Reviews with content warning for Animal cruelty - To Be Taught, If Fortunate

Reviews tagging 'Animal cruelty'

To Be Taught, If Fortunate by Becky Chambers

19 reviews

onthesamepage's review against another edition

tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

My feelings about this little novella went from, "oh, this beginning is intriguing," to "this is a lot of science and I'm not sure how much I care about it, hopefully something else happens soon," and finally to "this is horrible I feel so tense wtf is happening." It definitely took me on a journey.

The first half is pretty slow, but after that the tension steadily builds until I had a knot in my stomach. I'm sure for scientists the climax and the reason for how this book starts is very exciting, but I will admit I was expecting something a bit more bombastic as the driver for this novella. So all in all, this was a slow start, great middle, and the very end was kind of lackluster. Definitely worth a read, though, since it's pretty short.

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animalculum's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful informative inspiring mysterious medium-paced

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? No

5.0

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depmythmoon's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging informative lighthearted reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.5

The novella follows 4 astronauts: Ariadne (the FMC whose name I’m still unsure how to pronounce), Jack, Chikandi, & Elena. They are sent on a mission to study planets beyond Earth’s solar system. Their trip there takes them 14 years—though they have something called ‘torpor’, which is similar to cryosleep without the ice; it slows their aging so that it’ll feel more like 2 years for them. The mission they’re on will last them a total of 80 years, but they get communications from Earth to hear about what happens in their absence.

This novella isn’t like your typical story that is action-packed or full of twists and turns. It’s not meant to be that, I’m sure. Rather than tell you of some alien that challenges the crew or life or death scenarios, this novella is more of a slice-of-life for astronauts. If you’ve ever been curious about the profession and what it entails, this will be the book for you. We keep track of the discoveries the group makes and get some detailed explanations of how they have to categorize this new information. So, if you’re jumping into this novella expecting a tale of alien civilizations or conquering planets, this may not be the read for you.

I wasn’t expecting it when I started reading, so I did find myself a bit bored for the first 50 or so pages, but I did get more enjoyment from it when the main conflict is introduced. The real enjoyment came when the story was ending. This is a novella that aims to make you think, and it leaves you pondering if the pursuit of knowledge is worth it. I love when reads make me question things in real life, so I found that the ending gave me a second wind of enjoyment. This novella also touches on our, human, impact on the environment. It points out that while there are dangers to us in new environments, we also have to recognize the dangers we cause knowingly and unknowingly. I enjoyed it.

Overall, the majority of the content in this book is mundane and tame compared to other books in the sci-fi genre, but the thoughtfulness and introspection it leaves you with are worth the read, in my opinion.

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lynxpardinus's review

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adventurous emotional reflective

4.5

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wickedgrumpy's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Listened to this as an audiobook during a road trip and it kept me engaged the entire time. I don't think that this will be enjoyed by all since for a sci-fi it focuses more on the crew and slice-of-life moments, rather than the planets they explore, and the discoveries they make.

It does bring up the topic that there is a lot to be said about the ethics of science and experimentation. I think it all can be boiled down into something along the lines of having good intentions does not inherently guarantee that anyone/thing remains unharmed in the end or even in the midst of the process. This is true for the scientists themselves and/or their subjects.

Becky Chambers has done an excellent job of making distinct and memorable characters that feel real because the book runs the gamut of human emotions. There's quite a bit of existential dread, and it can be rather heavy at times, but it also has it's moments of fun, enchantment, excitement, joy, and happiness.

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thoseoldcrows23's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

If you told me you hate Becky Chambers’ books because you found them boring I’d probably just say “fair enough.” This is essentially slice-of-life sci-fi, and I suspect (know, really) that that is not going to work for a lot of people. However, I personally absolutely love the way Chambers crafts characters and builds worlds. Something about her books just feels so comforting and cozy to me. They feel familiar even though I’ve never read them before, and I can’t help but love them. This book in particular I didn't like quite as much as The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet, but I chalk that up mostly to this being a novella and me not having as much time with the characters. Effectively ,this is not a book for everyone (it's kind of slow, and it's much more concerned with theme than with plot), but it is very much for me.

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