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mar's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
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? Yes
4.0
this book was a lot of fun!!! loved how it seemed like hard sci-fi and science fantasy simultaneously. but it did Not need to be 880 pages long. anyway gregorovich my beloved <3
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Gore, Blood, Confinement, Medical trauma, and War
Moderate: Sexual content, Torture, and Vomit
Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Child death, Body shaming, and Pregnancy
categalafassi's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, Torture, War, Murder, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Genocide, Death, Colonisation, and Blood
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Fatphobia, Pregnancy, and Body shaming
elthechameleon's review against another edition
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
This book is really interesting. It's wildly different than Paolini's Inheritance cycle, and it seems to blend a variety of different sci-fi, fantasy, and fiction conventions. His use of "exeunts" between chapters and systems shows the influence from his unsuccessful playwriting endeavors, and yet, it helps with the pacing of the book. I've read that some think this is a sluggish read, but for me, the balance between fast and slow pace feels apt for this particular story, using playwriting conventions to set up every action scene.
The main character of the story is a Latina woman, but the inclusivity in this book doesn't feel robust. The writing also feels rather male-focused, as Kira develops relationships with primarily two male characters, Gregorivich and Falconi (aka Salvo) but doesn't develop any deep female friendships. The queer couple in the book is casually mentioned (at an attempt at normalization?), and Kira's family is always on the periphery of the story without getting any fleshed-out details. As a result, Kira's primary relationships are to two male characters, even becoming intimate with one of them. It feels limiting. And, the voice does not feel so different from that of Eragon's, only mentioning her "parts down there" in an early scene to remind us that Kira is female-identifying. The take on gender in this book also feels a little neoliberal. The alien species' focus on two-forms being ship minds and bipedal humans renders gender an afterthought, but gender norms nonetheless feel very classically reinforced. I feel like Paolini could have done a bit more with this. The ending with Kira becoming this Gaea-like god for the entire universe is disappointing. She becomes defined by reproductive power, instead of transcending it with the possibility for a post humanist feminist theory (see Donna Haraway's A Cyborg Manifesto. In that regard, gender defines the future, instead of being something to transcend. . Despite that, I've read some reviews that find the banter of the characters to be childish or out-of-place. I'd disagree. There seems to be a realness in Paolini's writing when it comes to camaraderie and humor. It's easy to dismiss that as low-hanging dialogue fruit, but it resembles a lot of the silly merriment of real friend groups. And that's commendable. I'm satisfied with this book. It didn't feel long. The pacing was really enjoyable. And, it is very well-researched, making it feel like I'm diving into a world already there, in which Paolini has fully fleshed out the edges and spots that never make it into the narrative at all.
Despite the drawbacks, I found myself really enjoying this book, especially Paolini's commentary at the end. For what it is, it's really beautiful.
The main character of the story is a Latina woman, but the inclusivity in this book doesn't feel robust. The writing also feels rather male-focused, as Kira develops
Despite the drawbacks, I found myself really enjoying this book, especially Paolini's commentary at the end. For what it is, it's really beautiful.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, and Gore
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide attempt
Minor: Ableism
forthesanityof1's review
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
Quarantine read!
I was super excited to read this since it was from the dragon god himself, Christopher Paolini. I pre-ordered my copy so far in advanced I actually forgot about it and almost bought it twice by accident. The premise sounded so interesting I was beyond happy to finally have the motivation to tackle it.
However.
While the world building was amazing, that was largely the only positive point I had for the book. I found all the characters to be one-dimensional and had a difficult time sinking into the story. It feels like it lacked emotional depth the entire way through except maybe the last 100 pages. I only maintained interest because I got to the halfway point and the plot finally gave me something interesting to hold onto with the Jellies. The character interactions themselves were superficial and did not inspire feelings of closeness between them to me. This led to me not giving a shit about any of the characters. The only ones I cared about were the entropists and Gregorovich. Everything else felt disjointed. There was a single section where the author added in a half page of dialogue about some politics that had literally never been mentioned before that point (think it was about 500 or 600 pages in) and was never mentioned again. Even in the beginning before plot occurs, Kira and Alan don't feel close or connected. I dont know, it might just be me. My other huge problem revolved around Kira herself. I love selfish characters or ones that choose to do things for reasons other than "what is morally right" but I could not get a read on Kira's motives at all. I didn't understand why she did what she did. She didn't come off as much of a scientist, either. It's like she has no personality, and yes, I know that's an issue with female narrators, I'm very aware of it; but the fact remains that Kira didn't matter to me. I felt no connection, no empathy, for her experiences. In addition, there were moments with Kira that took me completely out of the narrative. One example is whenKira first looks at herself in the mirror after obtaining the Soft Blade and is so repulsed by her form that she wonders how someone will ever love her "in that way." That being the first thing a female character thinks after enduring an alien parasite attaching itself to her, murdering her fiance and crew, and being tortured by some government doctor seems a little male-gaze centered to me. In addition, the Soft Blade actually being a life-giver and being called the "Seed" literally made my skin crawl when it was revealed. . Additionally, there were some weird moments of bullying and body-shaming that occurred for seemingly no reason at all,, which bothered me immensely when they happened. Overall, not super happy with this but I will still give his next book in the series a shot and hope for something a little more complex regarding the characters.
I was super excited to read this since it was from the dragon god himself, Christopher Paolini. I pre-ordered my copy so far in advanced I actually forgot about it and almost bought it twice by accident. The premise sounded so interesting I was beyond happy to finally have the motivation to tackle it.
However.
