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thebakersbooks'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? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Child death, Pedophilia, Racism, Violence, Slavery, Death, Blood, Child abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual assault, Classism, Grief, Physical abuse, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Pedophilia, Transphobia, Blood, and Torture
Minor: Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Homophobia, Body shaming, Abortion, and Forced institutionalization
kwthor's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Violence, Sexual assault, Slavery, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Child death, Child abuse, Gun violence, Racism, Transphobia, Suicide, Mental illness, Hate crime, Domestic abuse, Classism, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Abortion, Cursing, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Self harm
Minor: Pedophilia and Death of parent
talonsontypewriters's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Murder, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Torture, Gore, Slavery, Blood, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Confinement, Toxic friendship, Religious bigotry, Classism, Death, Child death, Racism, Medical content, and Police brutality
Moderate: Self harm, Lesbophobia, Misogyny, Body shaming, Fire/Fire injury, Homophobia, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Transphobia, Gun violence, Suicide, Death of parent, Sexism, Abortion, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Dysphoria
Minor: Cancer, Pregnancy, Incest, Animal death, Vomit, Pedophilia, and Domestic abuse
hannah_a_r_teatalksbooks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Bullying, Mental illness, Child death, Confinement, Child abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Death, Murder, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Classism, Grief, Police brutality, Racism, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Toxic friendship, and Violence
Moderate: Rape, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, and Sexual assault
Minor: Incest and Pedophilia
wonderingintothevoid's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
4.25
Graphic: Religious bigotry, Sexual violence, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Violence, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Rape, Slavery, Racial slurs, Racism, Ableism, and Colonisation
Moderate: Sexual assault, Transphobia, Biphobia, Death, Pedophilia, and Toxic friendship
thestartrekunicorndog'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? No
5.0
Graphic: Racism, Violence, and Slavery
Moderate: Sexual assault, Child death, and Death of parent
Minor: Pedophilia
rcsreads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
The story of Aster learning about her mother through the journals she left behind started out so well and then kind of got lost later. We just dropped it for the middle of the book and then it reappeared at the end with a lot of solutions which clearly happened off page.
I could see why Giselle was there to show us the effects of trauma but i have no idea why she was Aster's friend, she seemed to hate her a lot and they had nothing in common apart from living on the same floor of the massive ship. I have no idea what the Lieutenants motives were, he was a cartoon villain who just decided one day that a random child was his nemesis and he was going to mess with her for the rest of his life.
It was very readable and I enjoyed it but this review seems to think otherwise...
Graphic: Medical trauma, Mental illness, Murder, Vomit, Medical content, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Torture, Toxic friendship, Violence, Abortion, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Classism, Colonisation, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Bullying, Child abuse, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Death, Gore, Homophobia, Suicide attempt, War, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Adult/minor relationship, Gaslighting, Hate crime, Self harm, Sexism, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, and Stalking
lim's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Classism, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Misogyny, Transphobia, Emotional abuse, Murder, Pedophilia, Violence, Racial slurs, Religious bigotry, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Torture, Police brutality, Racism, Rape, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Slavery
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Medical trauma, Lesbophobia, Confinement, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Dysphoria, Death, Body shaming, Bullying, and Incest
Minor: Abortion, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Terminal illness, and Vomit
emzhay's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Medical content, Suicide, Violence, Racism, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Child death, Suicidal thoughts, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Slavery, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Rape, Homophobia, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence
Minor: Pedophilia, Incest, Dysphoria, Abortion, and Terminal illness
tigger89's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Anyway. There were a lot of ways this book could have gone wrong. The concept of "antebellum slavery recreated aboard a generation ship in transit" was ambitious, and I can think of few other authors who could have done it justice — N.K. Jemisin, perhaps? Jemisin wouldn't have done the character work in the same way though, so it would have been a very different book. I thought the level of scientific crunch was perfect for the story Solomon was trying to tell. The science seemed mostly sound to my layman's understanding(with the exception of the siluminium), but rather than taking on a starring role it formed the backbone that supported the main point of the story, which was about the society that relied on that science to survive.
My only complaint about this book is that the pacing gets a little weird in the last third. A lot of time passes, but the plot remains urgent, so there's some very weird time skips that leave the narrative feeling disjointed, even rushed at times. But this only brings the overall score down to maybe a 4.75, so I rounded it up. If you're someone who likes your sci-fi with science that at least puts up a pretense of being grounded in fact, but who still prefers a focus on character and society over hard scientific crunch, the style of this book would probably appeal to you. Just be mindful of the content warnings, as there's quite a lot of them and Solomon pulls no punches.
Graphic: Child death, Death, Homophobia, Misogyny, Slavery, Transphobia, Violence, Religious bigotry, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, Racism, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Abortion, Blood, Classism, Death of parent, Child abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Medical content, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, and Sexual content
Minor: Suicide, Alcohol, Pedophilia, and Pregnancy