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beccaand'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? No
5.0
Graphic: Animal death, Confinement, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Suicide attempt and Grief
Minor: War, Medical content, Sexual content, and Death
alexalily's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Moderate: Animal death, Death, Suicide attempt, Animal cruelty, and Colonisation
marlandreads'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: Confinement, Mental illness, and Animal death
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Grief, and Death
alxjasper's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Minor: Death and Animal death
puttingwingsonwords's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Animal death and Confinement
Moderate: Death
Minor: Sexual content
iaraya'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? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Animal death
Moderate: Grief
Minor: Death, Body horror, War, and Death of parent
The space exploration mission lasts for 80 years. The characters deal with the fact that when they return, most people they know will be dead.lilly_anne's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Moderate: Animal death
Minor: Death and Grief
booksthatburn'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? No
4.5
Ariadne has strong bonds with her other three crewmates, singly and collectively. Their personalities come through very well and her interactions with them are a delight. They're all affected differently by certain plot events, despite being generally in the same situation as each other, and by the time things get stressful I had a enough of a sense of them to resonate with their reactions. The science explanations are just a much a part of the narrative as Ariadne's conversations with her team. Everyone's enthusiasm for their work makes this a delight to read.
Graphic: Animal death and Grief
Moderate: Medical content and Death
Minor: Ableism and Suicidal thoughts
skudiklier's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Graphic: Animal death and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Suicide attempt and Death
Minor: War
storykath's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
I am a big Becky Chambers fan - the Wayfarers series has a special place in my heart. To Be Taught isn't too far removed from Wayfarers, in that it's speculative, cozy sci-fi with diverse characters and engaging moral quandaries. That being said, To Be Taught doesn't quite live up to Wayfarers for me. I miss the multiple perspectives and lengthier narratives that get sacrificed in novella form. Some of the science is believable and well-explained, while other aspects feel less fleshed-out. For instance, the narrator Ariadne's role on the crew often feels contrived; she doesn't actually do much as the ship's engineer, which conveniently leaves her with plenty of opportunity to help the others and thus observe and narrate their actions. When she does act in her role, she can be indecisive and unscientific, with a lot of "probably"s and "I don't know"s that never get methodically addressed like I would expect.
As always with Becky Chambers, To Be Taught is an interesting, easy-to-read sci-fi that effectively uses outer space and science to reflect inwardly on humanity. While I can't rave as much about this novella compared to any of the Wayfarers books, I am still glad to have it on my shelf.
Graphic: Animal death and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Cursing
Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Death, Gun violence, and Sexual content