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kappafrog's review against another edition
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- 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
3.25
This book was really different than I expected. I think classifying it as science fiction is misleading. It's fiction about science and scientists, but it is not speculative fiction.
I was so excited about this book and wanted to love it so much. The themes of Indigenous astronomy were really refreshing and I loved when they were introduced, but the book didn't go as far with them as I was hoping. I also thought the book was setting us up for much more of a political thriller than it turned out to be. The commentary and satire on settler-colonialism and space exploration was warranted and interesting, but I really wanted more to actually happen in the book besides characters reflecting on those topics.
Tshuma's writing is beautiful. There were so many passages that made me pause with their beauty. Tshuma has a lot of profound things to say about the world. The problem with this book was that there was hardly any plot at all.I was expecting all sorts of interesting, secretive things to be revealed about the Program befitting a sci-fi novel with hints of political thriller in its premise. Its ideas are so interesting, but they never really go anywhere. There are many lyrical passages about space, but there are no real "sci-fi" elements to be found here. The main downside of the writing was the dialogue, which often felt unrealistic. Characters talk around each other far more than they actually talk TO each other. I also was not a fan of the romance at all.
I think if you go in expecting science fiction, you will be disappointed, because the book is more about the limitations of the modern colonial science imagination and research landscape than the alternative possibilities Indigenous sciences could build. However, if you go in expecting a character study, there is a lot of good material here. The main character is very flawed yet very sympathetic; I had never read a character quite like her before. The story of her navigating between her mother's world in Zimbabwe and her father's adopted world in New York is poignant and interesting. I also liked reading about a character who suffers from migraines like I do.I thought maybe the Terrors would turn out to be a severe form of migraine like hemiplegic migraine, but they were never formally diagnosed. Still, the character does mention getting a migraine a few times in the book.
In spite of my criticisms of this book, there was a lot of beautiful writing and thought-provoking themes in this book. I look forward to reading more works by this author in the future.
I was so excited about this book and wanted to love it so much. The themes of Indigenous astronomy were really refreshing and I loved when they were introduced, but the book didn't go as far with them as I was hoping. I also thought the book was setting us up for much more of a political thriller than it turned out to be. The commentary and satire on settler-colonialism and space exploration was warranted and interesting, but I really wanted more to actually happen in the book besides characters reflecting on those topics.
Tshuma's writing is beautiful. There were so many passages that made me pause with their beauty. Tshuma has a lot of profound things to say about the world. The problem with this book was that there was hardly any plot at all.
I think if you go in expecting science fiction, you will be disappointed, because the book is more about the limitations of the modern colonial science imagination and research landscape than the alternative possibilities Indigenous sciences could build. However, if you go in expecting a character study, there is a lot of good material here. The main character is very flawed yet very sympathetic; I had never read a character quite like her before. The story of her navigating between her mother's world in Zimbabwe and her father's adopted world in New York is poignant and interesting. I also liked reading about a character who suffers from migraines like I do.
In spite of my criticisms of this book, there was a lot of beautiful writing and thought-provoking themes in this book. I look forward to reading more works by this author in the future.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Hate crime, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, and Sexual content
Moderate: Bullying, Car accident, Classism, Genocide, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Slavery, Vomit, War, and Xenophobia
Minor: Body shaming, Dementia, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, and Fatphobia
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