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kananineko's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I randomly found this book at a Dollar Tree one day, thought the premise was vaguely intriguing, and thought why not pick it up? Because of that I didn't have the best expectations (although I have been pleasantly surprised by my Dollar Tree's books twice before*) but I loved this way more than I thought I would!
The main thing I loved about this book was the characters. I loved every character we were introduced to and thought they were all really well-fleshed out and unique. My favorite character was probably Montgomery, but the main character, Kenna would be a close second. I loved hearing the story through his point of view! I also loved the relationship between him and Benzo a lot. I cared about the characters and really wanted the best for them.
I also loved the setting so much! The author's descriptions of the setting (and the food, of course) was just amazing. This book made me realize how much I love space settings and made me want to read more sci-fi books!
Overall, I thought the writing was amazing, and I loved the ending/climax and the themes as well. But there were two things that made this not a 5-star read. First of all, the pacing. For the first half of this book, the pace felt, at least to me, very slow and like not much was happening. However, I continued because of how much I loved the characters, and I'm so glad I did because the pace sped up and more exciting things started happening in the second half of the book. (So if you're thinking about DNFing at the beginning, I get it, but I'd implore you to continue!) And my final complaint is the contstraint of the setting. Yes, I loved the space station and restaurant setting, but for a space book, I kind of wished I got to see more of the world, maybe different space stations, different planets, etc., but I understand that this isn't necessarily the type of sci-fi that warrants that. I just found the stable setting to be a bit constraining.
Overall, though, I really liked this book and I wish it had more ratings! I'll be recommending it!
*The two other books I really enjoyed that I found at my local Dollar Tree were Qualityland by Marc-Uwe Kling and The Truth Behind the Lie by Sara Lovestam. I recommend both of them! (Especially Qualityland if you want another fun sci-fi read, although that one is more of a dystopian)
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Slavery, Suicide attempt, Classism, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, and Blood
Moderate: Sexual content, Alcohol, Child abuse, Cursing, Violence, Abandonment, Gore, Trafficking, Religious bigotry, and Drug use
Minor: Animal death, Death, Addiction, Drug abuse, and Torture
apollinares's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
Things I liked:
- The food descriptions: I love how immersive the author got with the food, and how it provided a backdrop for character growth to take place.
- Pacing: this is once of those books where each chapter is titled "time before xyz". I like the use of titles and timing to establish what the character fears or looks forward to, and build tension towards a climactic event.
- The characters themselves: we've got a rag tag found family that's just full'o flaws, but loveable regardless. I mean, what other book features a trust-fund-kid-turned-addict help save a kitchen from impending bankruptcy?
- Queer love: it's in there,
- Core message: pushed on a bit too strongly/obviously, but
Things I didn't like:
- "forced" diversity: maybe I'm using the wrong term, but a few times in the book, I felt stating certain things was unnecessary. At one point, the protagonist witnesses a trans chef get a promotion, and is briefly confused over the chef's gender identity (basically going "why did [the person in charge] say "he"? Oh, he must be transitioning genders!" in his head). That chef is never mentioned again, so it felt almost unnecessary. The protagonist's skin is also drawn attention to quite a lot, like, "he could feel the sun on his dark skin" - I almost felt like the author was showing off/rubbing in how progressive of him it was to make the protagonist a POC. Luckily, no food references or fetishy similes regarding the skin ("the color of chocolate" or whatever), but still.
- Attitude to slavery: one of the characters was sold into slavery with his family by a great-great-relative, to pay off debt. At one point,
- Erotica: just not my cup of tea. It got pretty descriptive at some point, in a fanfiction-y sort of way, and I cringed every time.
- The ending: I just. Ew. Complete disregard for
Final thoughts:
A decent, easy enough read where the characters are fun, flawed, and the plot is engaging. The ending feels under-thought, and overall the book feels like it oversimplifies+dismisses a LOT of current issues.
Another thing that has to be said is that (for me at least) the narration's quality often makes or breaks my ability to truly enjoy the story. This one was stellar. James Fouhey has that ability to do voices that doesn't seem parodic or overly infantilising, and I found myself smiling at it often.
Graphic: Bullying, Sexual content, Classism, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Mental illness, Slavery, Suicide attempt, and Religious bigotry
Minor: Addiction, Alcohol, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Outing, Panic attacks/disorders, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Torture, and Violence
wandering_not_lost's review against another edition
4.0
I liked the main character and also some of the other side characters well enough, but what probably kept me from really giving this 5 stars is that it seemed slow. There were large swathes of the book where I couldn't tell you what all was happening. Kenna also spent a lot of time feeling guilty and beating himself up about his part in the scheme he's concocted to help save the Sol Majestic, but though it was fitting for his actions and place in the story, it was one note played over and over and over again. Also, his romantic arc came kind of out of nowhere and developed seemingly without much besides some soulful staring. As a subplot, it just didn't have enough to really hook me, and since it's a MAJOR subplot, that drug the whole works down for me.
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Torture