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schnaucl's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
I really enjoyed this book. The characters and the setting were both very interesting, the aliens were actually very alien.
I really hope there are more books in this seriesthough I wonder how it will work if the station is running at normal capacity since it seems like maybe the station would know immediately who the murderer is. Though the second epilogue suggests not, but not why the station wouldn't know since she was able to piece things together after she had a compatible host.
I really hope there are more books in this series
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gore, Blood, Violence, Xenophobia, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Cancer, Drug use, Medical content, Death of parent, Physical abuse, and Death
local_hat's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Absolutely did not go where I expected it to. And there were so many satisfying "oh SHIT" moments. Really excellent. It very much starts slow, and you catch yourself wondering why so much of the stuff that's in there is in there, and then the last third is SO fast, and so much "oh MY GOD!!" as the pieces start falling. It will be very interesting to see where the next book goes. Also I very intensely love the cover.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, and Body horror
Moderate: Racism, Death, Drug use, Drug abuse, Death of parent, Alcohol, Gun violence, Gaslighting, Xenophobia, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Colonisation, Murder, and Medical content
readundancies's review
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
So I think 2022 is The Year of Sci-Fi just kicking ass and taking names for me and I am here for it.
Because I really enjoyed this sci-fi mystery moment.
The highlight for me was the worldbuilding. The worldbuilding was so well developed and while it did make the pacing a little inconsistent (the beginning felt rather slow in comparison to the action-packed and wildly quick pace of the latter half), I was so thoroughly hooked by the worldbuilding. The Gneiss and Gurudev and Phantasmagore and Sundry and Silence, and the sentient space station/ships of Eternity and Infinity - so imaginative, so gripping, so interesting. I’ve never come across a series of alien species interacting with humans on an isolated sentient space station in the manner that they’re depicted in this story and I think the mystery aspect was the perfect framework to implement it all.
The characters paled in comparison to the world-building but that’s more because this is definitely a plot-driven story. But I still really liked all of the characters. There were quite a few to finagle, and I don’t think that helped matters when it came to character development, but the limited glimpses we got of the characters were pretty great. I think I would’ve liked this even more if there was a romantic element incorporated with our two lead characters, Xan and Mallory, which is sort of implied and could be cultivated as the series progresses. But the diversity with respect to race, sexual orientation, age, etc. of the cast of characters was so seamlessly integrated without feeling forced and there were some great personalities to explore, with Mrs. Brown and Calliope being a couple of my favourites.
And the way that the mystery and plot kind of converged at the end worked really well with the incredibly fast pace as we got to the conclusion. It wasn’t about any plot twists that stood out for me, it was how it all came together at the end, because the number of connections between Xan and Mallory and the shuttle of human passengers that end up boarding Eternity was a lot.
I will definitely be continuing on with this series just so I can immerse myself in this world again, and definitely encourage anyone who’s a fan of fast paced sci-fi mysteries with aliens and military involvement to try this one.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Terminal illness, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Violence, Physical abuse, Death of parent, Death, and Blood
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