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julesg's review
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
2.25
Not what I expected, based on the blurb.
It's the end of the 21st century. A class reunion on a luxury space station. There are two ensembles of characters, the ones "below stairs" and the ones "above stairs".
The rich people "above stairs" have rich-people-problems. Foremost, how to outwit the MERIT system that could get them to Mars. They have known each other since school. They have drifted apart, but are happy to reconnect, again mostly to exploit their connections to their own advantage.
The crew "below stairs" is fed up with being invisible, having less value than the rich people. They work on the luxury space station to fund their families' lives down on Earth, which becomes less habitable by the minute.
This could have worked, but it was packed with a bit too much of everything, in my opinion:
- too many POV
- so many plot angles: dying Earth, "Capitalism is bad!", exploited workforce is enraged, murder mystery?, MERIT system benefits the rich straight population, another murder mystery in the past timeline, ...
- not a single like-able character
- why all the kinky stuff?
It's the end of the 21st century. A class reunion on a luxury space station. There are two ensembles of characters, the ones "below stairs" and the ones "above stairs".
The rich people "above stairs" have rich-people-problems. Foremost, how to outwit the MERIT system that could get them to Mars. They have known each other since school. They have drifted apart, but are happy to reconnect, again mostly to exploit their connections to their own advantage.
The crew "below stairs" is fed up with being invisible, having less value than the rich people. They work on the luxury space station to fund their families' lives down on Earth, which becomes less habitable by the minute.
This could have worked, but it was packed with a bit too much of everything, in my opinion:
- too many POV
- so many plot angles: dying Earth, "Capitalism is bad!", exploited workforce is enraged, murder mystery?, MERIT system benefits the rich straight population, another murder mystery in the past timeline, ...
- not a single like-able character
- why all the kinky stuff?
murp23's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-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? It's complicated
3.0
caseythereader's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism, Cursing, Drug use, Blood, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Alcohol, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Death, Sexual content, and Violence
Moderate: Racism
Minor: Homophobia, Transphobia, and Deadnaming
lettuce_read's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Content Warnings
Minor: Deadnaming
rally_reviews's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
3.0
comes out today
I was excited to get to this one after reading what it was about. Once I got into it I was enjoying it however, it did not stay focused on a current mystery element and instead was of a revenge. I wanted to get into the characters but I felt like something was not developed enough to really. I got confused a little. I liked this but did not LOVE it. It could be my current mood just not letting sink into the story well. I say check it out and see what you think.
I was excited to get to this one after reading what it was about. Once I got into it I was enjoying it however, it did not stay focused on a current mystery element and instead was of a revenge. I wanted to get into the characters but I felt like something was not developed enough to really. I got confused a little. I liked this but did not LOVE it. It could be my current mood just not letting sink into the story well. I say check it out and see what you think.
good_quiet_kitty's review against another edition
dark
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? Yes
3.5
bibliovino's review against another edition
dark
medium-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
3.0
Dark, disturbing, cerebral; a meditation on class and wealth gaps set in the vastness of space.
Unfortunately, the pace and multi POV left for a disjointed narrative that never really gelled. I think either one of the plot lines would have been interesting, but the subplot just took away from the compelling main storyline. It would have made a very entertaining dual timeline murder mystery otherwise.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy. These opinions are my own.
Unfortunately, the pace and multi POV left for a disjointed narrative that never really gelled. I think either one of the plot lines would have been interesting, but the subplot just took away from the compelling main storyline. It would have made a very entertaining dual timeline murder mystery otherwise.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy. These opinions are my own.
utopiastateofmind's review
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.75
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
We love a space resort vibe. And there's always a layer to the decay in the decadence. Escape Velocity packs so much into the pages. It's a class reunion with flashbacks to what happened. To the secrets that will never lie buried, to the lies we can never outrun. It's also a story of a present murder mystery on a locked room style space resort. What's better than that? Oh a story also critiquing the classism and prejudices in Mars exploration and capitalism.
We love a space resort vibe. And there's always a layer to the decay in the decadence. Escape Velocity packs so much into the pages. It's a class reunion with flashbacks to what happened. To the secrets that will never lie buried, to the lies we can never outrun. It's also a story of a present murder mystery on a locked room style space resort. What's better than that? Oh a story also critiquing the classism and prejudices in Mars exploration and capitalism.
blazeofredfiree's review
4.0
I received an eARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
This was an interesting one- not something I’ve read anything like before! A bit like Glass onion/The Menu but in space and even more morally ambiguous.
- I did enjoy the fact that all of the characters just got more and more terrible the further it continued. But they were never caricatures and everyone had their own motivation, which I liked even if it was a little hard to engage with the story sometimes because they were all *that* terrible.
- the future world presented is very bleak, but feels frighteningly possible! I felt that the worldbuilding was well done.
- I did struggle to connect to the story throughout most of the first half in particular. A lot of it was set up and it felt a little bit directionless at times- perhaps some of the reveals could have been done a bit earlier so there was a bit more substance rather than saving it all for an avalanche at the end? I did enjoy the ambiguity of the ending, but it was a little bit rushed. The author tried to do a lot here and it was generally handled well, but not all of it landed.
- I don’t really like rating books, but I’ll give it 3.5/5 stars and round it up. I’m certainly glad I picked it up as it was a nice change of pace from what I normally read, but I think the tagline of knives out/parasite in space was a bit misleading as this was not that! It had its flaws but I’ll look out for whatever else Manibo does in the future!
This was an interesting one- not something I’ve read anything like before! A bit like Glass onion/The Menu but in space and even more morally ambiguous.
- I did enjoy the fact that all of the characters just got more and more terrible the further it continued. But they were never caricatures and everyone had their own motivation, which I liked even if it was a little hard to engage with the story sometimes because they were all *that* terrible.
- the future world presented is very bleak, but feels frighteningly possible! I felt that the worldbuilding was well done.
- I did struggle to connect to the story throughout most of the first half in particular. A lot of it was set up and it felt a little bit directionless at times- perhaps some of the reveals could have been done a bit earlier so there was a bit more substance rather than saving it all for an avalanche at the end? I did enjoy the ambiguity of the ending, but it was a little bit rushed. The author tried to do a lot here and it was generally handled well, but not all of it landed.
- I don’t really like rating books, but I’ll give it 3.5/5 stars and round it up. I’m certainly glad I picked it up as it was a nice change of pace from what I normally read, but I think the tagline of knives out/parasite in space was a bit misleading as this was not that! It had its flaws but I’ll look out for whatever else Manibo does in the future!
josiereadseverything's review
I’ve been looking forward to reading this book but I couldn’t get into it. I’m still curious about a couple different character so I plan to revisit this book later in the year.