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smothermewithscifi's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
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
tommy_occasionally_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
popgoesbitty's review against another edition
3.0
CWs: insinuations of sexual assault, graphic physical assault and verbal abuse
I found this to be enjoyable but, for a reader who rarely dabbles in sci-fi, a bit confusing. The writing is quirky and semi-stream-of-consciousness and left me going "huh?" many times. A lot of that is just sci-fi, though.
That being said, the narrator had heart. You'll love and connect with her because, well, it's impossible not to. Some parts are so tragic they're funny. The post-apocalyptic world Valente paints is tragic and comedic. The story pulls at your heart strings and is wildly intelligent. It's a funhouse take on climate change, the top 1%, and the passion and strength of the little guys at the bottom.
I found this to be enjoyable but, for a reader who rarely dabbles in sci-fi, a bit confusing. The writing is quirky and semi-stream-of-consciousness and left me going "huh?" many times. A lot of that is just sci-fi, though.
That being said, the narrator had heart. You'll love and connect with her because, well, it's impossible not to. Some parts are so tragic they're funny. The post-apocalyptic world Valente paints is tragic and comedic. The story pulls at your heart strings and is wildly intelligent. It's a funhouse take on climate change, the top 1%, and the passion and strength of the little guys at the bottom.
username999's review against another edition
dark
informative
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
This was such a waste of time. Like I'm okay with reading books with no plot, but the characters need to be strong. And for an entire novel where we're in the character's head, I literally can't tell you anything about her. Like it was also kind of icky where she acted and read like a 10-year-old but was cursing and talking about sex.
tori45's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.5
erileyu's review against another edition
5.0
Here are some quotes that hit me hard:
He used his Care Bear shirt to carefully clean the blood off my face. "I love you, you mad little firebug," he said fondly, wiping the tears out of his eyes, then out of mine. "What do you want to be when you grow up?"
"Forgiven," I whispered, and he kissed my forehead but he didn't say anything, the way you don't say anything when a kid says they want to be an astronaut when they grow up. It's kinder to let them think it's possible.
"I wanted forget you. Yes. That was all I wanted. More than water, more than food. I went to sleep and dreamed the moon put a hand on my forehead and took you away.
All the little dandelion seeds of you just sucked up out of the wrinkles in my brain like they were never there, never growing, never forcing me open as their flowers popped out of the dark. My mother and father just acted like I was sick.”
I hope everyone I meet is as happy as I am because Garbagetown is the best possible place in all of space and time. I hope nobody hurts me too bad today. I hope someday I find a whole entire novel with no pages ripped out or rotted away.
For a long time I hoped you'd forgive me. And look! Tons of that has happened! Not all at the same time, but the kind of hope I have isn't just greed going by its maiden name. The kind of hope I have doesn't begin and end with demanding everything go back to the way it was when it can't, it can't ever, that's not how time works, and it's not how oceans work, either. Nothing you love comes back. I have hope for Garbagetown, not for some suckspittle scrap of dry dirt that wouldn't give us half of what we already have.
"I'm sorry," Big Red Mars whispers, because she is just a person even though I want her to be a symbol of everything I have lost. "I'm sorry. I am just so alone. Everyone hates me.”
“Why?”
“Because I found you and now they have to think about you and know about you sometimes.”
"I will tell you what I think, l think kings happen because some people have an empty place inside them that wants to be full and it will do anything to feel full and the first thing that makes it feel the opposite of empty it will chase forever and ever. And the weirdest thing about this place is that obeying fill it up, but making someone else obey makes it slosh up and splash all over the floor."
"And you don't have that place, I assume?"
"I don't have any empty places in me, Red. I'm packed tight with happiness and luck and all the things that have happened to me and my elephant seal and my moringa tree and my boat and all the love I've saved up. But sometimes I think I can smell that space when I meet a person. Whether they have or don't have it. I can smell their craving to not be empty anymore. And it frightens me."
“Am I ready? Am I done? Is my quality assured?”
He used his Care Bear shirt to carefully clean the blood off my face. "I love you, you mad little firebug," he said fondly, wiping the tears out of his eyes, then out of mine. "What do you want to be when you grow up?"
"Forgiven," I whispered, and he kissed my forehead but he didn't say anything, the way you don't say anything when a kid says they want to be an astronaut when they grow up. It's kinder to let them think it's possible.
"I wanted forget you. Yes. That was all I wanted. More than water, more than food. I went to sleep and dreamed the moon put a hand on my forehead and took you away.
All the little dandelion seeds of you just sucked up out of the wrinkles in my brain like they were never there, never growing, never forcing me open as their flowers popped out of the dark. My mother and father just acted like I was sick.”
I hope everyone I meet is as happy as I am because Garbagetown is the best possible place in all of space and time. I hope nobody hurts me too bad today. I hope someday I find a whole entire novel with no pages ripped out or rotted away.
For a long time I hoped you'd forgive me. And look! Tons of that has happened! Not all at the same time, but the kind of hope I have isn't just greed going by its maiden name. The kind of hope I have doesn't begin and end with demanding everything go back to the way it was when it can't, it can't ever, that's not how time works, and it's not how oceans work, either. Nothing you love comes back. I have hope for Garbagetown, not for some suckspittle scrap of dry dirt that wouldn't give us half of what we already have.
"I'm sorry," Big Red Mars whispers, because she is just a person even though I want her to be a symbol of everything I have lost. "I'm sorry. I am just so alone. Everyone hates me.”
“Why?”
“Because I found you and now they have to think about you and know about you sometimes.”
"I will tell you what I think, l think kings happen because some people have an empty place inside them that wants to be full and it will do anything to feel full and the first thing that makes it feel the opposite of empty it will chase forever and ever. And the weirdest thing about this place is that obeying fill it up, but making someone else obey makes it slosh up and splash all over the floor."
"And you don't have that place, I assume?"
"I don't have any empty places in me, Red. I'm packed tight with happiness and luck and all the things that have happened to me and my elephant seal and my moringa tree and my boat and all the love I've saved up. But sometimes I think I can smell that space when I meet a person. Whether they have or don't have it. I can smell their craving to not be empty anymore. And it frightens me."
“Am I ready? Am I done? Is my quality assured?”
awesomeautumn's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-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
sharpiemyshoe's review
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
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? Yes
4.25
zoerosemac's review against another edition
emotional
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.25
I think Tetley is one of my new favourite fictional characters. Beautiful, fun, and simultaneously terrifying post-apocalyptic read in a world where Earth has been destroyed by climate change. If you’re someone who is passionate about the planet and taking care of it as best you can & attempting to cut down on our overconsumption habits you will likely adore this quick read.