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

A nice read but definitely a solid 3 star - I wasn't overwhelmed or underwhelmed in any way.

I liked the overall theme of the novella, and what we saw of the characters, but sometimes the scientific info dumps felt misplaced and took away from the story.

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pastelkerstin's review

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emotional inspiring reflective relaxing medium-paced

Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

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jehansflowers's review

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adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

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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horizonous's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? N/A
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

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ohlhauc's review

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fast-paced

Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

This was an enjoyable, light read. The writing was poetic and yet accessible, and the descriptions of each planet the team of four visits were enchanting. There were two things that didn't work for me.

The first is character development. The author does a precise and excellent job at giving each character a clear personality and while they each showed differing responses to stress, overall I felt the characters were flat. They didn't grow throughout the narrative and significant emotional moments were quickly brushed over. While compartmentalization would be unexpected during space exploration, the lack of exploration into the characters' motives, reasons, or thoughts to the situation at hand made me feel disconnected. Like their bodies were suspended in a torpor state, it felt like their emotional and character growth were too.

Second, the novella brought up fascinating themes and questions like the nobility of science, the point of discovery and exploration, the drawbacks of corporate or government-initiated science programs, the destructive impact of contact, and more. Unfortunately, these ideas were not fleshed out or deeply discussed as the characters focused on their reactions to the humdrum and occasional chaos of exploration.

Overall, the premise for this story was amazing and the writing was top notch but it was too short. As a result, ideas and characters were only half-baked, and that's a shame.

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usedtotheweather's review

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adventurous hopeful reflective medium-paced

Strong character development? No
Diverse cast of characters? No

3.0

A more dry, though still vividly imagined, prequel novella to her Wayfarers series. The character development and story arc are secondary to the descriptions of planet discovery and the gentle narration of ethical extraterrestrial discovery. Fun to see hints of what might be intelligent species millennia later in the novels.

Also included in the ebook: a conversation with her scientific consultant, who is also her mom.

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sarah984's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional inspiring fast-paced

Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

This is a neat little novella written as a transmission from a long-term space exploration mission back to the citizens of earth. I loved the way this was written. The prose is beautiful, the ideas are interesting, and each character gets a chance to shine despite the short length.

The ending didn't quite work for me and there was a portion around the third planet they visited that dragged a bit, but I would still highly recommend this.

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v171's review

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adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective relaxing sad medium-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I really enjoyed every part of this book, cover to cover. It's impressive how the author was able to fit an excellent story, excellent setting, and excellent characters with excellent arcs in such a short book. While I wouldn't necessarily consider it "feel good" sci fi as I've seen some other reviewers call it, I thought the message was very poignant as a realistic near-future scenario.

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