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shmabbyabby's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- 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? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Body horror, Violence, and Child death
spaceycait's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
rae_swabey's review against another edition
4.0
The worldbuilding in this book is utterly epic. Living worlds made of blood and bone and flesh, inhabited by all-female humans who gestate and birth whatever the world needs, in between fighting bitter territorial wars and zipping about on living spacecraft wearing spray-on spacesuits. If there’s any other novel with a setting remotely like this, I haven’t come across it.
The story is told through two point-of-view characters, one of whom, Zan, has lost her memory. The situation and the mission these characters are on is gradually revealed, which kept me interested, but I didn’t find the characters as compelling as the world they occupied. And I found the whole thing about the metal arm a bit odd. In fact there were a couple of things I’m not sure I properly ‘got’.
But regardless, for anyone who likes their sci fi mind-blowing and thought provoking and gut-churningly viscerally gory - and why wouldn’t you?! - this is an absolute must-read.
The story is told through two point-of-view characters, one of whom, Zan, has lost her memory. The situation and the mission these characters are on is gradually revealed, which kept me interested, but I didn’t find the characters as compelling as the world they occupied. And I found the whole thing about the metal arm a bit odd. In fact there were a couple of things I’m not sure I properly ‘got’.
But regardless, for anyone who likes their sci fi mind-blowing and thought provoking and gut-churningly viscerally gory - and why wouldn’t you?! - this is an absolute must-read.
vespurr's review against another edition
5.0
Possibly one of the weirdest and most difficult to explain books I've ever read. This was also absolutely amazing in every way. I can't say enough wonderful things about an all-female, totally brutal, violent, insane, fever dream of a book set in space. Badass and incredible.
thescienceofcurls's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
makitacky's review
fast-paced
5.0
This book is disgusting, full of body horror, insects, fluids, cancer, pregnancy--half the time I was reading it my face was scrunched up--and I was absolutely obsessed with all of it. It made me feel so many things and I absolutely could not put it down.
stellarian's review against another edition
5.0
I'm not sure what to say about this. It's not the kind of book I would usually give five stars to, but in the end, it was a huge whirl of intense psychological and emotional manifestations, and that was really interesting and I admire Kameron Hurley for being able to do that. All of those lost memories and being thrust into the pit of the world (well, one of them) and then fighting to get between levels of the world while getting to know companions showing different aspects of what people are like... it's very, very much like a certain kind of therapeutic struggle.
I think she called this Womb Punk at one point, when she was talking about it? That's a very good genre description, with all the body horror that comes with it.
I think she called this Womb Punk at one point, when she was talking about it? That's a very good genre description, with all the body horror that comes with it.
noranne's review against another edition
3.0
I really wanted to love this book, but instead I just liked it. It has a very interesting premise that ultimately goes nowhere and means nothing. The characters never quite drew me in. There was a lot of telling of what the characters are like, while their actual actions tended to happen so quickly it was hard to really feel any impact from them. For example, it's constantly repeated I guess I just feel like the entire thing felt too shallow. The plot was a bit predictable and relatively meaningless , the characters were thin and cardboard , and the world-building had a lot of shock, ew, and awe factor but little depth .
Ah well. It's a quick read, and if you don't think about it too much, it can be fun.
Spoiler
how terrible Zan and Jayd are to each other, but we're never actually shown any example of Zan being all that terrible. In fact, Zan has a really strangely angelic character throughout the whole book.Spoiler
(why did they need to leave the Legion at all? If anything that's just going to make everything worse)Spoiler
(are we really supposed to believe that these random people Zan just happens to come across in the inner world are like family to her?)Spoiler
(where is the energy for these worlds coming from? what is powering the artificial sun? how do cogs that are birthed by human women roll themselves around? how does a human woman birth an entire new world anyway? how big are the ships and where is the gravity coming from? almost nothing about this makes any sense really)Ah well. It's a quick read, and if you don't think about it too much, it can be fun.