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reina_le's review
funny
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
mar's review against another edition
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
God. I don't think I have the words to describe how this book made me feel other than "absolute gender catharsis." Cried so hard I got a headache. I think I need to be sent out into the vacuum of space and rotate in silence thinking about it for a couple days. 10/10 would recommend
(A huge thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC!)
(A huge thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC!)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Dysphoria
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Transphobia, Deadnaming, Suicidal thoughts, Injury/Injury detail, and Misogyny
kyber_heart's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.75
awspeidel's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
vortacist's review
adventurous
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
adam_nie's review
3.25
Silver crams a lot of ideas (bionic language, alien physiognomy, psychic visions, gendered stamps, Stardew Valley ) into a short span. The science fantasy elements don't entirely gel with the grounded mall setting, but there's something exuberant about the mishmash. Cool story, glad that SIlver got to tell it.
elleyena_rose's review
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Dysphoria and Injury/Injury detail
youshouldreadthisif's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Dysphoria
ghada_mohammed's review against another edition
4.0
Pluralities is an exploration of identity and intimacy. It challenges boundaries as well as the belief that everything must be labeled before it can be valid, and it propels the reader to ponder the questions of "who am I, really?" and "Does it even matter?".
Frankly, I am still not sure what to make of this book or whether it is even meant to be one thing. Pluralities is, in a word, chaotic. Still, there is wild beauty in the mess it makes: there is a lot of raw feelings in this book and although not all are straightforward, they are indisputably candid.
I recommend it to anyone who had ever struggled or is currently struggling with a quarter life crisis and or a part of their identity. Being interested in spaceships and accurately portrayed young people might do as well.
Frankly, I am still not sure what to make of this book or whether it is even meant to be one thing. Pluralities is, in a word, chaotic. Still, there is wild beauty in the mess it makes: there is a lot of raw feelings in this book and although not all are straightforward, they are indisputably candid.
I recommend it to anyone who had ever struggled or is currently struggling with a quarter life crisis and or a part of their identity. Being interested in spaceships and accurately portrayed young people might do as well.
bingsoojung's review
5.0
I went into this expecting to love it, and yet was still somehow surprised about how exactly much I did. Pluralities is one of my favourite novellas I’ve read this year, and if the universe has any justice (and judging by this years best novel hugo nominees it doesn’t), it will be nominated for a hugo award for best novella for it’s shear brilliance.
Featuring:
☆ A sad nonbinary spaceship
☆ a prince adamant that he is Not A Prince but a rogue
☆ and a not!girl discovering themselves in the wake of that revelation
Oh my god, where to begin? This is the first I’ve read of Ari Silver’s work, and honestly, after this, I will likely be reading the rest of their work. This novella is a science fiction ditty, following a rogue who used to be a prince, and local nbi adult, who, for the breadth of the novella, is referred to as SHE. While these two never meet, their lives and stories are indelibly intertwined by the choices they make. Namely to refuse their supposed fate. Both of them are incredibly delightful protagonists to follow. They’re both distinctive and relatable, and working through the things in their life that to them don’t make sense. The Rogue is so determined to make himself something outside of a prince even though he knows life was easier as one, and SHE is trying to learn to be nbi while being from a family which believes in the divine feminine. The two stories link together incredibly loosely, until the end, where you see how they link a little bit more firmly. Most often you’ll read of something in one of their POVs only to encounter it within the others, or read a line that hints at the other POV, but for much of the story it doesn’t go beyond that.
And it works! It works so incredibly well to have these loosely connected POVs where they are in many ways the same, and yet different people. And it’s so fuckng clever. Silver does a fantastic job of winding these two POVs together, but then doing so in some of the most drop dread gorgeous language I’ve ever read. I would be offended, but so much of the book does such a good job of speaking to the experience of being nonbinary in a way defined by euphoria and not dysphoria that I really can’t be. In the end the only potential criticism I have is that this was incredibly confusing, but in all honesty, that was definitely the point. Please go read this novella though, you won’t regret it.
Final Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆ (10/10)
Featuring:
☆ A sad nonbinary spaceship
☆ a prince adamant that he is Not A Prince but a rogue
☆ and a not!girl discovering themselves in the wake of that revelation
Oh my god, where to begin? This is the first I’ve read of Ari Silver’s work, and honestly, after this, I will likely be reading the rest of their work. This novella is a science fiction ditty, following a rogue who used to be a prince, and local nbi adult, who, for the breadth of the novella, is referred to as SHE. While these two never meet, their lives and stories are indelibly intertwined by the choices they make. Namely to refuse their supposed fate. Both of them are incredibly delightful protagonists to follow. They’re both distinctive and relatable, and working through the things in their life that to them don’t make sense. The Rogue is so determined to make himself something outside of a prince even though he knows life was easier as one, and SHE is trying to learn to be nbi while being from a family which believes in the divine feminine. The two stories link together incredibly loosely, until the end, where you see how they link a little bit more firmly. Most often you’ll read of something in one of their POVs only to encounter it within the others, or read a line that hints at the other POV, but for much of the story it doesn’t go beyond that.
And it works! It works so incredibly well to have these loosely connected POVs where they are in many ways the same, and yet different people. And it’s so fuckng clever. Silver does a fantastic job of winding these two POVs together, but then doing so in some of the most drop dread gorgeous language I’ve ever read. I would be offended, but so much of the book does such a good job of speaking to the experience of being nonbinary in a way defined by euphoria and not dysphoria that I really can’t be. In the end the only potential criticism I have is that this was incredibly confusing, but in all honesty, that was definitely the point. Please go read this novella though, you won’t regret it.
Final Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆ (10/10)