Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

Space Opera by Catherynne M. Valente

9 reviews

augustar14's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective fast-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

While at times I struggled a bit to follow the book, I think that had more to do with my current difficulty focusing than the book itself. I found it just the right balance of silly and whimsical and heartfelt and genuine. It does give Hitchhiker's Guide vibes, but in a queer, musical rock band way. 
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toopunkrockforshul's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful reflective sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I really liked this! Reminded me of hitchhikers guide with the level of absurdity, and it had some really nice heartfelt moments. 
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blymanor's review

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reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Very descriptive, very complicated world to keep track of. Surprisingly poignant for a book about Eurovision in space.
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locke_reads's review against another edition

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adventurous funny hopeful lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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betweentheshelves's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

If you're looking for a fun, ridiculous space adventure, you will have definitely found it in this book. It definitely gave me Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy vibes, if you threw a little musical competition into it. Really enjoyed listening to the audiobook because the different voices that the narrator used were fantastic. Maybe not something I would typically pick up on my own, but definitely something I had a lot of fun reading!
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breadwitchery's review against another edition

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adventurous funny 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

4.5

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nedens's review against another edition

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challenging funny lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I really wanted to love this book. The humor is in the vein of Douglas Adams and it is clear the author has attempted to write a book much like Adams work The Hitchikers Guide To The Galaxy. However I found the writing far too flowery (even when compared to Adams). It was actually quite difficult to keep the species, planets, ships, culture, of everything straight. The idea is an amazing one, and funny. Throughout is the idea that who people are can be found in a sum of their experiences, and that even when we present a certain way how we can feel inside is much more vulnerable and different. But the story is really wrapped up in the last 30 pages and in my opinion ends quite abruptly. I wanted to attach to the characters more but found the alternating chapters of space life back story and current actions removed me from caring to much about the characters. I was worried that all of the alien history would be pointless but did find it encouraging that it came together right at the end. Finally I want to note for other readers that this book is heavy in the lgbtqia+ content. This goes for both the creatures from other planets as well as the humans in the story. It is not the main point of the story, but is present pretty heavily throughout. The creativity of species and planets and life evolving on those planets is really top notch. Just wasn't something I would read again and not up to the quality of Adams which it clearly is derivative of. 
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soupguk's review

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adventurous funny hopeful slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

I loved nearly every minute of this book! But I wouldn't say it's for everyone. This book is very light on the plot, and heavy on the prose. If you like absurd world building and Hitchhiker's Guide-esque humor, you'll probably have a great time reading this, like I did. If your taste in sci-fi is a little more serious and realistic, you'll probably want to pass on this one.

I will say that I didn't love the ending. Felt a bit too and-they-all-lived-happily-ever-after for me. I thought that Oort and Decibal's arcs were leading up to them learning that they could still be a whole band without Mira, and simply bringing her back instead of fully exploring their grief felt like a bit of a copout.
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sherbertwells's review

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funny hopeful lighthearted fast-paced
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

This book made me smile for two days, which is about as much as I expected from it. After reading the thoroughly-melancholy Dream of Ding Village by Yan Lianke, I needed something to remind me of the fun side of humanity. In that regard, Catherynne M. Valente succeeds.

The crazed, chaotic tale of a washed-up British popstar forced to defend humanity in an intergalactic Eurovision is enough to crack a smile on the face of even the most cynical reviewers. Valente’s champagne-discotheque prose is deceptively intoxicating, and the plot gallops along cheerfully. The diverse array of aliens are nothing new in the realm of sci-fi, but they provide adequate background to examine the human characters. Most of all, the premise “Eurovision in Space” infects the whole story with a giddy commentary on art. If you like music, especially international pop, you’ll probably love this book.

With that said, Space Opera could disappear from the sci-fi world entirely and no advancements could be lost. It’s written in the spirit of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams and The Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut, but it’s much more traditionally-structured than those books. It’s heroes, broken-down rockstar Decibel Jones and his mild-mannered former “boyfrack” Oort St. Ultraviolet, are sweet but not heartbreaking, and the malicious talking cat is sorely underutilized. While I can personally identify with the late-2010s aesthetic Valente projects, I’m not sure whether Space Opera will immortalize an era or disappear into the void of outdated cheese.

If you, like me, need to smile for a few days, Space Opera is a brilliant recommendation. But there’s not much value on the replay.
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