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erika_lin's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
This book had some of the most vivid and beautiful world building I’ve ever read. I mean come on, parasitic humans living inside a space beast???!?!? That’s so cool! The entire caste system, as well as family structure was amazingly well thought out and was so much fun to explore. however I was entirely unable to form any connection with these characters. Their moral compasses and connections to each other seemed to change from scene to scene, so I had no real sense as to who these people were. Also scenes that should have cut deep were only explained, not felt. I.e. when mantis dies there was a very brief moment when sisterkin and seske worked together. There should be SO much feeling there. This is a moment when two enemies are united by the loss of a mother and are feeling what it is that binds them together, sisterhood, which is an entirely unique bond in this world.What I was given was sisterkin helps seske. Sisterkin betrays seske. That’s it. Also side bar, if I was sister Kin, I would be bitter too. What do you mean as I child I MADE UP A NAME TO FEEL BELONGING AND OH NO! I CALLED MYSELF BY THE FAMILY NAME, THE NAME OF ALL THE PEOPLE I LOVE AND YOU TATTLED AND I WAS TORTURED FOR DARING TO WANT TO BELONG SOMEWHERE???? AND THEN YOU KEEP TELLING MY MOTHER SHE SHOULD HAVE KILLED ME TOO MY FACE?? I refuse to believe in such a one dimensional “evil” character. I’d try to feed you to the wall too. Very rude. If this is addressed in the second book I take it back. Also what up with her ordering the deaths of most of the ship randomly, but absolutely refusing to kill another beast for their survival? Or her comparing however many hundreds of lives that Adalla fought to save to the one singular egg she carried? Really what I’m saying is I do not like Seske. Character development fell flat as well for the same reason, none of the emotions that spark change were felt. This made the book feel very frustrating and confusing.
witchofthesword's review against another edition
My tokophobia said no pretty much immediately. Kept listening for ~40 minutes but it’s just not for me.
trapwomanistcyborgwitch's review against another edition
5.0
What the hell was this book!? People living in a beast in space ?!? Like parasites?!?! wow. I loved this book. Very creative and probably one of the the weirdest books I have read in my life. So I love complicated black women characters but Seske can go jump in the lake. Adalla Hive all the way! Loved the queer representation and also how environmental issues was discussed in this story. And Matrilineal lineages and leaders! Overall, really cool book!
katsmedialibrary's review against another edition
There’s a doctor who episode about this lol. Like
kenzie_roonie's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
hahanimation's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
fast-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
5.0
Has stayed in my mind. Wonderfully intriguing worldbuilding that is unfurled so well. proper sci fi, raising so many questions relevant to our day.
Little flavors of Doctor Who, Pathologic, and Hunger Games.
Little flavors of Doctor Who, Pathologic, and Hunger Games.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child death, Blood, Classism, Colonisation, Gore, Medical trauma, Murder, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Vomit, Grief, Trafficking, Torture, Suicide attempt, Genocide, and Alcohol
Minor: Cancer
easytocrash's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
tatyanavogt's review against another edition
3.0
Okay, I HATED this book at first. Like I thought the stuff going on was interesting and that I should like it but the experience of actually reading it was horrible, so much so that I DNF'd it with the intention of not picking it back up and read a different book.
BUT, I kept thinking about it. I wanted to know where the story was going to go, I was invested in this world, fascinated by what was going on and I wanted to know how it was going to end! And I am glad I cam back to it because I started to enjoy the book once the focus shifted and we were working towards better things.
Okay, so it was a hard parallel to swallow that humans were literally a cancer to this living creature since it feels like we're that to earth which is really depressing. I felt so bad for the creature they were killing and cutting into.
I also HATED how the society was structured. So ridged and cruel. It was frustrating to be in a black focused world that was so cruel and unkind so I couldn't enjoy the beauty of the world.
And I just didn't connect with the characters early on so I didn't know why I was suffering through all the uncomfortable bits. Now admittedly that wasn't what I was expecting AND I was going through some shit myself so I wanted a more hopeful book so thats not fully the fault of the book itself just my own expectations.
Once our main characters saw the issues in their society and decided that they needed to do something to turn things around, thats when I stopped hating the book and started looking forward to seeing how things would go.
BUT, I kept thinking about it. I wanted to know where the story was going to go, I was invested in this world, fascinated by what was going on and I wanted to know how it was going to end! And I am glad I cam back to it because I started to enjoy the book once the focus shifted and we were working towards better things.
Spoiler
Okay, so it was a hard parallel to swallow that humans were literally a cancer to this living creature since it feels like we're that to earth which is really depressing. I felt so bad for the creature they were killing and cutting into.
I also HATED how the society was structured. So ridged and cruel. It was frustrating to be in a black focused world that was so cruel and unkind so I couldn't enjoy the beauty of the world.
And I just didn't connect with the characters early on so I didn't know why I was suffering through all the uncomfortable bits. Now admittedly that wasn't what I was expecting AND I was going through some shit myself so I wanted a more hopeful book so thats not fully the fault of the book itself just my own expectations.
Once our main characters saw the issues in their society and decided that they needed to do something to turn things around, thats when I stopped hating the book and started looking forward to seeing how things would go.
ninacharlem's review against another edition
3.0
A wildly imaginative story that started strong, but lost focus in the last third of the novel.