A review by tay_af
The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal

adventurous dark tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I enjoyed this book immensely, and found the writing and descriptions to be particularly vivid—sometimes in ways that were painful to read. I’m curious to see where the story goes next. My main critique is that the (honestly, relatively unnecessary) sex scenes between the main character and her husband used a significant number of “rocket launch” euphemisms which, while perhaps amusing in theory, felt hokey and broke some of the immersion of the book in practice. Occasionally, the jargon was a bit hard to follow as well, but the grounding in an almost-familiar setting helped offset this. 
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