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galaxsea's review against another edition
Intriguing recommendation, but more interested in other things at the moment. May return to it another time
mrschy's review
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
mcf's review against another edition
5.0
I enjoyed the hell out of this book. Skrutskie very effectively creates her sterile future "world" (really a fleet of city-sized spaceships), and slowly leads her reader -- and the characters -- into conflict, through revelations, and to a sort of resolution. He two central characters are fully realized, and the unrelenting physicality of the lives as mech/human hybrids is present on every page. In addition, as befits a future world (don't tell all the creators who think the future is entirely white, cis, and straight), a range of sexualities, religions, and ethnicities are represented as a matter of course.
I particularly appreciated the development of the relationship between the main characters, including the fact that it's made clear very early that romance isn't part of the picture. In addition, Skutskie doesn't shy away from death, and the book's high body count is a logical representation of the stakes at work for the main characters.
tl;dr: Admit it, your daily life is sadly lacking in space opera. Hullmetal Girls will correct that problem and then some.
I particularly appreciated the development of the relationship between the main characters, including the fact that it's made clear very early that romance isn't part of the picture. In addition, Skutskie doesn't shy away from death, and the book's high body count is a logical representation of the stakes at work for the main characters.
tl;dr: Admit it, your daily life is sadly lacking in space opera. Hullmetal Girls will correct that problem and then some.
charvi_not_just_fiction's review
4.0
I absolutely loved this book- the characters, worldbuilding, plot and pacing- everything!
To start off with, we have the best cast of characters in Aisha the emotional and loyal one who will do anything for her family, Key who has zero memories and a lot of anger and determination to be he best and umm two other characters who I felt were slightly less developed which is probably why I've forgotten their names so easily. And let's not forget the Chancellor who was probably my favourite character.
The truth is that at the beginning I was very confused about the world and it took me a long time to realise the were travelling different spaceships. But I loved the writing style as well as the pacing of the book. No matter how confusing at times this book had me totally hooked. That said it dies take some time to get to the actual plot and Key's identity reveal didn't have that much of an effect because umm we weren't given a background about it earlier in the book so yeah I wish that had been more fleshed out along with the two Scela sidekicks' characters.
Also while this book shows a great narrative about religion and how teens should or should not keep onto their identities according to their faith and wishes, the LGBTQ rep isn't that good. I mean I read this for AspecApril, a readathon for aro and ace characters and even though Aisha said she is aro it's never discussed? Like it legit ends in two sentences and we never get to see her thoughts on it or anything actually.
So yeah, this book was good but could have been a bit better.
To start off with, we have the best cast of characters in Aisha the emotional and loyal one who will do anything for her family, Key who has zero memories and a lot of anger and determination to be he best and umm two other characters who I felt were slightly less developed which is probably why I've forgotten their names so easily. And let's not forget the Chancellor who was probably my favourite character.
The truth is that at the beginning I was very confused about the world and it took me a long time to realise the were travelling different spaceships. But I loved the writing style as well as the pacing of the book. No matter how confusing at times this book had me totally hooked. That said it dies take some time to get to the actual plot and Key's identity reveal didn't have that much of an effect because umm we weren't given a background about it earlier in the book so yeah I wish that had been more fleshed out along with the two Scela sidekicks' characters.
Also while this book shows a great narrative about religion and how teens should or should not keep onto their identities according to their faith and wishes, the LGBTQ rep isn't that good. I mean I read this for AspecApril, a readathon for aro and ace characters and even though Aisha said she is aro it's never discussed? Like it legit ends in two sentences and we never get to see her thoughts on it or anything actually.
So yeah, this book was good but could have been a bit better.
gilmoremk's review
3.0
Solid body horror, but otherwise pretty lackluster. The 'people vs. evil powerful leaders' story was a bit unfocused, and the queer rep was handled poorly.
bergamotandbooks's review
3.0
3.5 ⭐️
I ended up liking this a lot more than I thought I would - although it took almost half the book to really hook me in. The idea of the Scela was intriguing but I struggled to fully picture them in my mind throughout most of the book. I also much preferred Key's narrative!
I ended up liking this a lot more than I thought I would - although it took almost half the book to really hook me in. The idea of the Scela was intriguing but I struggled to fully picture them in my mind throughout most of the book. I also much preferred Key's narrative!
jugglingpup's review
3.0
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So here is the thing, this book was just ok. There is no way around it. There were some really cool ideas, but they stopped just at the point of being ok.
This book is super queer, but also not queer at all. There is a trans woman who has at least one sexual encounter with a pan cis man. It is mostly joked about and nothing is really said after that scene outside of maybe a hint of loyalty. They weren’t into each other, it happened to test their new bodies. One of the main characters is aroace. Her sexuality and romantic identity comes up only to assuage the others that she won’t have sex, then nothing. I was super happy to see that she was aro and female. That is not really portrayed. I was just let down that it was just a small detail and then never really got brought up again. Then the other character didn’t specify a sexuality or a gender identity, it was all taken away from her with her memories. There are hints that she is into men, but what that really means is not addressed. So it felt like diversity for diversity sake and not like a true integration into the story. Their sexuality was brought up in a really forced way and then was quickly forgotten.
The plot was interesting, but just ok. There is the whole dystopian vibe, but it never quite goes far enough. When it starts to, the story switches to resolution immediately. I felt like I was continuously let down by the details of the rebellion. There was just so much missing that there really was no drama or intrigue. It felt like a super basic dystopian novel that really needs more to it. There was no clear reasons that the rebellion exists. There are hints here and there like the class system imposed by the ships, but that is just mentioned. It isn’t really shown. I was tired of being told things.
Overall, the book was ok. It wasn’t amazing and it wasn’t bad. The ideas were cool. I would have loved this book if it just took every idea just a step or two further. Give me that drama. Give me that queer. Give me something I will remember in a few weeks.
So here is the thing, this book was just ok. There is no way around it. There were some really cool ideas, but they stopped just at the point of being ok.
This book is super queer, but also not queer at all. There is a trans woman who has at least one sexual encounter with a pan cis man. It is mostly joked about and nothing is really said after that scene outside of maybe a hint of loyalty. They weren’t into each other, it happened to test their new bodies. One of the main characters is aroace. Her sexuality and romantic identity comes up only to assuage the others that she won’t have sex, then nothing. I was super happy to see that she was aro and female. That is not really portrayed. I was just let down that it was just a small detail and then never really got brought up again. Then the other character didn’t specify a sexuality or a gender identity, it was all taken away from her with her memories. There are hints that she is into men, but what that really means is not addressed. So it felt like diversity for diversity sake and not like a true integration into the story. Their sexuality was brought up in a really forced way and then was quickly forgotten.
The plot was interesting, but just ok. There is the whole dystopian vibe, but it never quite goes far enough. When it starts to, the story switches to resolution immediately. I felt like I was continuously let down by the details of the rebellion. There was just so much missing that there really was no drama or intrigue. It felt like a super basic dystopian novel that really needs more to it. There was no clear reasons that the rebellion exists. There are hints here and there like the class system imposed by the ships, but that is just mentioned. It isn’t really shown. I was tired of being told things.
Overall, the book was ok. It wasn’t amazing and it wasn’t bad. The ideas were cool. I would have loved this book if it just took every idea just a step or two further. Give me that drama. Give me that queer. Give me something I will remember in a few weeks.