Reviews with content warning for Xenophobia - The Mars House

This was an interesting take on the Mars colony. I loved the linguistic aspects and footnotes. The pronoun shift was a little hard to follow at first, but the author does a nice job of avoiding singular/plural confusion without overusing names.

This book didn’t read as sci-fi to me - it takes place on Mars, but focuses on the refugee experience. A lot of suspension of disbelief is required, and there are some problematic aspects glossed over. I had to roll my eyes at the

mammoth heroism and the spontaneous adoption toward the end.

The romance is a stretch - the same ends could have been accomplished if they had just become friends instead, and we don’t see any chemistry outside of January’s admission that

he falls for older men who are nice to him (which seems like a dig at the gay community?)

All that said, I found myself thinking about this book when I wasn’t reading, which is always a good sign. Overall, if you can take it at face value, it’s a good read.

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natashaleighton_'s review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional mysterious tense 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? Yes

3.5

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malily8312's review against another edition

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

This book is really hard for me to rate. We follow our protagonist January (Jan for short) as he becomes a refugee from the newly drowned London to the 7 generation old colony on Mars. Martian society has evolved to become heavily distinct from Earthen, adaptations which are both cultural and physical, as the reduced gravity on Mars has led to people evolving to be significantly weaker than their Earth counterparts. Those who have newly come from Earth (the Earthstrong) must, whenever in public, wear body-cages that simulate Earthen gravity to prevent them from accidentally maiming those who have adapted to Mars (Naturals or Naturalized people). There is a large political movement for the Earthstrong to be forced to Naturalize, in other words undergo a dangerous and always detrimental medical procedure to force their bodies to adapt to Mars’ gravity, so they are no longer a ‘threat’ to the other naturalized. When January openly criticizes the politician spearheading this movement, and is subsequently jailed for it, that same politician comes to him with a surprising offer. A marriage of convenience will help January, who is no longer eligible to work with a felony conviction, and will help their campaign since the move was largely seen as an overreaction. January accepts, and we are thrown into a story of political turmoil as January begins to question whether the demagog he hates is truly who he thinks.

Literature is inherently political, but this book is more political than most. The central plot hinges around a refugee crisis, and two people on opposite sides of it. This refugee crisis is not a subtle reference to those we see into today’s real world. January faces many of the same problems that refugees face today: increasingly hostile governments, a lack of safe access to legitimate jobs, housing, and ressources, a deep fear of government agencies and deportation, difficulty functioning in a foreign society, constant racism and judgment based on his status. We see Pulley taking on internalized prejudice, the pop-culturization of the political process, and the way that politicians are never really speaking honestly. Most impactfully to me, we see the way that both sides of the refugee argument, from a political standpoint, are using it as a tool for their own ends. When it comes down to it, neither those who want to welcome the refugees or those who want to turn them away are doing it because of the refugees themselves. Both parties are using the crisis as a political lever to advance their own interests. All of this was done so well it hurt.

Here’s where a problem could very easily have arisen (and for a good chunk of the book I thought it had). This book was walking a VERY thin line which exists when using fantastical elements as a metaphor for real world xenophobia: the Earthstrong are legitimately dangerous. They can, and do, legitimately do a lot of damage to the Naturals by accident. If this had not been addressed by the text, it could very easily have read as a conservative take wherein we see that there is a real reason to keep refugees out. My interpretation of this, and I will gladly listen to those with more experience in this arena than I have, was that this was being used as a way to show that simply opening the borders indiscriminately to everyone can be a dangerous approach. You cannot innately trust that nobody coming into a country might have ulterior motives. This book’s sympathies definitely rest with the refugees, but I will be honest, I don’t think it was handled perfectly. In the end, this book had a very ‘reach across the aisle’ approach which worked because of the utopian nature of fiction, but I think doesn’t serve as a perfect metaphor for the real life crisis. It presumes that there are people in power acting in good faith, and that the populace is prepared to outgrow prejudice.

Which brings me to our love interest, Gale. I genuinely love Gale as a character. They are a very good person and the love story between them and January is touching and sweet. However therein lies the problem. This book positions our Far Right extremist politician as a good person with only bad choices, who is leaning on an anti-refugee policy because it is the only way they can see out of a plot to colonize their country. They do begin the book with prejudices (grounded in experience), but are fully open to listen and change their opinions based on rational argument and facts. And when it comes down to the wire, they make the right choices. This is lovely. And unrealistic. This book feels like wish fulfillment for the political machine; a lovely glimpse into what it could look like if the multi-billionaire political powerhouse actually cared and was willing to listen to rational arguments, and decades of pain and suffering and prejudice could be expunged and people could all choose to do the right thing together.

This book is hard. It asks us to consider the motives, humanity, and perspective of those on the other side of the political divide (whichever one we land on). In the end, its stance leans heavily left, however we spend the majority of the book falling in love with a right-wing politician. I truly do appreciate the message that people are people, and that the only way to truly make things work is for both sides to lay down arms and work together, especially when everybody is faced with bad conditions out of our control. The book also does a very good job of highlighting how no political issue is black and white, and it is nearly impossible to make any move that isn't doing harm to somebody.

eARC provided by bloomsbury publishing and NetGalley in exchange for my honest review

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