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scifi_rat's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Body horror, Bullying, Death, Grief, Medical content, Gore, Murder, Confinement, Violence, Ableism, Torture, and Xenophobia
Minor: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Terminal illness, Cannibalism, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Genocide, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Sexual content
mlewis's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Death, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical content
Moderate: Torture, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Physical abuse, Ableism, Mental illness, and Medical content
Minor: Genocide and War
fahyhallowell's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Torture, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
v171'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
3.0
There was so much I really enjoyed about this story. The shifting perspective from present to past served as a great world building tool and character development device for Siri. I loved the character interactions and the unique character "quirks" for each of the crew (It took me a few chapters to actually realize what was going on with The Gang!). The writing was relentless with the technological terms: even from the beginning, so that took some getting used to. But the overall story was truly fascinating and kept me interested from about mid way when the forward momentum started to pick up. I loved loved loved how the aliens were described and ultimately ended up being. I found it to be the most likely case of first contact for humans, and the thesis of the over arching story was brilliantly executed.
My primary complaint with this book was just how damn preachy it grew to be! Initially, these large blocks of thematic heavy content was isolated to a few character monologues. However, toward the end of the book, whole chapters seemed to be devoted to the narrator simply info dumping philosophy to the reader without clearly tying it back into the story. I started to dread these sections of the text because they frequently occurred at the height of action. This was an..... interesting structural decision.
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Death, Gore, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Cancer and Cursing
Minor: Child death