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millydrisco's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Death, Suicidal thoughts, Genocide, Violence, and Mental illness
hirsute's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, War, Xenophobia, Racism, Death, Sexual content, Mental illness, Classism, Alcoholism, Cursing, Murder, Gun violence, and Alcohol
swordrager's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Torture, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Murder, Addiction, Confinement, Terminal illness, War, Child death, Racism, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Alcohol, Classism, Genocide, Excrement, Violence, Cancer, Gun violence, Vomit, Xenophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Trafficking, Medical content, Gore, Abandonment, Self harm, Grief, Cursing, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Pandemic/Epidemic, Alcoholism, Body horror, Colonisation, Deportation, Blood, and Drug use
Moderate: Sexual violence, Slavery, Sexual harassment, Drug abuse, and Sexual assault
rattledragons's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Genocide, Classism, Colonisation, Vomit, Gore, Violence, Body horror, Blood, and Confinement
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Alcoholism, Mental illness, Pandemic/Epidemic, Police brutality, Murder, Gun violence, and Suicide
Minor: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Medical content, Rape, Sexual assault, and Drug use
werns's review against another edition
- 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? No
4.25
Graphic: War, Xenophobia, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Mental illness, Gun violence, Gore, and Body horror
princessxnicole's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Vomit, Death, Gore, Murder, and War
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Mental illness, and Suicide
Minor: Kidnapping and Alcoholism
kbbru's review against another edition
- 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
3.5
Minor: Mental illness, Violence, and Death
mino88's review against another edition
2.0
Graphic: Sexism, Stalking, Gore, Racism, Gun violence, Violence, Sexual content, Police brutality, Mental illness, Kidnapping, Hate crime, Drug use, Body horror, Blood, Alcoholism, and Alcohol
futureofmydays's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Racism, Racial slurs, Mental illness, Gun violence, Grief, Gore, and Death
Moderate: Murder, Hate crime, Genocide, Fatphobia, Excrement, Blood, Cancer, Child death, and Cursing
Minor: Confinement, Domestic abuse, Drug use, and Infertility
iviarelle's review against another edition
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
In hindsight, I like this book somewhat less than I did before. It's still a promising first entry to a series, no doubt, and there's a lot to be done with the intrigue and mysteries it sets up... but there are also a lot of little problems that add up to a much less enjoyable experience when I start looking a little deeper.
Maybe the best example of this is that the way the story treats rape is downright insensitive, to understate it vastly. At one point, Miller assumes that Julie must have been raped, because she suddenly starts taking a martial arts class, and gets really good at it quickly. The story never indicates in any way that he's wrong about this assumption; on the contrary, Miller's "hunches" are proven right time and time again. In Holden's case, at one point he thinks about how he's drunk and Naomi's drunk and he would hate himself in the morning for taking advantage but he should go for it, ask her to sleep with him. Later, their first sexual encounter begins while she's been drinking and he hasn't. The word rape isn't ever brought up in conjunction with this, possibly because the writers only viewed rape as a violent act by a stranger, as so many people (particularly, people who are under significantly less threat of being raped) do. Maybe she'd be okay with it in the morning (as she was in the latter instance) and maybe she wouldn't, but... the very fact that Holden's thoughts admit that sleeping with someone drunk would be "taking advantage" shows that at some level, he and the writers know it would be rape... and yet they do it later anyway, not just with no consequences, but with the actual reward of starting a relationship with her.
And I can't go without mentioning the extraordinarily shitty cops in the story. Miller more or less considers himself accountable only to his superiors, not any real sort of law. He has his own moral code and his own definition of justice and will carry those out no matter what orders he's been given or by whom. And the worst part is that, again, he's shown to be right to do so by the story. That's... not a good look.
It's a little frustrating, because it was so recently that I first read this book, I feel like I should have looked a little closer all this time. I think the later books do less of this sort of thing? But I can no longer be sure, and that's frustrating to me.
=====
2017
This was a pretty good book. The science felt solid (except for the acceleration giving ships gravity thing, I never felt like that was quite as well explained as everything else, why should acceleration forward give gravity downward?), the characters were all given depth, none of the men were particularly rewarded for toxic masculinity. I could've done with a few more women in major, active roles in the narrative, especially who don't end up love interests, but it was generally enjoyable. When I want another hard science fiction fix, I'll likely turn to the next book in the series.
Graphic: Body horror, Vomit, Violence, Police brutality, Mental illness, Gun violence, Confinement, and Death
Moderate: Grief and Medical content
Minor: Rape and Sexual assault