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3.46 AVERAGE
3.46 AVERAGE
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
challenging
emotional
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder
adventurous
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:
No
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Really good book! Only a 3.75 bc it reads as very YA in some parts. But wow, I really am going to keep an eye out for whatever else this author puts out!
Read in 19 hours at 0.6-0.7x speed.
Second read in 21.5h at 0.6 speed (feeling too fast)
Interesting/weird background space noises, loud enough to cover background noise on noise cancelling headphones but discreet enough to be barely audible on loudspeaker.
Mildly horrifying but interesting thoughts about genetics and magic but in a Sci fi setting. One character sounds like he might be trans or intersex because he lacks a Y chromosome but it's also never said explicitly why.
Second read in 21.5h at 0.6 speed (feeling too fast)
Interesting/weird background space noises, loud enough to cover background noise on noise cancelling headphones but discreet enough to be barely audible on loudspeaker.
Mildly horrifying but interesting thoughts about genetics and magic but in a Sci fi setting. One character sounds like he might be trans or intersex because he lacks a Y chromosome but it's also never said explicitly why.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Pregnancy
Moderate: Death
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
I wanted so badly to love this book. It has FANTASTIC bones. The universe Johnston built was fascinating and I was hooked so fast - and the first half of the book was truly a great opener, right up until we see Pendt escape the Harland and set foot on Brannick Station.
After than, everything falls neatly into place for Pendt, with virtually no setbacks, failures, or friction of any kind. Pendt doesn't even spend a single night on the station trying to make it on her own, her landing is immediately softened by the Brannick twins. Pendt easily becomes pregnant and ensures the Y chromosome the station so desperately needs, and conveniently is able to hold the pregnancy in stasis and be able to control the Well through the - well, not even a fetus, a fertilized egg - without actually having to deal with a pregnancy. Which honestly was a relief, I was really becoming uncomfortable with the idea of reading about Pendt being pregnant. She's 18 in the book but she reads very young.
The station is a veritable utopia of kindness and benevolence that is so hard to take seriously - there's no way that many humans in one place would be so easily won over and universally devoted. Ned's arc was entirely unsurprising and similarly unbelievable. Pendt's solution to the Harland's return, and the solution to the Brannick Y chromosome lock, was obvious.
It was crystal clear the author wouldn't let anything truly bad happen to anyone, let alone encounter any real road blocks. I supposed at a scant 250 pages, she didn't really have the room for it. Pendt's dark and traumatic childhood, while difficult to read, was setting up a very powerful story that did not have a powerful conclusion.
If this had been given another 100 pages it could have been magnificent.
After than, everything falls neatly into place for Pendt, with virtually no setbacks, failures, or friction of any kind. Pendt doesn't even spend a single night on the station trying to make it on her own, her landing is immediately softened by the Brannick twins. Pendt easily becomes pregnant and ensures the Y chromosome the station so desperately needs, and conveniently is able to hold the pregnancy in stasis and be able to control the Well through the - well, not even a fetus, a fertilized egg - without actually having to deal with a pregnancy. Which honestly was a relief, I was really becoming uncomfortable with the idea of reading about Pendt being pregnant. She's 18 in the book but she reads very young.
The station is a veritable utopia of kindness and benevolence that is so hard to take seriously - there's no way that many humans in one place would be so easily won over and universally devoted. Ned's arc was entirely unsurprising and similarly unbelievable. Pendt's solution to the Harland's return, and the solution to the Brannick Y chromosome lock, was obvious.
It was crystal clear the author wouldn't let anything truly bad happen to anyone, let alone encounter any real road blocks. I supposed at a scant 250 pages, she didn't really have the room for it. Pendt's dark and traumatic childhood, while difficult to read, was setting up a very powerful story that did not have a powerful conclusion.
If this had been given another 100 pages it could have been magnificent.
medium-paced
Loveable characters:
No
Just wasn't feeling it. I finished but it just kind of became background noise.
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Warning misleading tags! Not lgbtqia!
They can’t all be winners. I found much of this book problematic and mediocre. Writing was barely passable. Plot and characters was underdeveloped and unrealistic. E.K. Johnston should stick to Star Wars fan fiction where all the thinking and creativity has been done by others.
adventurous
dark
hopeful
inspiring
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
adventurous
dark
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No