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3.75 AVERAGE
3.75 AVERAGE
Fantastically weird setting and interesting society, though the plot was oddly prone to time skips and dropped plot lines. Adalla especially was wonderful. Seske's characterization seemed to change chapter to chapter? I could never guess what she was going to do, especially her pendulum swings between love and hate, especially of Daka and Whytt.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
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:
Complicated
In the distant future, humanity has had to abandon earth and make a hail Mary attempt at a new home in the stars, but they have found no planets that they can inhabit, and instead must parasitically appropriate giant, asteroid sized space faring leviathans who eventually die from the disease of human infestation. This novel is weird in every way. It is both horrific, and humorous. The first half is completely excellent, and shows off Drayden's excellent prose. The second half felt rushed at times, but expands on the premise in crazy wild ways that I loved.
DNF at about 33%.
I almost never DNF books, but this was attrocious. The short version is this felt like the author was a fan of something like 70s or 80s era scifi, but wanted to add diversity to that kind of story. All well and good, if not something that will win any points from me. However the world building and the main characters (at least the more-or-less princess) are attrocious.
The main character feels like she has no sense and is just trying to get into trouble. I was guessing this was YA (it's hard to get a read on the age of the characters, but one main character comes of age, and the other is being thrown into work as a young woman in what seems to be the kind of early industrial job that ate up children/young adults before labor laws came into effect) in which case that kind of thing is common if still annoying, but as best I can tell now it is just normal adult fiction. Part of the problem is that one of her mothers, the more or less queen, has decided not to bother raising her because she wasn't ready.
Which sounds like the height of stupidty, but it's also somewhat how this society works. As mentioned paranthetically above, among the lower classes they throw younger people at work and watch many of them die. It's worse then that--they don't seem to train them, they do not warn them of the dangers that they face. They actually like it that way because, apparently, they want to weed out the less capable ones who can't survive on a deadly job on instinct. Which you can imagine from industrial magnates readily enough who value profit over anything and have a cheap labor force ready to replace the dead, but the people throwing these youths into the fire are their relatives.
On a related and most absurd note is the population control applied to this society (because apparently getting most kids killed doesn't limit the population enough) is that adults form family groups of 10 people, and each of those can only have 1 child between them. The stated reason is that they live on living ships so they can't have too many people. But doing that will reduce the population by 90% each generation--if everyone lives which we already know they don't. That might be an extreme measure for extreme over population but it's serious overkill to do generation after generation after generation if you just don't want too big a society.
I almost never DNF books, but this was attrocious. The short version is this felt like the author was a fan of something like 70s or 80s era scifi, but wanted to add diversity to that kind of story. All well and good, if not something that will win any points from me. However the world building and the main characters (at least the more-or-less princess) are attrocious.
The main character feels like she has no sense and is just trying to get into trouble. I was guessing this was YA (it's hard to get a read on the age of the characters, but one main character comes of age, and the other is being thrown into work as a young woman in what seems to be the kind of early industrial job that ate up children/young adults before labor laws came into effect) in which case that kind of thing is common if still annoying, but as best I can tell now it is just normal adult fiction. Part of the problem is that one of her mothers, the more or less queen, has decided not to bother raising her because she wasn't ready.
Which sounds like the height of stupidty, but it's also somewhat how this society works. As mentioned paranthetically above, among the lower classes they throw younger people at work and watch many of them die. It's worse then that--they don't seem to train them, they do not warn them of the dangers that they face. They actually like it that way because, apparently, they want to weed out the less capable ones who can't survive on a deadly job on instinct. Which you can imagine from industrial magnates readily enough who value profit over anything and have a cheap labor force ready to replace the dead, but the people throwing these youths into the fire are their relatives.
On a related and most absurd note is the population control applied to this society (because apparently getting most kids killed doesn't limit the population enough) is that adults form family groups of 10 people, and each of those can only have 1 child between them. The stated reason is that they live on living ships so they can't have too many people. But doing that will reduce the population by 90% each generation--if everyone lives which we already know they don't. That might be an extreme measure for extreme over population but it's serious overkill to do generation after generation after generation if you just don't want too big a society.
Solid Book, 3 stars
My enjoyment of this book was probably closer to a 2 or 2.5 star range, but it was weird and creative enough that I am keeping it at a solid 3 stars.
Escaping Exodus follows a matriarchal, polyamorous society that has been forced to establish homes on space beasts they come across on their way to find a new planet. I think that they are humans, but I don't really understand the mechanics of the living in the space beast thing, so they might not be. Unsure. We follow two main characters: Seske and Andalla, two friends that come from different social classes aboard this beast and may or may not have a crush on each other. Seske is the next in line for the title of Matris and will one day rule her people while Andalla is a beastworker, poised to become a heartworker, the most important organ of the beast. We witness each girl learn different secrets about their society and way of life that can either bring them together or tear them apart.
This book is full of fluids and descriptions of the various organs and parts of the beast, as well as what they need to do to stay alive. If that might make you squeamish, definitely stay away.
