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camilleion'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? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Death and Murder
Moderate: Homophobia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Blood, Police brutality, Abortion, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
sarkenobi's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Body shaming, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Murder, Lesbophobia, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Addiction, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Grief, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Outing
Minor: Child abuse, Vomit, and Pandemic/Epidemic
eve81's review against another edition
- 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? No
4.5
Graphic: Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Blood, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment
pearlpool'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? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Deadnaming, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail
disnelyse's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Graphic: Racism and Slavery
Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment
readsandsuch's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Child death, Racism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Homophobia, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence
Minor: Incest, Pedophilia, Terminal illness, Abortion, and Dysphoria
auteaandtales's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Ableism, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Gore, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Murder, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Abortion and Pregnancy
tigger89's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Anyway. There were a lot of ways this book could have gone wrong. The concept of "antebellum slavery recreated aboard a generation ship in transit" was ambitious, and I can think of few other authors who could have done it justice — N.K. Jemisin, perhaps? Jemisin wouldn't have done the character work in the same way though, so it would have been a very different book. I thought the level of scientific crunch was perfect for the story Solomon was trying to tell. The science seemed mostly sound to my layman's understanding(with the exception of the siluminium), but rather than taking on a starring role it formed the backbone that supported the main point of the story, which was about the society that relied on that science to survive.
My only complaint about this book is that the pacing gets a little weird in the last third. A lot of time passes, but the plot remains urgent, so there's some very weird time skips that leave the narrative feeling disjointed, even rushed at times. But this only brings the overall score down to maybe a 4.75, so I rounded it up. If you're someone who likes your sci-fi with science that at least puts up a pretense of being grounded in fact, but who still prefers a focus on character and society over hard scientific crunch, the style of this book would probably appeal to you. Just be mindful of the content warnings, as there's quite a lot of them and Solomon pulls no punches.
Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, Slavery, Transphobia, Violence, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Blood, Medical content, Abortion, Death of parent, and Classism
Minor: Pedophilia, Suicide, Pregnancy, and Alcohol
writererinm'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? No
5.0
Graphic: Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Police brutality, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Outing, and Toxic friendship
cowboyaj's review against another edition
4.0
However, if you do read this book I would highly encourage reading the content warnings first. It doesn't hold back on harsher topics, though I think that quality makes the book much stronger.
My few disappointments of the book was the (romance?) and the ending. I honestly had such a difficult time discerning if Theo and Aster were romantically involved or not. Their relationship felt like it was fluctuating constantly and it just felt too surface level compared to the other themes of the book. For me, the ending wasn't satisfying. Though I don't always need a happy ending, the ending just didn't give me any relief from all the build up that happened from the beginning of the story.
Graphic: Sexual assault, Slavery, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Child death, Rape, Suicide, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, and Colonisation
Minor: Gun violence, Transphobia, Blood, and Vomit