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3.32 AVERAGE
3.32 AVERAGE
1.5 stars, rounded up.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange of an honest review!
I really wanted to like this book. I thought it was a slow-paced sci-fi rumination, but alas. The book stresses every minute detail of young June's life. At first, I appreciated this attention to the minutiae of everyday life. I thought it was a way of setting the stage, but it kept going, and going. And going. These details did not really contribute to the development of the characters of the story; mostly, it just dragged it down. The relationships between the characters are dry, especially the relationship between June and James. Their "love" story just kind of sneaks up on you, and even then, it was not believable (not to say, it's also incredibly toxic, yet the story does not explore this toxicity and danger at all). It was a very underwhelming book, although it saddens me terribly to write this review.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange of an honest review!
I really wanted to like this book. I thought it was a slow-paced sci-fi rumination, but alas. The book stresses every minute detail of young June's life. At first, I appreciated this attention to the minutiae of everyday life. I thought it was a way of setting the stage, but it kept going, and going. And going. These details did not really contribute to the development of the characters of the story; mostly, it just dragged it down. The relationships between the characters are dry, especially the relationship between June and James. Their "love" story just kind of sneaks up on you, and even then, it was not believable (not to say, it's also incredibly toxic, yet the story does not explore this toxicity and danger at all). It was a very underwhelming book, although it saddens me terribly to write this review.
3.5 stars
So I think that the synopsis/description of this book did the book itself a great disservice. "A young, ambitious female astronaut’s life is upended by a love affair that threatens the rescue of a lost crew in this brilliantly imagined novel “with echoes of Station Eleven, The Martian, and, yes, Jane Eyre” - but.....this is not the point of the novel! She's not that ambitious, her life is not upended by a love affair, the love affair does not really threaten the rescue of the crew, and it DEFINITELY is not like Station Eleven... It makes me crazy when publishers do this type of jacket copy, and it shouldn't have anything to do with my review of the book, except that it sets expectations for a book that it ultimately, is not. The synopsis made such a big deal about her love affair with James, which I don't think is a spoiler to say is a very small, and ultimately unimportant part of the book. The book would have been the same (*whispers* maybe better) without the love affair, because the interesting parts were the space/math/science stuff - words I honestly thought I would never say.
I found this to be the unique type of book that while I was reading it, I found it hard to put down, and it was a very quick page turner. Once I set it down though, it quickly lost my interest and I found it hard to pick back up. I think the good writing and the very interesting character of June kept my interest but ultimately, the plot was a little bit of a let-down.
Thank you to Netgalley and Random House for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Out now!
So I think that the synopsis/description of this book did the book itself a great disservice. "A young, ambitious female astronaut’s life is upended by a love affair that threatens the rescue of a lost crew in this brilliantly imagined novel “with echoes of Station Eleven, The Martian, and, yes, Jane Eyre” - but.....this is not the point of the novel! She's not that ambitious, her life is not upended by a love affair, the love affair does not really threaten the rescue of the crew, and it DEFINITELY is not like Station Eleven... It makes me crazy when publishers do this type of jacket copy, and it shouldn't have anything to do with my review of the book, except that it sets expectations for a book that it ultimately, is not. The synopsis made such a big deal about her love affair with James, which I don't think is a spoiler to say is a very small, and ultimately unimportant part of the book. The book would have been the same (*whispers* maybe better) without the love affair, because the interesting parts were the space/math/science stuff - words I honestly thought I would never say.
I found this to be the unique type of book that while I was reading it, I found it hard to put down, and it was a very quick page turner. Once I set it down though, it quickly lost my interest and I found it hard to pick back up. I think the good writing and the very interesting character of June kept my interest but ultimately, the plot was a little bit of a let-down.
Thank you to Netgalley and Random House for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Out now!
Engaging and thought provoking. Loved the main character!
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was an okay book, but it was definitely not what I expected it to be. The writing was good, but there was waaaaay more space talk than I thought there would be. I was also very confused on what was going on with Theresa and the ending of the story. Also, goodreads tagged this is both “queer” and “lgbtq” but I did not catch any rep at all soooooo…..not sure what that was about.