I think that where this book fell flat for me was on the focus and the pacing. I felt like the focus was more on the weird world building and the themes and ideas the author was focusing on than it was on the characters and their interactions. As a result, we bounced around through time really quickly for the length of this novel. I think it only spans about a year, but it felt like there were big, major character moments that were happening off page, which created the feeling that we were having huge time jumps. I just felt like I didn't get to sit with any of the characters long enough to form strong attachments to them.
I felt like the themes that were being explored were certainly worthwhile, and the one I was most intrigued by was the idea of humans just taking and taking and taking without giving back and caring for the entity that sustains us. The society is just sucking up the life force of beast after beast and continuing to run through them without any thought as to how to conserve resources and actually live symbiotically. We are too concerned about our own comfort to make the necessary changes. There is also social commentary regarding gender and that sort of thing, but for me, that was much less prominent when compared to the commentary on the climate crisis.
Overall it was a super interesting world, and I did enjoy the commentary on the climate crisis, but I have never really been a themes reader, and the overall plot and characters just weren't enough to make me love this one. I'm undecided on whether I will read the sequel, but my guess is probably not.
My enjoyment of this book was probably closer to a 2 or 2.5 star range, but it was weird and creative enough that I am keeping it at a solid 3 stars.
Escaping Exodus follows a matriarchal, polyamorous society that has been forced to establish homes on space beasts they come across on their way to find a new planet. I think that they are humans, but I don't really understand the mechanics of the living in the space beast thing, so they might not be. Unsure. We follow two main characters: Seske and Andalla, two friends that come from different social classes aboard this beast and may or may not have a crush on each other. Seske is the next in line for the title of Matris and will one day rule her people while Andalla is a beastworker, poised to become a heartworker, the most important organ of the beast. We witness each girl learn different secrets about their society and way of life that can either bring them together or tear them apart.
This book is full of fluids and descriptions of the various organs and parts of the beast, as well as what they need to do to stay alive. If that might make you squeamish, definitely stay away.
I think that where this book fell flat for me was on the focus and the pacing. I felt like the focus was more on the weird world building and the themes and ideas the author was focusing on than it was on the characters and their interactions. As a result, we bounced around through time really quickly for the length of this novel. I think it only spans about a year, but it felt like there were big, major character moments that were happening off page, which created the feeling that we were having huge time jumps. I just felt like I didn't get to sit with any of the characters long enough to form strong attachments to them.
I felt like the themes that were being explored were certainly worthwhile, and the one I was most intrigued by was the idea of humans just taking and taking and taking without giving back and caring for the entity that sustains us. The society is just sucking up the life force of beast after beast and continuing to run through them without any thought as to how to conserve resources and actually live symbiotically. We are too concerned about our own comfort to make the necessary changes. There is also social commentary regarding gender and that sort of thing, but for me, that was much less prominent when compared to the commentary on the climate crisis.
Overall it was a super interesting world, and I did enjoy the commentary on the climate crisis, but I have never really been a themes reader, and the overall plot and characters just weren't enough to make me love this one. I'm undecided on whether I will read the sequel, but my guess is probably not.
A wildly imaginative story that started strong, but lost focus in the last third of the novel.
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Really great, interesting world/setting that is unfortunately inhabited by irritating, uninteresting characters and a dull plot that completely falls apart in the final act. Kept willing it to turn a corner and become something great because there was loads of potential there but it never really did. The gross body-horror adjacent stuff was equally fun and disgusting.
Felt weird, unique and representative, without trying too hard to be either, with likable characters you can really root for. Lost a star because it was a bit of a learning curve to get into the world and understand what is happening and I found some aspects really icky (like physically icky to imagine, not morally) which threw me off, but that is definitely a me thing and probably wasn’t helped by listening to the audio.
I need to start off by saying the world building of this is like NO OTHER that I have EVER experienced. And as a world concept and societal portrayal, I think this tops everything else I have read. The imagination and structuring of this filled me with awe. And it is in that that I gave these two stars.
From there I struggled to figure out why I just could not find that care for the story and I have to say it’s due to my disconnect from the characters. They felt like sock puppets.
Then the end of this story felt hurried! It felt as if Drayden was running out of paper in her printer and needed to get it done by any means necessary. I admittedly was a little untethered as the ending throttled me about.
And it was odd because I would say this was a very character driven plot, but the section I enjoyed was not due to that but instead due to learning about this world and the culture.
My fmc also needs one good smack upside her head. Goodness.
From there I struggled to figure out why I just could not find that care for the story and I have to say it’s due to my disconnect from the characters. They felt like sock puppets.
Then the end of this story felt hurried! It felt as if Drayden was running out of paper in her printer and needed to get it done by any means necessary. I admittedly was a little untethered as the ending throttled me about.
And it was odd because I would say this was a very character driven plot, but the section I enjoyed was not due to that but instead due to learning about this world and the culture.
My fmc also needs one good smack upside her head. Goodness.
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Fundamentally disliked the main character. I was rooting for sisterkin the whole time. Something about her place of privilege and lack of self reflection irked me. The worldbuilding was very cool, but felt incomplete.
I need to stop reading YA.
I need to stop reading YA.