You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Scan barcode
laguerrelewis's review
- 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
2.75
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Drug use, Hate crime, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Cultural appropriation, Abandonment, and Classism
Moderate: Incest
kappafrog'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
3.25
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.
Graphic: Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Hate crime, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Cultural appropriation, and Colonisation
Moderate: Bullying, Genocide, Slavery, Xenophobia, Vomit, Medical content, Medical trauma, Car accident, Murder, War, and Classism
Minor: Body shaming, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Dementia, and Sexual harassment