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ejjuchau's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-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
4.5
happitybookie's review
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
spookyoh's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
The politics were incredibly confusing, but I really enjoyed the romance! The ending made me want to throw the book. I was left with more questions than answers. It should have been marketed as a series rather than a standalone.
Critical score: 3
Fun score: 4
Critical score: 3
Fun score: 4
elliott_roi's review against another edition
4.5
Earthflown is a riveting blend of sci-fi, fantasy, and mystery. I enjoyed the worldbuilding, the complexity of all the characters, and how there weren't really any right answers in the end.
damien666's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
medium-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
4.75
opalmars's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
What a strange little book. This book isn’t for everyone. Honestly, describing it after I finished it, it doesn’t seem like it’d be for ME. But I actually really enjoyed it! This is definitely a unique book, and I’d recommend it if it seems like something you’d enjoy!
STORY:
❖ I don’t really know how to describe the plot of this book because, in reality, there really isn’t one. 😅 You’d think that would be a problem, but honestly?? I was here for it! This book ended up really working for me, even though there wasn’t really a “proper plot” and not a lot of resolution in the end. There are politics, inequality, medical drama, murder mysteries, investigations and a lot of other interesting aspects, but, mostly, this story is about interpersonal relationships. And I actually really enjoyed it!
❖ The political aspect of this book was a bit confusing at first for my small brain, but I actually ended up really appreciating it. It wasn’t necessarily a main plot point; it was more something that was always there, in the background, influencing the characters’ decisions and actions. I would like to see how that aspect of the story wraps up (need the sequel asap!!).
❖ I reeeeally enjoyed the setting! This futuristic London was so interesting, and everything was introduced into the story in a very natural way. The way food was grown, not born; the water crisis; the flooded city being split into Levels to accommodate everyone, some people having powers… it was all so cool! And it really enhanced the story! This book seems quite simple, since we’re mostly focused on people’s relationships and drama, but having such a unique world with so many problems and political issues made the story much more intriguing.
CHARACTERS & ROMANCE:
❖ I really enjoyed the characters! Even the bad ones were really well written and portrayed, and you could easily understand why they acted the way they did. I think they were all really well written. My only issue is that I’d want to see more of some of these characters haha (especially Nick).
❖ One of the 3 MCs is Ethan, a doctor with rare healing powers. He’s perpetually tired and very negative. I thought he was a really interesting character, and I especially enjoyed seeing him struggle with his job as a healer. What I disliked about Ethan was the way he treated Nick… 😟 I completely understood Ethan’s abandonment issues and his propensity to self-sabotage as a way to cut his losses before he got hurt (as I already mentioned, the characters were well-written, and their actions well-explained). However,,,,,,, dear lord. Poor Nick 😭. I still can’t believeNick still loved Ethan even after he started dating Jav without cutting his and Nick’s 2-year-long-no-strings-attached-situationship! And Nick loved Ethan enough to TAKE THE BLAME FOR HIM IN A MURDER????? Bro, Nick deserved SO MUCH BETTER!!! 😭💔 I NEED book 2 NOW so I can see more of Nick!!!!!!! (he’s apparently gonna be a focus of book 2!)
❖ Our 2nd MC is Jav, one of the heirs to an insanely wealthy pharmaceutical corporation, Arden Pharma. Jav is extremely sweet and I really liked him! I especially liked seeing his internal struggles with being an empath. His relationship with his sister Rina was also super intriguing! His love for Rina made a lot of sense, especially since she’d always protected him. Seeing him slowly realize Rina is kind of crazy, but not wanting to give up on their relationship was really fascinating. I really hope to see more of their sibling dynamic in the sequel.
