautiful... The negatives for me personally were how thin the plot and characters were laid out. I know this is a short story, so there wasn't as much time for them... but they still felt very lacking. I feel like Chambers wanted this to be a more philosophical story about the nature of science and it's impact on human history, but it was a bit of a slog to get through for me. 
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