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rituxa's review
4.0
it’s a hard book, it’s a crude book, it’s a heartbreaking book, it’s a GOOD book, it’s a NECESSARY book. it’s hard for me to even grasp how someone can have the talent, the skill and the bravery to put a book like this together.
“Tubman: the human bridge from slavery to freedom.”
“Tubman: the human bridge from slavery to freedom.”
lk17's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
celinegaghadar's review
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Contains spoilers.
CW: sexual assault, rape, incest
Dystopian, sci-fi-ish, kinda fantasy. Overall I liked this book. The plot moved quickly, the character development was rich and also logical. Basically a story of a healing journey with lots of interesting added elements including the AI, the mythical creatures and the Caribbean folklore. The book is written in Anglopatwa/ Creole which took some getting used to. The world building was great. I felt I had a good understanding of Toussaint and New Half Way Tree. The splitting of Tan-Tan’s identity into the Midnight Robber was an interesting take on her coping with trauma and her relationships with the douen a reflection on power dynamics that exist in our world. I think there could have been shorter chapters and an earlier revelation of who the mystery narrator was but in general thought it was great.
CW: sexual assault, rape, incest
Dystopian, sci-fi-ish, kinda fantasy. Overall I liked this book. The plot moved quickly, the character development was rich and also logical. Basically a story of a healing journey with lots of interesting added elements including the AI, the mythical creatures and the Caribbean folklore. The book is written in Anglopatwa/ Creole which took some getting used to. The world building was great. I felt I had a good understanding of Toussaint and New Half Way Tree. The splitting of Tan-Tan’s identity into the Midnight Robber was an interesting take on her coping with trauma and her relationships with the douen a reflection on power dynamics that exist in our world. I think there could have been shorter chapters and an earlier revelation of who the mystery narrator was but in general thought it was great.
ajsteele1699's review
This is a gentle reminder to myself and others to check content warnings before reading. I reached the point in the story where the things mentioned in the content warnings happened and I could not bring myself to keep going.
This is not to the detriment of the book: it is excellently written, has really intriguing world building that is a mix of both sci-fi and fantasy, and an original story. If you read the content warnings and feel you can handle it, then I highly highly recommend this book.
This is not to the detriment of the book: it is excellently written, has really intriguing world building that is a mix of both sci-fi and fantasy, and an original story. If you read the content warnings and feel you can handle it, then I highly highly recommend this book.
imagimental's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
kivt's review
4.0
Read for 50books_poc, checked out from school library.
Pros: I adored Tan-Tan. The worldbuildling was fantastic. The entire book was written in Caribbean dialect, and it worked incredibly well. I loved just about everything about the future-space-Caribbean. Overall, it was a joy to read. I can't recommend it enough.
Cons: I loved this book. It'd be 5/5, but I absolutely hate stories about child abuse and incest in which the abusee gets pregnant and, at the end, has a miraculously healing birth. I don't buy it and I'm not into it. I also felt the timing was weird; the book focused very intently on Tan-Tan's childhood, and jumped quite abruptly to puberty, and then again to age 16 (I think). My final nitpick is that the book completely, uncritically played into the distant/bitchy/uninterested/dead mother trope. Tan-Tan's relationship with her father is obviously complicated enough, but the flatness of her mother (who I would have liked to know more about!) was disappointing.
Pros: I adored Tan-Tan. The worldbuildling was fantastic. The entire book was written in Caribbean dialect, and it worked incredibly well. I loved just about everything about the future-space-Caribbean. Overall, it was a joy to read. I can't recommend it enough.
Cons: I loved this book. It'd be 5/5, but I absolutely hate stories about child abuse and incest in which the abusee gets pregnant and, at the end, has a miraculously healing birth. I don't buy it and I'm not into it. I also felt the timing was weird; the book focused very intently on Tan-Tan's childhood, and jumped quite abruptly to puberty, and then again to age 16 (I think). My final nitpick is that the book completely, uncritically played into the distant/bitchy/uninterested/dead mother trope. Tan-Tan's relationship with her father is obviously complicated enough, but the flatness of her mother (who I would have liked to know more about!) was disappointing.
thebanhammer's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I liked this book, I really did. The story and the characters were good and in general I thought it was a success. It was definitely a slow start. Or perhaps it’s not necessarily a slow start but it almost feels like the story starts too early. Might biggest struggle was with the pacing and some of the plotting. There are weird leads, some red herrings with interesting plot concepts that never ignite (like the whole bit with silencing Granny Nanny and the Nanny Song! ). The actual story is great and enjoyable. It’s heavy and heart warming at the same time. It deals with so many big concepts. Perhaps that’s why it feels like it wobbles so much. It’s worth reading for sure but it stumbles over itself at times and, in my opinion, ends on an odd note that feels out of sync with the plot.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Incest, and Child abuse
11corvus11's review
4.0
I liked this book, but had a hard time sticking with it during some of the parts. I liked the language, the themes, the survival. warning for intense sexual violence. internalized misogyny. many struggles. I liked the archetype of the Robber Queen.
atagarev's review against another edition
3.0
A very light and easy read but mostly failed to deliver on its promise. The novel masquerades as a far future science fiction utopia and initially sets up plenty of interesting conflicts but ultimately it becomes clear that the world is shallow and borderline incoherent while the character building is based on realities from our 20th century rather than this supposed futuristic utopia we are shown.
It is difficult to say what the narrative fails to deliver a pay off on because the book keeps seeming like it will tackle some specific subject (AI and privacy, colonization and slavery, culture clash, incest and pedophilia, alien contact, parallel universes, myth building through ever evolving spoken narratives, language and thought modification) only to give up and move on to totally different topic. All of the ones I listed are at least marked as of interest several times but most don't go past that. Even the ones that get more attention end up getting a shallow and cliched treatment.
The most distinctive feature of the book is its *voice*. I can imagine it will be absolute blast to listen to the audio version as Hopkinson focuses so much on the spoken tradition and it all feels like a fireside tale. There is something to be said about listening to people having high tech discussions with an AI in Jamaican patois as something perfectly standard and I kept hoping the repeatedly brought up nanny song will turn into something deeper or more meaningful.
It is difficult to say what the narrative fails to deliver a pay off on because the book keeps seeming like it will tackle some specific subject (AI and privacy, colonization and slavery, culture clash, incest and pedophilia, alien contact, parallel universes, myth building through ever evolving spoken narratives, language and thought modification) only to give up and move on to totally different topic. All of the ones I listed are at least marked as of interest several times but most don't go past that. Even the ones that get more attention end up getting a shallow and cliched treatment.
The most distinctive feature of the book is its *voice*. I can imagine it will be absolute blast to listen to the audio version as Hopkinson focuses so much on the spoken tradition and it all feels like a fireside tale. There is something to be said about listening to people having high tech discussions with an AI in Jamaican patois as something perfectly standard and I kept hoping the repeatedly brought up nanny song will turn into something deeper or more meaningful.
beccalynnfrank's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
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? It's complicated
5.0
Check the content warnings before reading!! Hard to read at some points, but I loved the ending and the main characters progression was so meaningful because of all the hard parts. Super cool universe she’s made and the aliens in it are super interesting and well done. Overall great world building + great characters
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Abortion, Incest, Death, Death of parent, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Pregnancy, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, and Sexual violence