❖ Ethan and Javier’s romance wasn’t my favourite, at first. Don’t get me wrong; it IS a VERY realistic way to start a relationship – they found each other cute, decided to go on a couple of dates, kissed after a handful of dinners. It’s definitely how a lot of relationships start irl! However, *I* personally prefer to see characters getting to know each other first, and only then deciding to date. I just thought that the start of Ethan and Jav’s relationship was too quick, and I wish it’d had more development. With that said, I did enjoy them, once they got together! They were very sweet! 🥺
❖ The 3rd and final MC is Oliver, a journalist who is set on finding out what happened to Tim Hersch, who was suspiciously killed at the beginning of the story. Ollie is dating Ethan’s bff Vegas, and he works with Ethan’s dad, which means he’s often around our other MCs. Ollie’s investigation creates such an interesting dynamic in the story! Rina Arden and her colleague Peter are responsible for Tim’s murder; Jav would do anything to protect his sister (and is kind of blinded by his love for her); Ethan falls for Jav and refuses to see Ollie’s very valid points whenever he finds something suspicious about the Ardens. It was so amazing (and INFURIATING) to see Ollie being right about pretty much EVERYTHING in his investigation, but seeing every other character either doubting him, or actively lying and working against him! 😫 Omg Ollieeeee!!! You are RIGHT!!!! One day I hope people see it (even though that will mean some of our other MCs will get in trouble lol). 😣🤞🏻 I also have to say that Ollie’s chapters were quite intriguing for me, because WE already know what happened to Tim, so we’re basically following a detective trying to find answers we already have. But I still enjoyed his POVs! I wasn’t bored reading his part of the story; I was just excited for people to finally believe him lol. I hope in book 2 Ollie’s investigative work and the Hersches get some justice!
CHARACTERS & ROMANCE:
❖ I read this as an ebook, but the physical version has 60+ illustrations, and based on what I’ve seen on the author’s and the illustrator’s pages, the art is absolutely STUNNING! I think reading this physically would definitely enhance the experience!
❖ I liked the LGBT rep!
❖ Even though this story is a mishmash of genres, doesn’t have a clear plot, and doesn’t have resolution, I still really enjoyed it, and I’d definitely recommend it if it sounds interesting to you! I’m excited for the sequel!
STORY:
❖ I don’t really know how to describe the plot of this book because, in reality, there really isn’t one. 😅 You’d think that would be a problem, but honestly?? I was here for it! This book ended up really working for me, even though there wasn’t really a “proper plot” and not a lot of resolution in the end. There are politics, inequality, medical drama, murder mysteries, investigations and a lot of other interesting aspects, but, mostly, this story is about interpersonal relationships. And I actually really enjoyed it!
❖ The political aspect of this book was a bit confusing at first for my small brain, but I actually ended up really appreciating it. It wasn’t necessarily a main plot point; it was more something that was always there, in the background, influencing the characters’ decisions and actions. I would like to see how that aspect of the story wraps up (need the sequel asap!!).
❖ I reeeeally enjoyed the setting! This futuristic London was so interesting, and everything was introduced into the story in a very natural way. The way food was grown, not born; the water crisis; the flooded city being split into Levels to accommodate everyone, some people having powers… it was all so cool! And it really enhanced the story! This book seems quite simple, since we’re mostly focused on people’s relationships and drama, but having such a unique world with so many problems and political issues made the story much more intriguing.
CHARACTERS & ROMANCE:
❖ I really enjoyed the characters! Even the bad ones were really well written and portrayed, and you could easily understand why they acted the way they did. I think they were all really well written. My only issue is that I’d want to see more of some of these characters haha (especially Nick).
❖ One of the 3 MCs is Ethan, a doctor with rare healing powers. He’s perpetually tired and very negative. I thought he was a really interesting character, and I especially enjoyed seeing him struggle with his job as a healer. What I disliked about Ethan was the way he treated Nick… 😟 I completely understood Ethan’s abandonment issues and his propensity to self-sabotage as a way to cut his losses before he got hurt (as I already mentioned, the characters were well-written, and their actions well-explained). However,,,,,,, dear lord. Poor Nick 😭. I still can’t believe
❖ Our 2nd MC is Jav, one of the heirs to an insanely wealthy pharmaceutical corporation, Arden Pharma. Jav is extremely sweet and I really liked him! I especially liked seeing his internal struggles with being an empath. His relationship with his sister Rina was also super intriguing! His love for Rina made a lot of sense, especially since she’d always protected him. Seeing him slowly realize Rina is kind of crazy, but not wanting to give up on their relationship was really fascinating. I really hope to see more of their sibling dynamic in the sequel.
