Reviews tagging 'Forced institutionalization'

A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers

13 reviews

the_reading_wren's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense 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? Yes

4.75

Wow, what a story! Far darker than the first book in the series, but with the same themes of found family, healing and growth that made it worthwhile reading for me. This book also focuses on the theme of feeling at home (whether in a space, with others or within your own body). Of course the world building is fantastic too, as I’ve come to expect from Chambers, and the political, social and economic systems are interwoven through the narrative to provide plenty of moments to reflect on our own world. Overall a really satisfying answer to many of the unresolved questions left by book 1. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Child death, Forced institutionalization, and Slavery

Moderate: Alcohol, Animal death, Abandonment, Blood, Panic attacks/disorders, Death, Drug use, Physical abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical content

Minor: Chronic illness, War, Infertility, Pregnancy, and Violence

moonknitter's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Before I read this I was disappointed that the same characters of the first book would not really be in the second one but Becky Chambers has done it again. Even tho I was sad to not hear more about sissix & rosemary and even tho the whole Jenks & Lovelace storyline didn’t really appeal to me in the first book, the way this explored AI rights and genetic modification and both the utopian and dystopian aspects of both was just incredible, wholesome in some ways, and very inspiring! I’ve sometimes really hated books that go back n forth between 2. Characters or time periods but this one did it so incredibly well and I think the book would have not been as good if they’d been separate or only 1 together. When I got tired of sidra complaining about being in a body, the chapter ended and I got a glimpse of Jane working hard to survive. When I got tired of hearing the horrible parts of janes story, the chapter ended and I could learn about sidra experience something new for the first time. I’ve also been really terrified about the future of AI over the next few years just based on our society, and this book gave me a different perspective to all that. The Owl and Jane storyline was a big part of that for me. However, the ending was sort of confusing for me. I didn’t totally understand exactly what happened it was like tech jargon and it went over my head. On a basic level I kind of get it but it wasn’t super clear. I also think one thing this book did similar to the last one was that it was much more character based than plot based. The climax/ ending came fast and in the last 60 pages or so. Which was fine with me because I liked getting to understand these different worlds and seeing things for the first time through an AI perspective as well as Jane’s. Becky chambers also does a really great job of writing different voices. Janes voice as a 10 year old made it very easy to put yourself in her shoes, as did janes narration voice as a teenager (as she learned how to cuss and starts to be annoyed with Owl, as all teens do). This is a small thing but also the voice of Blue with his speech impediment is just a small thing that many authors wouldn’t think to do. Each character truly had a voice through her writing. The other thing I noticed as soon as janes story began is that it is very much Plato’s allegory of a cave and I think that allegory speaks to the parallels between both Sidra and Janes story. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Violence, Physical abuse, Medical trauma, Forced institutionalization, Abandonment, and Confinement

Moderate: Cursing

athryn's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful medium-paced

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

4.5

A definite step up from the first book in this series. I really enjoyed the intertwining stories of

Sidra and Pepper

are very well done, exploring the world set up in the first book in different ways. The end was pretty touching to me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail and Animal death

Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Slavery, Blood, Child abuse, Confinement, and Death

Minor: Dysphoria and Infertility

novella42's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense 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

I have yet to find a sci-fi author who handles themes of disability, chronic illness, neurodivergence, and mental health with the same deeply grounded compassion of Becky Chambers. This book is one of the harder reads in this series, but I love it to pieces, I love the characters, I love where it takes you, love the way it makes me feel by the end. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Slavery, Eating disorder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Chronic illness, Infertility, and Mental illness

Minor: Cancer

Spoiler-level clarification on the eating disorder tag.

The character doesn't have an eating disorder but there's no tag for starvation or extreme malnutrition, and I think that could have a big impact for someone with an eating disorder.

Also, if you have trauma around dogs, this might be a hard read.

below_average_baker's review

dark emotional hopeful sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Harrowing in places but every bit as good as the first book

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Animal death

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders

ireadqueerbooks's review

adventurous dark emotional hopeful slow-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Sexism, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Forced institutionalization, Child abuse, and Cancer

frozencusser's review against another edition

adventurous challenging lighthearted mysterious 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Slavery, Child abuse, Child death, and Forced institutionalization

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders

chia_ie's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny 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

4.0

i love the wayfarers series. i don’t think any other books have ever made me feel so happy. all the characters are so amazing in their own unique way, the world is so well developed - it’s just so, so good. i’m not a huge sci-fi reader but i loved this book so much. the dual timeline worked SO WELL, it came together perfectly. heartwarming, adventurous, emotional. the diversity is fantastic as per usual. thank u miss chambers 🖤

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Animal death, and Forced institutionalization

corriejn's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

A great follow-up to the first book, though fairly different in many ways. It's a bit slower and more character-driven, focusing on a smaller cast of primary characters (see spoiler here if you want to know which ones)

This book focuses on Lovelace and Pepper; the rest of the Wayfarer crew is not featured.

It also has slightly "deeper" themes, focused on personhood, autonomy, and family.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Xenophobia, and Slavery

Minor: Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Animal death, Drug use, Child abuse, and Sexual content

skudiklier's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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

I really really liked this. It was different from the first book in the series, and less lighthearted for sure, but Becky Chambers is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. The characters and worlds she builds are amazing and so well thought-out. This book had some darker/sadder elements than I'm used to with other books I've read by her, but not in a bad way. I can't wait to read the next one.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Child abuse, Slavery, Cursing, Dysphoria, Animal death, Violence, and Trafficking

Moderate: Abandonment, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Alcohol, Kidnapping, Blood, Panic attacks/disorders, Child death, Animal cruelty, and Grief

Minor: Infertility, Excrement, War, Vomit, Colonisation, and Mental illness