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themoonshoes's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
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? Yes
4.0
kind of hard to get through if only because the chapters are from a different characters pov each time. the worldbuilding and plot relationship seemed stilted too, but i get that it’s a tough type of story to write with breathing room.
i do appreciate the development of stevlands character—“i could scream, howl, smash things—“ that got me bitch! i found myself wanting more, at the end, even though this book took me a looong time to get through.
i do appreciate the development of stevlands character—“i could scream, howl, smash things—“ that got me bitch! i found myself wanting more, at the end, even though this book took me a looong time to get through.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Mental illness, Violence, Death, Animal death, Colonisation, Infertility, and Rape
Minor: Addiction
there is one rape scene and while it’s not overtly descriptive, it is jarring. be aware!fabledfangirl's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
4.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Animal death, Child death, Murder, Cancer, and Rape
gmrickel's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
This book wasn't for me. It changes narrators several times throughout the book, some were more compelling and sympathetic than others. There is an on-the-page rape scene in the second generation and the aftermath went in the survivor's favor so while it was a hard scene, I felt she had a bit just revenge and that made me happy. I felt that ending was rather lackluster. I'm not interested in continuing on to book 2 (book 3 comes out this year). I found the theme of communication to be the most interesting part of the book. I could see it appealing to fans of The Sparrow (first contact on awry, effort towards communication) and possibly any scifi that does interesting things plants and/or communication. Maybe for fans of the Southern Reach novels? This was the first in my long list of scifi to read in 2024 so hopefully I'll find more comps.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Violence, Rape, and Murder
Moderate: War, Death of parent, Infertility, and Animal death
Minor: Domestic abuse and Child abuse
lanid's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
- 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
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Death, Animal death, Cannibalism, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Murder, Genocide, Infertility, Mental illness, Rape, Terminal illness, Violence, and Torture
desdemonarose's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
tense
fast-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
5.0
I truly enjoyed this book. It surprised me to see that the average rating wasn't higher, but I can see why it wouldn't be a book for everyone.
If you want creative world-building, a unique dynamic where plants are sentient, and a diverse cast of personalities, then this is a good book. The book moves through a few generations of humans as they try to figure out how to survive on an alien planet.
I found it fascinating to see how Burke planned their culture, morality, how they dealt with danger, and how they planned on doing better than those who live on the planet they (or the previous generations) fled.
If you like audiobooks then I definitely recommend listening to this one. The narrators are fantastic. There is a chapter near the end that (spoiler): I particularly enjoyed since one of the MCs decides to learn the language of an alien species that also shows up on the planet. They don't use words, they use sounds. The narrator really put effort into playing the character making the different alien sounds and I loved it.
If you want creative world-building, a unique dynamic where plants are sentient, and a diverse cast of personalities, then this is a good book. The book moves through a few generations of humans as they try to figure out how to survive on an alien planet.
I found it fascinating to see how Burke planned their culture, morality, how they dealt with danger, and how they planned on doing better than those who live on the planet they (or the previous generations) fled.
If you like audiobooks then I definitely recommend listening to this one. The narrators are fantastic. There is a chapter near the end that (spoiler):
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Sexual assault, Child death, and Body horror
Burke was very good at describing a horrible thing, letting you feel how horrible, but not making it overtly graphic or sensationalist
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