While the world building was amazing, that was largely the only positive point I had for the book. I found all the characters to be one-dimensional and had a difficult time sinking into the story. It feels like it lacked emotional depth the entire way through except maybe the last 100 pages. I only maintained interest because I got to the halfway point and the plot finally gave me something interesting to hold onto with the Jellies. The character interactions themselves were superficial and did not inspire feelings of closeness between them to me. This led to me not giving a shit about any of the characters. The only ones I cared about were the entropists and Gregorovich. Everything else felt disjointed. There was a single section where the author added in a half page of dialogue about some politics that had literally never been mentioned before that point (think it was about 500 or 600 pages in) and was never mentioned again. Even in the beginning before plot occurs, Kira and Alan don't feel close or connected. I dont know, it might just be me. My other huge problem revolved around Kira herself. I love selfish characters or ones that choose to do things for reasons other than "what is morally right" but I could not get a read on Kira's motives at all. I didn't understand why she did what she did. She didn't come off as much of a scientist, either. It's like she has no personality, and yes, I know that's an issue with female narrators, I'm very aware of it; but the fact remains that Kira didn't matter to me. I felt no connection, no empathy, for her experiences. In addition, there were moments with Kira that took me completely out of the narrative. One example is when
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Chronic illness, Death, Gore, Torture, and Violence
plantbasedbride's review
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
When Kira discovers an ancient alien relic while on a scientific mission, the xenobiologist's life is forever altered.
To Sleep in a Sea of Stars started off strong. In fact, the first few chapters were my favourite of the entire novel and immediately drew me in. Sadly, with a few exceptions, it was all downhill from there.
I'll start with the good.
The discovery of the xeno and the early development of its nature and abilities. I loved how we learned of the xeno and I was intrigued by its purpose and origins. I couldn't wait to untangle the mystery! Sadly, the more we learned the less I cared. Paolini took the xeno in a decidedly fantastical direction that was at odds with the setting and expectations set forth by his work.
Gregorivitch. He is the star of this novel. I pretty much only finished it because of him. He is 100% responsible for at least one extra star in my rating. I would let him call me his spiky meatbag anytime! The only way I'd consider reading a sequel is if it's all Gregorivitch all the time.
The narrator of the audiobook. They did a fantastic job.
And... oh. I guess that's it for the good.
And then there's the bad.
Kira. She's our protagonist, and yet we know very little about her. She's incredibly one dimensional and not particularly interesting outside of the circumstances she has found herself in. I would much rather read a book about Gregorivitch (as previously stated).
The oh-so predictable romance between our self-insert protagonist and the roguish captain of a ship with a ragtag yet lovable crew.
The awkward dialogue where everyone starts each sentence with "[my name], here..." and ends every other sentence with "..., also." This got seriously irritating after several hundred pages.
The many space battles that bled into each other after a while and added nothing to the plot or character development.
The "our MC is actually basically a God/chosen one and is the only one who can save the entire universe!" trope, which I hate with a burning passion.
And an added dose of victim blaming (of a character being bullied by fellow crewmates) and body shaming (in regard to scars).
Oh, and it was easily 500 pages too long.
Listen, despite all my issues with this one I did enjoy it, for the most part. There were some interesting ideas (though none were fully developed), there were some loveable side characters, and I love sci-fi enough that I just enjoyed being in space for a while. But this is certainly not one of the better sci-fi novels I've read, and I don't plan on continuing with the series (if it in fact becomes one).
VIDEO REVIEW: (coming soon)
You can find me on...
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/plantbasedbride">Youtube</a> | <a href="https://www.instagram.com/elizabethturn/">Instagram</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/ElizabethTurn">Twitter</a>
To Sleep in a Sea of Stars started off strong. In fact, the first few chapters were my favourite of the entire novel and immediately drew me in. Sadly, with a few exceptions, it was all downhill from there.
I'll start with the good.
The discovery of the xeno and the early development of its nature and abilities. I loved how we learned of the xeno and I was intrigued by its purpose and origins. I couldn't wait to untangle the mystery! Sadly, the more we learned the less I cared. Paolini took the xeno in a decidedly fantastical direction that was at odds with the setting and expectations set forth by his work.
Gregorivitch. He is the star of this novel. I pretty much only finished it because of him. He is 100% responsible for at least one extra star in my rating. I would let him call me his spiky meatbag anytime! The only way I'd consider reading a sequel is if it's all Gregorivitch all the time.
The narrator of the audiobook. They did a fantastic job.
And... oh. I guess that's it for the good.
And then there's the bad.
Kira. She's our protagonist, and yet we know very little about her. She's incredibly one dimensional and not particularly interesting outside of the circumstances she has found herself in. I would much rather read a book about Gregorivitch (as previously stated).
The oh-so predictable romance between our self-insert protagonist and the roguish captain of a ship with a ragtag yet lovable crew.
The awkward dialogue where everyone starts each sentence with "[my name], here..." and ends every other sentence with "..., also." This got seriously irritating after several hundred pages.
The many space battles that bled into each other after a while and added nothing to the plot or character development.
The "our MC is actually basically a God/chosen one and is the only one who can save the entire universe!" trope, which I hate with a burning passion.
And an added dose of victim blaming (of a character being bullied by fellow crewmates) and body shaming (in regard to scars).
Oh, and it was easily 500 pages too long.
Listen, despite all my issues with this one I did enjoy it, for the most part. There were some interesting ideas (though none were fully developed), there were some loveable side characters, and I love sci-fi enough that I just enjoyed being in space for a while. But this is certainly not one of the better sci-fi novels I've read, and I don't plan on continuing with the series (if it in fact becomes one).
VIDEO REVIEW: (coming soon)
You can find me on...
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/plantbasedbride">Youtube</a> | <a href="https://www.instagram.com/elizabethturn/">Instagram</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/ElizabethTurn">Twitter</a>
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Violence, Gore, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, and Confinement
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