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crownoflaurel's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-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? It's complicated
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Pandemic/Epidemic, Chronic illness, Suicide attempt, and Gun violence
Minor: Pedophilia
talonsontypewriters's review against another edition
dark
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Theoretically super interesting setting and contemplation on more mundane post-apocalyptic life and bodily autonomy, but unfortunately pretty underdeveloped in practice -- definitely feel like the concepts would fit better in a longer work with more fleshed out characters and relationships.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Chronic illness, Terminal illness, and Animal death
Moderate: Blood, Medical content, Violence, Gore, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Pedophilia, Ableism, Colonisation, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Abortion, and Suicide
Parasitic infection.podanotherjessi's review
challenging
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I am very unsure how I feel about this book, but I know that I liked it. I wanted to read it because it was described as solarpunk. And I think that fits, but it is definitely nothing like Monk & Robot (which is why I was interested in solarpunk). It's less optimistic but still has an overall hopeful tone.
The setting was by far the best thing about it, and I was so interested to know more about the world. The writing style would be a very close second though, with so many banger lines. And the parasite/disease element was so fascinating and made for the most interesting parts of the book.
One thing to note is that this feels YA (or maybe new adult). Not in a disparaging way. But the main character is a young woman (I don't think her age is specified, but she's still in school/just left school, and there are comments about her being just about old enough to think about getting married), and one of the main conflicts of the series (expectations) was her mom not wanting her to leave home, and her having what felt like a very teenager-like response of "but I'm an adult now!" and wanting to be independent. To be clear, I didn't think this was a bad thing, but I wanted to set the expectation appropriately.
The setting was by far the best thing about it, and I was so interested to know more about the world. The writing style would be a very close second though, with so many banger lines. And the parasite/disease element was so fascinating and made for the most interesting parts of the book.
One thing to note is that this feels YA (or maybe new adult). Not in a disparaging way. But the main character is a young woman (I don't think her age is specified, but she's still in school/just left school, and there are comments about her being just about old enough to think about getting married), and one of the main conflicts of the series (expectations)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness
Moderate: Medical content
Minor: Pedophilia
sheeky's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
I'm in love with this novella. There's something so compelling about a story that leads up to a decision--I think from the start, the exact ending was fairly easy to assume, but that didn't matter one bit because this is one of those stories that is very much "about the journey." Premee Mohamed is an incredibly gifted writer, and her words ebb and flow with a stoic lyricism that mirrors both Reid's emotional journey and the throb of the fungus beneath her skin.
And that's what I mean when I say this novella is "emotional--" not that it will necessarily make you cry (though I did,) but that it fully captures the complexity of a "simple decision." It understands what leaving truly means when you're in community, the tension between the individual and the together and how and where those lines blur. It understands rings of family and left-behind mothers and growing pains and not knowing what you want. It also understands anger, the rage of being handed the remains of a world someone else failed to save. In Reid and Henryk and the rest of the town, Mohamed has written a very clear picture of what we might look like once the climate apocalypse has truly ravaged us, privileged bubbles and all.
The body horror bits of this book are also very good. I won't say too much for fear of spoiling, but: very, very good.
I tend not to buy books until after I've read them; this is 100% something I want on my shelf!
And that's what I mean when I say this novella is "emotional--" not that it will necessarily make you cry (though I did,) but that it fully captures the complexity of a "simple decision." It understands what leaving truly means when you're in community, the tension between the individual and the together and how and where those lines blur. It understands rings of family and left-behind mothers and growing pains and not knowing what you want. It also understands anger, the rage of being handed the remains of a world someone else failed to save. In Reid and Henryk and the rest of the town, Mohamed has written a very clear picture of what we might look like once the climate apocalypse has truly ravaged us, privileged bubbles and all.
The body horror bits of this book are also very good. I won't say too much for fear of spoiling, but: very, very good.
I tend not to buy books until after I've read them; this is 100% something I want on my shelf!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror
Moderate: Animal death, Death, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Ableism and Pedophilia
btwnprintedpgs's review
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, and Violence
Minor: Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Pedophilia
Genetic disease, dystopian world
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