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3.46 AVERAGE
3.46 AVERAGE
While I did enjoy this book and found the world interesting, I felt like the book was way too short and left too much unexplored to really leave much of an impact. I think everything just happened too quickly and didn’t allow for much tension to build, so I wasn’t able to really connect to the characters. I wish this was a much longer epic space opera that explored the dynamic between the stations and the Stavengers I feel like that would have been a great story, but unfortunately this just left me feeling like there was a lot missing.
As always, thank you to @Netgalley and @PenguinTeen for the #gifted e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!
As always, thank you to @Netgalley and @PenguinTeen for the #gifted e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!
ok this was a pretty good book. I've loved all of EK Johnston's work so far and this one was no exception. It wasn't my favorite necessarily, but it was very good. On a side note, I have an eating disorder, and this book was really hard to read in parts, so if you have an eating disorder i strongly recommend caution.
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I was here for the space vibes and the space vibes alone.
The inner fold of the book jacket summarized the entire first third of the book and offers so much exposition that it is borderline painful to get through. It took me about four days to finish and it was truly a mission to get through as no part of me wanted to finish this novel. It had a couple of relatable moments that personally affected me and gave it some redeemable qualities. Rather than a sci-fi novel (which is what was advertised to me and what I wanted to read) you get a pasted together found-family with a main protagonist who was terribly abused as a child. As a survivor of abuse, Pendt Harland sometimes struck a chord within me. As a reader, I do not think I can recommend this to anyone in good faith. I might donate it to a local Little Free Library, but I want no more of this.
This is a very interesting concept and interesting story. They did a good job on the audiobook production as well. However, there is a key moment that the character chooses to do something and it just seemed to go against everything we know of her. It took nearly the whole story to explain why she made the choice and the whole time it just felt like a forced decision.
The interesting concept and writing make this book an interesting read.
The interesting concept and writing make this book an interesting read.
Tried listening to the audiobook and I just couldn’t get into it. I have the physical book in storage somewhere, so I’m going to try again when I find it.
A- : I mean, it’s not like E. K. Johnston has ever disappointed me, but this one was very good.
Pendt Harland and her family are long-haul spacers, in a world where everyone has to earn the oxygen and food they consume - and Pendt, who has useless gene-magic, can’t earn hers. When she finally escapes to Brannick Space Station and meets brothers Ned and Fisher, she realizes just how insidious her family’s abuse was, and that she’s worth more than she let herself believe.
This is one of the most chilling descriptions of abuse I’ve ever read, largely because it never crosses into the cartoonishly evil. Pendt’s family is cruel, but they and Pendt believe they’re doing what is necessary, which provides this whiplash that makes you even more freaked out.
It’s also a strange sort of novel, in that it doesn’t follow any typical 3-act structure, is on the shorter side, and sits astride the young adult and adult age demographics. The pacing isn’t bad, but it does feel strange - I think lengthening the second half would have fixed it.
That just contributes to how unique it is - Johnston always delivers something totally different from her previous works and any that have come before. It means sometimes that you like some of her books and not others, but I very much liked this one.
If you’re burnt out on typical sci-fi and fantasy stories and want new types of characters (Pendt especially), settings that combine sci-fi with magic, and a quieter, more personal sort of plot, highly recommend.
The ending seems to suggest there’s another book happening in this world - I’m looking forwards to it. Johnston has created a fascinating world here and I can’t wait to see more than the tiny slice we were exposed to.
Plot: pacing was weird, but not bad. I think it would have benefited from a bit more length in the second half, once they’re on Brannick station. It would have turned this into a book about healing from abuse (as opposed to a book where the abuse happens for the first half and the healing in the second, where it’s equally about both) and made the final action and developing relationships of the story feel less rushed.
Characters: Pendt is my girl. She’s practical and charming and deeply traumatized - it sounds callous to say it’s interesting, but it is. I’ve never read of a character quite like her. I want her to tell me about her day and to give her cake to eat. I liked Fisher as well, and thought that the villains were excellent. I wouldn’t have minded more time spent on the romance, but liked how quiet it was compared to the main focus on Pendt.
Setting: interesting. Johnston keeps us in such a small amount of this world, and Pendt’s own relative ignorance means we don’t find out much more. I’d be really interested to find out about the vast galactic empire just beyond the reach of the space stations, but still influencing their everyday lives.
Prose: nothing to report. The books is divided into parts and each uses a song lyric, though, which took me right out of the book. One second I’m reading a space opera and the next Johnston is quoting Panic! At the Disco.
Diversity report: well-written women, a trans love interest.
Pendt Harland and her family are long-haul spacers, in a world where everyone has to earn the oxygen and food they consume - and Pendt, who has useless gene-magic, can’t earn hers. When she finally escapes to Brannick Space Station and meets brothers Ned and Fisher, she realizes just how insidious her family’s abuse was, and that she’s worth more than she let herself believe.
This is one of the most chilling descriptions of abuse I’ve ever read, largely because it never crosses into the cartoonishly evil. Pendt’s family is cruel, but they and Pendt believe they’re doing what is necessary, which provides this whiplash that makes you even more freaked out.
It’s also a strange sort of novel, in that it doesn’t follow any typical 3-act structure, is on the shorter side, and sits astride the young adult and adult age demographics. The pacing isn’t bad, but it does feel strange - I think lengthening the second half would have fixed it.
That just contributes to how unique it is - Johnston always delivers something totally different from her previous works and any that have come before. It means sometimes that you like some of her books and not others, but I very much liked this one.
If you’re burnt out on typical sci-fi and fantasy stories and want new types of characters (Pendt especially), settings that combine sci-fi with magic, and a quieter, more personal sort of plot, highly recommend.
The ending seems to suggest there’s another book happening in this world - I’m looking forwards to it. Johnston has created a fascinating world here and I can’t wait to see more than the tiny slice we were exposed to.
Plot: pacing was weird, but not bad. I think it would have benefited from a bit more length in the second half, once they’re on Brannick station. It would have turned this into a book about healing from abuse (as opposed to a book where the abuse happens for the first half and the healing in the second, where it’s equally about both) and made the final action and developing relationships of the story feel less rushed.
Characters: Pendt is my girl. She’s practical and charming and deeply traumatized - it sounds callous to say it’s interesting, but it is. I’ve never read of a character quite like her. I want her to tell me about her day and to give her cake to eat. I liked Fisher as well, and thought that the villains were excellent. I wouldn’t have minded more time spent on the romance, but liked how quiet it was compared to the main focus on Pendt.
Setting: interesting. Johnston keeps us in such a small amount of this world, and Pendt’s own relative ignorance means we don’t find out much more. I’d be really interested to find out about the vast galactic empire just beyond the reach of the space stations, but still influencing their everyday lives.
Prose: nothing to report. The books is divided into parts and each uses a song lyric, though, which took me right out of the book. One second I’m reading a space opera and the next Johnston is quoting Panic! At the Disco.
Diversity report: well-written women, a trans love interest.
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated