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shelvesofivy's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Body shaming, Blood, and Violence
Moderate: Grief, Racism, Alcohol, and Fatphobia
Minor: Alcoholism, Colonisation, War, and Death of parent
electricute's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Kidnapping, Pandemic/Epidemic, Racism, Colonisation, Classism, and Gun violence
bookish_bry's review
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This book was easy to read and rarely bored me, though it had some flaws. To be fair, part of it may be because I am probably getting out of the age range it was intended for.
It could be a bit repetitive at times, and I often wished it would leave a bit to the imagination. I feel like Joy and Felix's pasts and motivations were often revealed too quickly. There was quite a bit of telling and not showing with the internal dialogue and it left very little to surprise me. Even the plot twists ofFelix's parentage was something I predicted pretty much immediately. I would have preferred the main villain to have been... a bit better cloaked instead of immediately blatantly obviously the bad guy.
Though overall, I do think it was a good book and one I would suggest to someone who likes young adult fiction. Like I said, I was rarely bored. I also appreciate the rather casual lgbt+ representation. In a book that did focus on a heterosexual (though I think Joy is demi and Felix is bi/pan) couple, it's always nice to see lbgt+ relationships just casually in the background.
It could be a bit repetitive at times, and I often wished it would leave a bit to the imagination. I feel like Joy and Felix's pasts and motivations were often revealed too quickly. There was quite a bit of telling and not showing with the internal dialogue and it left very little to surprise me. Even the plot twists of
Though overall, I do think it was a good book and one I would suggest to someone who likes young adult fiction. Like I said, I was rarely bored. I also appreciate the rather casual lgbt+ representation. In a book that did focus on a heterosexual (though I think Joy is demi and Felix is bi/pan) couple, it's always nice to see lbgt+ relationships just casually in the background.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation, Misogyny, Alcoholism, Classism, Fatphobia, Murder, Alcohol, Body shaming, Kidnapping, Racism, Religious bigotry, and Sexism
Moderate: Death, Torture, War, and Death of parent
Minor: Homophobia
psistillreadyou's review against another edition
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder and Death
Moderate: Fatphobia, Body horror, and Alcoholism
Minor: Racism, Gun violence, Death of parent, Police brutality, Mental illness, and Islamophobia
sunlit_music's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-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
4.75
I love this book, it's so filled with love, tenderness and warmth. Felix and Joy make each other feel safe and loved, and there's so much mutual pining and gentleness. This is a book about love - love between parents, love between friends, and romantic love - how love between Felix and Joy survives and wins.
Alechia Dow writes about grief, depression, racism and classism with sensitivity, tact and understanding. This book is an underrated gem. If you haven't read it yet, please do. You can buy the audiobook online on google play or from booktopia, or the book depository website. You can even ask your local library to order it in.
I keep wanting to yell, "Joy loves you, Felix!" He's so oblivious and so sweet.
My favourite Felix lines:
- "Technology doesn't do enough on this planet." (Felix commenting on brushing his own teeth).
- "I have to moisturise my own skin." (Felix!!! *rolls around laughing*)
- "Joy dresses to fade into the background when she is too beautiful not to be in the spotlight." (Awww.... *heart melts*)
- "I let my face fall into her hands." (Aww...)
- "I give people my sad eyes. That normally works on guards and people who don't want me to have fun." (Felix is too hilarious!)
My favourite lines from Joy:
- "Here, things are different. Here, I can just be Joy."
- "Sarah...is not privy to my inner thoughts. Which is nice." (Relatable!)
- "I've never seen him do something he doesn't want to do for this long." (Joy, on Felix).
World building - The world is set in the future, on different planets, including earth. All the different planets have distinct cultures, landscapes, technology and traditions. I like how the world building is believable and well told, and it's refreshing and fun to see earth from the eyes of characters who don't live on earth.
Plot and pacing - The plot flows smoothly and logically, and is interesting to read. Pacing alternates between being fast in action scenes, and slow in slice of life scenes. But the pace is always appropriate, and never too fast or too slow. The fast pace in action scenes allows me to appreciate the action, and the slow pace in character bonding scenes helps me enjoy and like the character interactions more. I'm always a lover of slice of life scenes, and this book has plenty of them in spades.
Characters - It's the characterisation that's the star of the show. Joy and Felix are both loveable and relatable, and an absolute delight to read about. Their families are interesting too, and their friends are fantastic.
Representation - Joy is a plus size, Black demisexual girl.
Felix is a Black, biracial, and a pansexual guy. There are BIPOC and queer side characters too. Representation is depicted tactfully and naturally.
Voice acting for the audio book - voice acting is phenomenal, and adds even more enjoyment to the book! This book is great no matter what, but the audiobook is fantastic because of the talent and range of the voice actors/narrators. Dominique Moore and Amin El Gamal are both brilliant as voice actors, and sound believable, warm, charismatic and sweet.
