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pm_me_book_recs's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
This wasn't quite for me. I was excited to get into a SciFi prose novel, but it was really tough to read some sections due to the formatting clashing with my dyslexia. The cadence was off and the meter non-existent, it read like a novel with excessive sentence breaks.
The story itself felt cold and the characters never really grabbed me. The main character was hard to relate to for me, and the big religious shift in the middle was off-putting and, I don't know... contrived? It felt weird to have the MC be a body purist, but then be fine and dandy with hundreds of years of cryo-sleep?
I did like the bit from Catherine's perspective; it drug on for a bit too long, but the wrap up at the end of the chapter was really beautiful. The artwork within is lichen or mold focused and fit the mood wonderfully. There were some big David Lynch vibes during the more horror oriented parts, and I just wanted the whole thing to hold that energy.
I would recommend this to readers who enjoy nature writing and poetry, that can also dig a little weirdness and horror, who don't shy away from big Christian questions and themes.
Thank you NetGalley for approving me for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
The story itself felt cold and the characters never really grabbed me. The main character was hard to relate to for me, and the big religious shift in the middle was off-putting and, I don't know... contrived? It felt weird to have the MC be a body purist, but then be fine and dandy with hundreds of years of cryo-sleep?
I did like the bit from Catherine's perspective; it drug on for a bit too long, but the wrap up at the end of the chapter was really beautiful. The artwork within is lichen or mold focused and fit the mood wonderfully. There were some big David Lynch vibes during the more horror oriented parts, and I just wanted the whole thing to hold that energy.
I would recommend this to readers who enjoy nature writing and poetry, that can also dig a little weirdness and horror, who don't shy away from big Christian questions and themes.
Thank you NetGalley for approving me for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Death, Gore, Blood, Body horror, Medical content, Genocide, Religious bigotry, and Violence
ramreadsagain's review
adventurous
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Thank you to Titan Books for sending me a copy of this book. Calypso is out on the 2nd of April.
This is a sci-fi story in verse about a voyage to colonise a new planet far away from Earth. Our main character Rochelle awakes from cryostasis after an unspecified number of years (but implied several centuries) and has to work out what has been happening to the crew (as things are not as she expected) while coming to terms with the fact that the family she left behind is long dead.
Reading this was a very unique experience. I have very little experience with poetry so I can't really tell you if it was "well-written" or not, though at times I did get the impression it was slightly style-over-substance. It's not 'easy' to read but usually flowed very well once you established a rhythm.
That being said, I really liked how the 4 different POVs had different verse styles in terms of metre and how it was presented on the page. Catherine's in particular was very beautiful.
In terms of the content, it's all fairly standard sci-fi; questions of ethics, religion, technology, nature vs nurture, and fundamentals of humanity.
Overall, this was enjoyable and I liked how it dealt with the above themes. I did struggle with the format a bit and wish it had delved deeper into some aspects.
This is a sci-fi story in verse about a voyage to colonise a new planet far away from Earth. Our main character Rochelle awakes from cryostasis after an unspecified number of years (but implied several centuries) and has to work out what has been happening to the crew (as things are not as she expected) while coming to terms with the fact that the family she left behind is long dead.
Reading this was a very unique experience. I have very little experience with poetry so I can't really tell you if it was "well-written" or not, though at times I did get the impression it was slightly style-over-substance. It's not 'easy' to read but usually flowed very well once you established a rhythm.
That being said, I really liked how the 4 different POVs had different verse styles in terms of metre and how it was presented on the page. Catherine's in particular was very beautiful.
In terms of the content, it's all fairly standard sci-fi; questions of ethics, religion, technology, nature vs nurture, and fundamentals of humanity.
Overall, this was enjoyable and I liked how it dealt with the above themes. I did struggle with the format a bit and wish it had delved deeper into some aspects.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Genocide, Grief, and War
Minor: Terminal illness
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