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uranaishi's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Animal death, Blood, Classism, Suicide, Violence, Sexual content, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Death, and Medical content
purplepenning's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.25
What a little fascinator this is! It's a gas-lamp Holmesian mystery fantasy set on a gas giant of a planet in a cozy dystopian future. I know, but really. The Mimicking of Known Successes presents a sort of sliding-scopic story of preservation, conservation, and growth that plays out on personal, institutional, and planetary levels. There's so much to unpack in this deceptively sparse tale. Perfect for a winter's evening.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Blood
Minor: Confinement and Cursing
caseythereader's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
Thanks to TorDotCom for the free advance copy of this book.
- I didn't know I needed a cozy mystery set on Jupiter, but now that I've read THE MIMICKING OF KNOWN SUCCESSES, it's kind of all I want in my life.
- This book is a good little whodunit, and the world it's set in is quite well-thought out and real feeling for a novella.
- I loved the tentative, slow beginning of a second chance romance between Mossa and Pleiti (did I mention this is also a sapphic story?), with each of them pleased to discover how the other has both changed and stayed the same.
- A second installment in this series has already been announced, and I can't wait to get my hands on it.
- I didn't know I needed a cozy mystery set on Jupiter, but now that I've read THE MIMICKING OF KNOWN SUCCESSES, it's kind of all I want in my life.
- This book is a good little whodunit, and the world it's set in is quite well-thought out and real feeling for a novella.
- I loved the tentative, slow beginning of a second chance romance between Mossa and Pleiti (did I mention this is also a sapphic story?), with each of them pleased to discover how the other has both changed and stayed the same.
- A second installment in this series has already been announced, and I can't wait to get my hands on it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Murder, Death, and Injury/Injury detail
annaonthepage's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Violence and Injury/Injury detail
laurareads87's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
mysterious
fast-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
4.0
The description of this book as “a cozy Holmesian murder mystery” is apt — The Mimicking of Known Successes elaborates a mystery with several twists and turns and a fully resolved conclusion. For me, where the book shines is in its worldbuilding — here, humans live in a colony made up of a series of platforms on Jupiter, having rendered the Earth’s environment uninhabitable. They dream of returning to Earth someday, and different schools of thought have emerged on how soon and how best this might happen. When a researcher goes missing, investigator Mossa calls on scholar Pleiti, her former partner, to help her navigate the university and interview the missing man’s colleagues. Older has developed a world that is compelling and original, with much attention to detail concerning the colony’s structure, attitudes, and varied priorities. I don’t know that I would call this a “romance” so much as a story following two awkward former lovers reconnecting under somewhat strange circumstances; I found the relationship between Mossa and Pleiti less interesting than the world and the mystery, though I did really like both characters independent of each other. I will definitely be checking out more of Malka Older’s work having enjoyed this novel very much.
Content warnings: violence, injury detail
Thank you to NetGalley, Macmillan-Tor/Forge, & Tordotcom for providing an ARC in exchange for this review.
Content Warnings
Minor: Violence and Injury/Injury detail
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