Ending - The ending is hopeful, and worth it!
Alechia Dow writes about grief, depression, racism and classism with sensitivity, tact and understanding. This book is an underrated gem. If you haven't read it yet, please do. You can buy the audiobook online on google play or from booktopia, or the book depository website. You can even ask your local library to order it in.
I keep wanting to yell, "Joy loves you, Felix!" He's so oblivious and so sweet.
My favourite Felix lines:
- "Technology doesn't do enough on this planet." (Felix commenting on brushing his own teeth).
- "I have to moisturise my own skin." (Felix!!! *rolls around laughing*)
- "Joy dresses to fade into the background when she is too beautiful not to be in the spotlight." (Awww.... *heart melts*)
- "I let my face fall into her hands." (Aww...)
- "I give people my sad eyes. That normally works on guards and people who don't want me to have fun." (Felix is too hilarious!)
My favourite lines from Joy:
- "Here, things are different. Here, I can just be Joy."
- "Sarah...is not privy to my inner thoughts. Which is nice." (Relatable!)
- "I've never seen him do something he doesn't want to do for this long." (Joy, on Felix).
World building - The world is set in the future, on different planets, including earth. All the different planets have distinct cultures, landscapes, technology and traditions. I like how the world building is believable and well told, and it's refreshing and fun to see earth from the eyes of characters who don't live on earth.
Plot and pacing - The plot flows smoothly and logically, and is interesting to read. Pacing alternates between being fast in action scenes, and slow in slice of life scenes. But the pace is always appropriate, and never too fast or too slow. The fast pace in action scenes allows me to appreciate the action, and the slow pace in character bonding scenes helps me enjoy and like the character interactions more. I'm always a lover of slice of life scenes, and this book has plenty of them in spades.
Characters - It's the characterisation that's the star of the show. Joy and Felix are both loveable and relatable, and an absolute delight to read about. Their families are interesting too, and their friends are fantastic.
Representation - Joy is a plus size, Black demisexual girl.
Felix is a Black, biracial, and a pansexual guy. There are BIPOC and queer side characters too. Representation is depicted tactfully and naturally.
Voice acting for the audio book - voice acting is phenomenal, and adds even more enjoyment to the book! This book is great no matter what, but the audiobook is fantastic because of the talent and range of the voice actors/narrators. Dominique Moore and Amin El Gamal are both brilliant as voice actors, and sound believable, warm, charismatic and sweet.
Ending - The ending is hopeful, and worth it!
Content Warnings
Minor: Fatphobia, Kidnapping, Racism, and Classism
readingthroughinfinity's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
slow-paced
- 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? No
3.75
I loved the concept of this and I thought the way Joy and Felix's connection played into their romance was lovely. The romance itself is also very sweet and heartwarming to read; both main characters spend a good chunk of the book being quietly in love with each other, but not daring to share their feelings, so there's some top tier yearning in here.
I found the pacing of the middle third too slow and I think the ending was too rushed, but on the whole, I enjoyed this. I would have loved to see more mentions of Joy's aspec/demi identity, as I feel like this was dropped in near the end but not really discussed in much detail. But Joy was a great character and I especially liked the way she challenged people's fatphobia, racism and colourism (the social commentary was woven into the narrative really well, too).
I found the pacing of the middle third too slow and I think the ending was too rushed, but on the whole, I enjoyed this. I would have loved to see more mentions of Joy's aspec/demi identity, as I feel like this was dropped in near the end but not really discussed in much detail. But Joy was a great character and I especially liked the way she challenged people's fatphobia, racism and colourism (the social commentary was woven into the narrative really well, too).
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcohol, Colonisation, Racism, Violence, Body shaming, Classism, Fatphobia, and Kidnapping
Minor: Murder and War
swiftreader's review
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I don’t know why the rating is bad. I wish this was longer though, at least two books but oh well. I have so much to say but I’m def going to have to come back to leave a full review but let me tell you. I was swooning the whole time. Female lead is black male lead is middle eastern decent I believe.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Classism
Minor: Child abuse, Classism, Drug abuse, and Racism
One of the leads has a problem with alcohol. Classism is a big theme. Racism is also touched on.fiekesfiction's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I really love the concept of having people connected and able to read each others thoughts/ emotions and how well thought out that part of the worldbuilding was and how it is all tied into the history of their world.
I also love the casual demi/ ace and plus size representation. Although Felix was slightly annoying at times, his character made sense and I really liked their relationship.
Overall this was just a very enjoyable read and I would recommend it!
I did especially like the space/ scifi parts and felt like the pacing and overall tone was a bit too slow once they were on earth. Because at times it felt more like a contemporary drama as they were going to school. Which is fine, but can also become a tiny bit boring and predictable compared with the magical alien things that were going on before.