Spoiler
While I do feel this book could have moved more quickly and left me with a few questions, I enjoyed reading a piece of literature that felt modern, almost futuristic, without feeling incredulous. I would have loved to know about June’s background more - where are her parents? How did her uncle die? Did she ever reconcile with her aunt? I feel an epilogue may have been useful. Overall, I would recommend this book to someone wanting an easy read after something like a thriller. I enjoyed this novel and want to read more of Kate Hope Day’s works.
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Grade a little low purely because there are NO QUOTATION MARKS for any dialogue in the entire book. There is no reason for this, and it often makes it difficult to distinguish between action and dialogue. It’s almost as if we invented a form of punctuation specifically to avoid that problem. 🙄
this was such a weird one, but I...really liked it lol. it functions WAY better as a Jane Eyre retelling (only realized that's what it was when I got to the super obvious "wife" scene lol) than it does as a sci-fi concept novel, which I do have beef with because I love sci-fi and I wish they had just picked a goddamn name for the planet besides "the pink planet." however! my beef is outweighed by how much I loved listening (audiobook so the lack of quotation marks wouldn't kill me) to the story unfold. The detail and pacing is absolutely perfect to me, and I really like protagonists that feel detached from the world because they're so single-minded (#relatable).
TLDR: This sci-fi-bitch-protagonist Jane Eyre retelling is just as deranged as the original and I loved it, though fuck Mr. Rochester now and forever <3
TLDR: This sci-fi-bitch-protagonist Jane Eyre retelling is just as deranged as the original and I loved it, though fuck Mr. Rochester now and forever <3
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Hmm, this wasn't quite what I expected and I really wish it had more of a definitive conclusion.
thank you to netgalley and random house for my gifted copy of “in the quick” by kate hope day in exchange for an honest review!
june, the niece of a beloved late engineer, attends the space training school named after her uncle who designed the failing fuel cells for a spacecraft lost and out of communication. after becoming one of the top students in her class, she is sent to be an engineer on a space station, but is continuously haunted by the mystery of the lost ship. she knows the crew is still alive, and is eventually forced to travel to the pink planet and work with her uncle’s former protégé, james, to fix the fuel cells. the two work together to solve the mystery of the ship and bring the crew home, despite the difficulties of their budding romance, even if it means risking everything.
i went into this book thinking it would be one thing, and i got something very different. but that’s not a bad thing. without spoiling too much, this book wasn’t really about the romance between june and james, at least it wasn’t to me. it is more about the way june grows from the time she is 12-years-old to the time she is a space engineer trying to save lives. it’s a unique coming-of-age story that offers much more than romance, as the blurb states.
the author beautifully builds multiple environments—the school, space station, pink planet—in a way that made me feel as though i was following june around in a space suit. the book’s comparison to “the martian” is pretty accurate, but with less technical jargon and more female empowerment.
my problem with this book is that the end felt a bit rushed—more or less the entirety of part 4. i wish there was more time to explore where the relationship between june and james really came from, and I was left with some questions about that and other things that would spoil things.
overall, i really enjoyed reading “in the quick.” it was an immersive exploration into a world that’s not often written about, and i loved watching june grow as an astronaut.
june, the niece of a beloved late engineer, attends the space training school named after her uncle who designed the failing fuel cells for a spacecraft lost and out of communication. after becoming one of the top students in her class, she is sent to be an engineer on a space station, but is continuously haunted by the mystery of the lost ship. she knows the crew is still alive, and is eventually forced to travel to the pink planet and work with her uncle’s former protégé, james, to fix the fuel cells. the two work together to solve the mystery of the ship and bring the crew home, despite the difficulties of their budding romance, even if it means risking everything.
i went into this book thinking it would be one thing, and i got something very different. but that’s not a bad thing. without spoiling too much, this book wasn’t really about the romance between june and james, at least it wasn’t to me. it is more about the way june grows from the time she is 12-years-old to the time she is a space engineer trying to save lives. it’s a unique coming-of-age story that offers much more than romance, as the blurb states.
the author beautifully builds multiple environments—the school, space station, pink planet—in a way that made me feel as though i was following june around in a space suit. the book’s comparison to “the martian” is pretty accurate, but with less technical jargon and more female empowerment.
my problem with this book is that the end felt a bit rushed—more or less the entirety of part 4. i wish there was more time to explore where the relationship between june and james really came from, and I was left with some questions about that and other things that would spoil things.
overall, i really enjoyed reading “in the quick.” it was an immersive exploration into a world that’s not often written about, and i loved watching june grow as an astronaut.