Reviews

Perhaps the Stars by Ada Palmer

erinflight's review against another edition

challenging hopeful reflective medium-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

5.0

wylsonated's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark informative inspiring slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

stinamirabilis's review against another edition

2.0

Honestly, this book – well, the whole series, but particularly this book – was such a slog that I had to drag myself through. But I’d committed too much time to give up, ever the victim of sunk cost fallacy. The plot was so good that it kept me hooked, but the prose, while beautifully-crafted, was ostentatious and irksome. All of the rest of the shit was just so over-the-top and precocious and honestly dull and irritating. The author is clearly very smart, with expert knowledge in philosophy, Latin, and Greek mythology – but I do not feel she is well-suited to science fiction.
And, frankly, the ending was anti-climactic and deeply unsatisfactory.
I daresay fans of this series/author would dismiss my criticism as that of someone with low intelligence who “just didn’t get it”. Nah, I did. I’m just not impressed by it.

malnourish's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective slow-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

rhr's review against another edition

3.0

Three stars definitely reflect the very personal level of enjoyment while reading. The content of the novel is five stars if anything ever was. Perhaps I am just not big enough a vessel to sail this ocean comfortably.

rogoreads's review against another edition

I was asked to summarize this book by someone who's read part of the series but isn't going to finish, and I was about as comprehensible as J.E.D.D. Mason.

misty_kb's review against another edition

adventurous challenging hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective slow-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, War, and Medical trauma

dmahaffey's review against another edition

hopeful sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

hellativity's review against another edition

this book had me transfixed. emotional about mars. considering grad school. screaming at big revelations. reading for an entire day because I (foolish) thought I would finish the book in the next few hours.
what a wild ride, far more dense than the books I'm used to reading, but so very worth it.

kaiare's review against another edition

2.5

the culmination of the terra ignota ‘trilogy’. It was incredibly long, at times very dry and a genuine slog to get through. I didn’t like the reduction of characters to match the Iliad/odyssey. Felt intentionally hard to read in an attempt to seem smart, but actually just seemed overly complex and bogged me down in details.