And although I completely agree with most of the criticism this book gives on humanity, I felt like it was very un-subtle. Sure, it makes sense for the aliens to be weirded out by those big horrible things, but I would have found it more interesting to show their reactions to more subtle things that are normalized and kind of give a new view on them. Whereas in this case it felt like they were just pointing out the obvious, preaching to the choir. (Or maybe I feel like having guns be legal is insane because I am not American and this is different and more radical for USA readers.)
I do really think these are important issues and since it is a YA book it is understandable for them to be brought up this way. And very good for these themes and problems to be discussed.
I also love the casual demi/ ace and plus size representation. Although Felix was slightly annoying at times, his character made sense and I really liked their relationship.
Overall this was just a very enjoyable read and I would recommend it!
I did especially like the space/ scifi parts and felt like the pacing and overall tone was a bit too slow once they were on earth. Because at times it felt more like a contemporary drama as they were going to school. Which is fine, but can also become a tiny bit boring and predictable compared with the magical alien things that were going on before.
And although I completely agree with most of the criticism this book gives on humanity, I felt like it was very un-subtle. Sure, it makes sense for the aliens to be weirded out by those big horrible things, but I would have found it more interesting to show their reactions to more subtle things that are normalized and kind of give a new view on them. Whereas in this case it felt like they were just pointing out the obvious, preaching to the choir. (Or maybe I feel like having guns be legal is insane because I am not American and this is different and more radical for USA readers.)
I do really think these are important issues and since it is a YA book it is understandable for them to be brought up this way. And very good for these themes and problems to be discussed.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping
Moderate: Fatphobia
Minor: Mass/school shootings, Racism, and Gun violence
chippyreads's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
medium-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? It's complicated
5.0
demi MC, on page
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Sexism, and Misogyny
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Kidnapping, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Body shaming, Classism, Death of parent, War, Colonisation, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Alcohol, and Infertility
theespressoedition's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
medium-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? No
5.0
Please allow me to give a wild round of applause to Alechia THE ABSOLUTE QUEEN OF SCI-FI Dow. I don't know how, but she's done it again, and done it SO DARN WELL at that. I have been anxiously anticipating this book release and the second it was available at my library, I checked it out, ready to devour it. And that's exactly what I did. I seriously didn't want to put it down.
If you've read The Sound of Stars, you'll get to enjoy some really fun cameos in this book. That made me so, so happy because I loved that book so much and I had a little bit of hope inside me that there would be references to it. I was definitely not disappointed!
Okay, let me try and convince you to read this the best way I know how - a list:
- phenomenal diversity... like truly gorgeous. I couldn't get enough of the cast of characters and how wildly different they all were from each other - and how that made them all the more wonderful.
- totally immersive atmosphere... I was physically sitting in my bed, but I was mentally on another planet (or multiple planets) and it was easy to picture how everything looked because of the wonderful way it was written.
- mentions of my favorite authors... there was a literal LIST of authors at one point that made me want to weep with joy because it included so many of my favorites - some of which I'm even friends with!
- best friends-to-lovers + forbidden love... and of course this equals a lot of drama but also a lot of emotion and really just the best kind of feels. I was rooting for our protagonists from the get-go because they were just so dang precious I couldn't even handle it.
- TAYLOR SWIFT... you might be like "what???" but if you read it, you'll get it. If you like Taylor Swift, you'll like this book.
If that doesn't convince you, I'm not entirely sure what will. Hopefully, you pick this up because it instantly went on my list of favorites for not only 2022, but of all time!
If you've read The Sound of Stars, you'll get to enjoy some really fun cameos in this book. That made me so, so happy because I loved that book so much and I had a little bit of hope inside me that there would be references to it. I was definitely not disappointed!
Okay, let me try and convince you to read this the best way I know how - a list:
- phenomenal diversity... like truly gorgeous. I couldn't get enough of the cast of characters and how wildly different they all were from each other - and how that made them all the more wonderful.
- totally immersive atmosphere... I was physically sitting in my bed, but I was mentally on another planet (or multiple planets) and it was easy to picture how everything looked because of the wonderful way it was written.
- mentions of my favorite authors... there was a literal LIST of authors at one point that made me want to weep with joy because it included so many of my favorites - some of which I'm even friends with!
- best friends-to-lovers + forbidden love... and of course this equals a lot of drama but also a lot of emotion and really just the best kind of feels. I was rooting for our protagonists from the get-go because they were just so dang precious I couldn't even handle it.
- TAYLOR SWIFT... you might be like "what???" but if you read it, you'll get it. If you like Taylor Swift, you'll like this book.
If that doesn't convince you, I'm not entirely sure what will. Hopefully, you pick this up because it instantly went on my list of favorites for not only 2022, but of all time!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Fatphobia, and Misogyny
Moderate: Colonisation, Death, Racism, Gun violence, and Violence
Minor: War