Reviews with content warning for Suicide - An Unkindness of Ghosts

The further I got into this book, the more the story pulled me in. It’s hard to believe this is Solomon’s debut novel—it reads like it was written by a well-seasoned novelist.

Content Warnings

sofipitch's review against another edition

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challenging dark slow-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? No

4.75

Nothing I say could do this book justice, it's endlessly creative and complex. Truly in awe, the only reason this isn't 5 stars is one small bit that triggered my phobia but that's it, literally my only complaint.

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jessthanthree's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense 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

5.0

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mazomazli's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad tense 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

4.5

This is definitely one of the hardest books I’ve ever read emotionally. It deeply pulls from the history of American chattel slavery for world building. If you’ve read Kindred by Octavia Butler it’s in that type of atmosphere but more graphic.

I would like to inform anyone who has or will compare this to the Handmaid’s Tale that you are incorrect for doing so. I highly recommend any form of nonfiction on the realities of people who were enslaved in the US so you understand that the things read in this book happened often to real people. I would also say it pulls from actual history similarly like the Poppy War trilogy where that author pulled accounts from survivors of the Rape of Nanjing to put directly in. I also might say that like the Poppy War, the real history was toned down a little meaning the events in this book are still not as cruel as the real worlds.

Here’s a long and incomplete list of topics addressed throughout the book: being autistic in a world that is quick to do violence to you and trying to navigate it, what people do to survive constant sexual assault and rape, child on child sexual abuse after both experiencing and witnessing so much, physical abuse and violence at every turn, the stories told amongst those who are surviving to hold each other up, a character who is white passing and trying to help those oppressed, police brutality (literally overseers are the origins of cops), and a character with psychosis/paranoia (perhaps schizophrenia) with lots of self harm.

There are so many things I think of between the way Aster tries to always be prepared for when violence comes for her, how Giselle was both vibrant and subdued and so complicated, and the way Theo presents himself and how his uncle likely had abused him as a child and he does not remember. I feel so much for Giselle. It is very uncommon to see a severely mentally ill character depicted so realistically - at the end of the day she wasn’t the big scary danger to every one else. The majority of the violence she did was against herself or objects.

This is definitely a check if you’re in the headspace before you try this, but I think it’s worth it.

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tenten's review against another edition

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i'm in a bad state of mind right now given how crappy our current society is. reading a book where slavery has been reinstated even though it's set 300 yrs in the future is not helping my mental state!!

aside from that, i just can't connect with it like i feel myself not caring. i read some reviews that point out how wild it is that Aster and other lowdeckers insult, physically attack, and disrespect upperdeckers and guards without much real consequence, which makes the stakes seem lower than they're presented to be.

i might pick it up again because Rivers Solomon won me over with their story, "Whose Heart I Long to Stop with the Click of a Revolver," but i'm dropping it for now

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maiaw27's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense 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

4.75

Heartbreaking and beautifully written. The author explores race, gender, sexuality, class, and religion/faith, trauma, power, and madness in a manner so complex and intricate— I need to get all my friends to read this so we can talk about it.

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paperbrownies's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful sad tense 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

- lgbtqiap+, adult, sci-fi, dystopian, space gays, horror, makes you go ✨science ✨, ghosts, drifting through space, DIVERSE,
- f|f
-rep: black intersex neurodivergent nonbinary woman mc, nonbinary woman sc (see author’s twitter thread), aroace sc and a casting of racially diverse and queer characters

if i had to say anything about this book, then it would be:
’talented. brilliant. incredible. amazing. showstopping. spectacular. never the same. TOTALLY UNIQUE. completely not ever been done before.’
this. this is my review!!!

-cw: surgery, medical content, needles, transphobia, misgendering, alcohol, death of parent, systematic violence, illness, off-page and on-page suicide, brief mention of cancer, implied child sexual abuse, body horror, injury/injury detail, self harm, abortion, physical abuse, intake of bodily fluids, child death, fire, suicide, torture, confinement, police brutality, minor sexual content

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