❖ Ethan and Javier’s romance wasn’t my favourite, at first. Don’t get me wrong; it IS a VERY realistic way to start a relationship – they found each other cute, decided to go on a couple of dates, kissed after a handful of dinners. It’s definitely how a lot of relationships start irl! However, *I* personally prefer to see characters getting to know each other first, and only then deciding to date. I just thought that the start of Ethan and Jav’s relationship was too quick, and I wish it’d had more development. With that said, I did enjoy them, once they got together! They were very sweet! 🥺
❖ The 3rd and final MC is Oliver, a journalist who is set on finding out what happened to Tim Hersch, who was suspiciously killed at the beginning of the story. Ollie is dating Ethan’s bff Vegas, and he works with Ethan’s dad, which means he’s often around our other MCs. Ollie’s investigation creates such an interesting dynamic in the story! Rina Arden and her colleague Peter are responsible for Tim’s murder; Jav would do anything to protect his sister (and is kind of blinded by his love for her); Ethan falls for Jav and refuses to see Ollie’s very valid points whenever he finds something suspicious about the Ardens. It was so amazing (and INFURIATING) to see Ollie being right about pretty much EVERYTHING in his investigation, but seeing every other character either doubting him, or actively lying and working against him! 😫 Omg Ollieeeee!!! You are RIGHT!!!! One day I hope people see it (even though that will mean some of our other MCs will get in trouble lol). 😣🤞🏻 I also have to say that Ollie’s chapters were quite intriguing for me, because WE already know what happened to Tim, so we’re basically following a detective trying to find answers we already have. But I still enjoyed his POVs! I wasn’t bored reading his part of the story; I was just excited for people to finally believe him lol. I hope in book 2 Ollie’s investigative work and the Hersches get some justice!
CHARACTERS & ROMANCE:
❖ I read this as an ebook, but the physical version has 60+ illustrations, and based on what I’ve seen on the author’s and the illustrator’s pages, the art is absolutely STUNNING! I think reading this physically would definitely enhance the experience!
❖ I liked the LGBT rep!
❖ Even though this story is a mishmash of genres, doesn’t have a clear plot, and doesn’t have resolution, I still really enjoyed it, and I’d definitely recommend it if it sounds interesting to you! I’m excited for the sequel!
m_rst's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-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
4.0
olivedean's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-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
4.75
Somehow, I simultaneously cannot sing enough praises regarding Earthflown and am unable to put into words how I feel about it to accurately convey how much it has ruined me. It’s one of those books where I forgot I was reading and stopped counting page numbers. I dreaded this book ending but couldn’t put it down. And though some readers may not be particularly fond of this style of ending, some will be content being left with that perfect ache of wanting a little bit more. I fall into the later group. That ending will haunt me, and that’s exactly what I’m looking for in a book: being left a little bit feral for more to the point where you can’t get it out of your mind for a long time.
I typically dislike books with multiple POVs, but that is not the case here. I thoroughly enjoyed all three and each had their own particular voice. Jav and Ethan’s POVs were obviously my favorite; they were angsty/fluffy sweet romance breaks and then we went back to Ollie’s POV to move the plot along with intrigue and humor.
This book is described as a genre mashup/genre soup, and it feels like two books in one but that works unbelievably well. I may be slightly biased in that they’re my two favorite genres: analyses of intimacy outside of the physical and philosophical sci-fi.
Ethan, Jav, and Ollie are all absorbed by their jobs/functions/assumed roles, and this book takes you on their journeys as they wrestle with what that means and can they set that aside for those who are important to them? Ethan and Jav ultimately decide they can, while Ollie cannot. What we don’t know is how that ends up impacting Ethan and Jav, but we already know who they are at their cores, so we can very much speculate that no matter what happens, they’ll fight side by side for each other.
This book devoured me, and I’m sure the in universe sequel will do the same. I went through so many tabs annotating. Earthflown is my favorite read of 2024 so far, and anything else will be hard pressed to compare. All of this to say, Frances Wren, if you write something, I will absolutely read it.
vicerry's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-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
5.0
What the fuck I’m not okay
magnus_iskander_reim's review against another edition
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
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? It's complicated
3.5