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jalexand's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Suicide, Terminal illness, and Grief
ariep's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Grief, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Infidelity, Racism, Suicide, Medical content, Death of parent, and Classism
Minor: Pregnancy
bluejayreads's review against another edition
4.25
Graphic: Child death, Death, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Suicide, Terminal illness, and Death of parent
taybug0001's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
<SPOILER> Character Map:
1) 30,000 Years Beneath a Eulogy - Clara and her crystal pendant, Clara’s first Earth daughter, and Miki the artist
Minor: Animal death, Cancer, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Suicide, Terminal illness, Blood, Death of parent, and Pandemic/Epidemic
erinhunt's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- 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
4.75
Moderate: Child death, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, and Pandemic/Epidemic
catsy2022's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
A phenomenal audio production, each chapter has a new narrator and is fully cast (no audio effects though). Incredibly weird in some chapters, otherwise very interesting and emotional.
How High We Go In the Dark (HHWGITD) is a science fiction dystopian novel of humanity and the Earth recovering after a pandemic released from melting polar ice. Each chapter focuses on a character integral to the change in the planet, and then subsequent chapters follow people connected to their family. The first chapter about the father of Clara, a scientist who fell to her death in the Antarctic, was so emotional and moving. The final chapter, as well, was strangely dream-like and brings the entire story full circle.
This is essential reading for people looking for sensitive and unusual science fiction, relevant to our lives today.
Graphic: Child death, Suicide, Terminal illness, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Animal death
shigai's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Child death and Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Suicide
pcalves's review against another edition
- 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? N/A
3.5
Graphic: Suicide
purplatypus's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Terminal illness, Medical content, Grief, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Body horror, Cancer, Suicide, and Death of parent
Minor: Pregnancy
erebus53'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
5.0
I picked up this book as a buddy read from book club. As an audiobook it differed from so many books in English with many Japanese names and words by having narrators who were of Japanese descent and who could actually pronounce Japanese.. SUCH a relief! Being able to understand what people are saying is really hard when they are approximating and getting half the words so mangled it's inaudible.
This is a deeply emotional book, that I think you can only get the most out of if you invest in it. Each section of the book is from a different view point (stitched together like short stories) and they are all subtly connected which makes it really rewarding when you realise what those connections are. Each personal viewpoint deals with grief. The world depicted is stricken by a plague that is bigger and weirder than anything humanity has yet experienced. It takes our current experiences and racks the intensity to 11.
In a world that develops fun ways to enjoy euthanasia *wince*, and novel traditions for remembering and celebrating the lives of those we have lost, this story spans centuries. In so doing it deals with the loss and displacement caused by illness, ecological instability, and human affected climate change - wildfires, flooding, mass extinction... and the hopes that humanity has for colonising space in ways that will not displace indigenous life out there.
Some of the science is .. unlikely but not completely outside the bounds of possibility. You have to strap on those Suspenders of Disbelief (+4) to embrace some of the ideas about Roswell, and cryptids - but some of the heroic characters are steeped more in the idea of believing that things might be true until they can be falsified... which allows them to believe things that seem improbable.
Major themes involve the focus on family, on long-term planning and, the things that are so important that we can't be there for our children. Unlike adventure stories of the past where fathers are absent seeking glory, this deals a lot with mothers who have to step away from family obligations for a Greater Purpose, and the grief and strife that causes.
Honestly.. I am the right agegroup that most of the music talked about in this story is familiar to me. That anchors the story emotionally. There is a lot of painting and art in the narrative as well.. which highlights the creativity of humanity, and the ways that we process grief and nostalgia, and how we chronicle our history. I bawled my eyes out in many different chapters. I found this really beautiful fiction and though not all the science was airtight I will borrow the saying from Amanda Tapping "that's why they call it sci - FI". The emotional resonance makes it highly enjoyable so I'll give it a 5.
Graphic: Death, Drug use, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Abandonment and Colonisation
Minor: Sexual content and Stalking