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wannabekingpin's review against another edition
3.0
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night mode reading ;
skaitom nakties rezimu
About the Book: Tristol, an alien with lavender skin and sunshine personality, always helpful, always smiling, has chosen the life of an exile. His inner sadness and hurt buried under the layer of freedom, and the loneliness suddenly relieved by a handsome human detective aboard the ship. But happy little moment barely had the time to spark a flame as work pulled them both into an unthinkable. A galoi ship, Tristol’s natives, requests help of the detective, for there has been a murder aboard. It comes as a shock requiring this unprecedented need of human assistance, for galoi don’t even have a word for “murder“…
My Opinion: The detective, while simple, was well woven and I definitely enjoyed it. It was the romance that fell flat, with everything going smooth and perfect. It’s fine if you like that sort of thing. But I, personally, hoped for a tad more depth.
All in all, author seems promising, and I’d gladly read other works. This one, though, gets 3 out of 5 from me.
night mode reading ;
skaitom nakties rezimu
About the Book: Tristol, an alien with lavender skin and sunshine personality, always helpful, always smiling, has chosen the life of an exile. His inner sadness and hurt buried under the layer of freedom, and the loneliness suddenly relieved by a handsome human detective aboard the ship. But happy little moment barely had the time to spark a flame as work pulled them both into an unthinkable. A galoi ship, Tristol’s natives, requests help of the detective, for there has been a murder aboard. It comes as a shock requiring this unprecedented need of human assistance, for galoi don’t even have a word for “murder“…
My Opinion: The detective, while simple, was well woven and I definitely enjoyed it. It was the romance that fell flat, with everything going smooth and perfect. It’s fine if you like that sort of thing. But I, personally, hoped for a tad more depth.
All in all, author seems promising, and I’d gladly read other works. This one, though, gets 3 out of 5 from me.
elee2013's review against another edition
3.0
3/5
It’s a tough scene when a mystery is dead on obvious right when it’s presented. And I couldn’t quite get behind the insta-love in this one. But I did enjoy the deeper themes of choice and gender (obvs), language, and cultural/societal pressure.
It’s a tough scene when a mystery is dead on obvious right when it’s presented. And I couldn’t quite get behind the insta-love in this one. But I did enjoy the deeper themes of choice and gender (obvs), language, and cultural/societal pressure.
littleastrid's review
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
beccamcostello's review against another edition
2.0
Not up to my expectations of Carriger stories. The world is interesting but too complicated at times, especially for such a short book. Character is sacrificed at the altar of getting the two main characters in bed together - similar to my review of The Sumage Solution.
abrittlebee's review against another edition
3.0
If you're looking for something with the sheen and polish of Carriger's other works, this is definitely not it. Like all the other works written under the G.L. Carriger moniker, this novel has a very free and experimental nature to it, almost like a well-written homoerotic serial you would find lurking the depths of the internet. In that respect, I love it.
With that, comes a certain sense of spontaneity. Is this something that feels planned out, or like it went through numerous drafts till it arrived at a perfect final product? No. It feels like there was a beginning and an end, and Carriger just kind of free-penned the rest on a whim.
Personally, I would have liked to see a little more of Drey and Tris prior to their romantic relationship, but to each their own.
With that, comes a certain sense of spontaneity. Is this something that feels planned out, or like it went through numerous drafts till it arrived at a perfect final product? No. It feels like there was a beginning and an end, and Carriger just kind of free-penned the rest on a whim.
Personally, I would have liked to see a little more of Drey and Tris prior to their romantic relationship, but to each their own.
tellingetienne's review against another edition
3.0
I def have mixed feelings about this one. I loved parts of it and can't get into the parts I hated without some bit spoilers. It's fun, silly up until it's dead serious. It feels, and this is not an insult at all, very much like an original slash fiction novel that would have been published online in the early 2000s. I'd be interested in seeing more, but with some reservations. Tris is a little too bubbly and silly, but I think that was in effort to making him feel alien to the readers. Dray was a little too flat. But again, it was an interesting read and I'd be curious to see what the author does next in the setting.
siavahda's review against another edition
4.0
This is a wonderful little book - I pre-ordered this on a whim, mainly because I've found Carriger's writing entertaining before and I'm always interested to see takes on alien gender and sexuality. I didn't expect it to be as sweet and adorable as it in fact was, and despite a few tragic revelations it made for wonderful fluff-reading - exactly what you want after a rough day at work when you just want to relax and enjoy something not-too-complicated.
If anything, 5th Gender is slightly too simplistic to be ideal (at least for me), but it's entertaining enough for me to forgive it for that. The same goes for the romance - it might not be that realistic, but I was happy to buy into it in the context of the story. (Besides, yours truly was talking marriage five days after meeting my now-spouse, and we've been together for over a decade now. Insta-love does happen!) Despite Tris being biologically loga, for all intents and purposes this can be read as your average woman-written m/m romance (Tris is a male loga, and does use male pronouns throughout) - it's cutesy and there's plenty of sex, although to be fair, most of that makes sense in context of Tris being galoi; his gender apparently evolved to be extra-adorable, with a high sex-drive and a craving for physical contact. And Carriger gets many, many points for solving those specific complications of m/m sex that more than a few female authors forget about (JR Ward, I'm looking at you); if you're going to have aliens, after all, why not go wild with their biology to take care of 'problems' like lube?
I guess it wouldn't work so well in a 'hard' sci-fi story, but it slides perfectly into place (ahem) in this light-hearted romp.
It's not all fluff, though. Deep and complicated emotions are at the heart of this story, giving it a poignancy that will ensure I remember this one for a long time, and that make it stand out from the crowd. There's also some incredibly interesting world-building - while I found the galoi utterly fascinating, I was also impressed by how sneakily Carriger managed to drop hints about how humanity's been faring since they left the 'Hu-Core', aka little ol' Earth. Even if I wasn't eager to see more of Tris and Drey, I'd hope for more books just to explore this galaxy Carriger's created.
I do hope any future books are a bit better edited, however. There were more than a few cases of accidental homophone usage, which made me wince. I also didn't especially enjoy the sex scenes, but that I think is down to personal preference; I'm sure there are plenty of other readers who enjoyed (or will enjoy) them a lot.
A final note: while the romance is functionally m/m, I think Carriger did an excellent job of creating - and conveying - zyga as an identity; Tris is biologically loga, but identifies as zyga, the 5th gender of the title. I won't explain exactly what that means here, because spoilers, but it's incredibly important to Tris, the story, and his culture, and I found it deeply moving. Most of all, I would love to see more books in the universe so as to follow Tris in his journey as zyga. Somehow, I don't think Drey will have too much trouble keeping up with him!
If anything, 5th Gender is slightly too simplistic to be ideal (at least for me), but it's entertaining enough for me to forgive it for that. The same goes for the romance - it might not be that realistic, but I was happy to buy into it in the context of the story. (Besides, yours truly was talking marriage five days after meeting my now-spouse, and we've been together for over a decade now. Insta-love does happen!) Despite Tris being biologically loga, for all intents and purposes this can be read as your average woman-written m/m romance (Tris is a male loga, and does use male pronouns throughout) - it's cutesy and there's plenty of sex, although to be fair, most of that makes sense in context of Tris being galoi; his gender apparently evolved to be extra-adorable, with a high sex-drive and a craving for physical contact. And Carriger gets many, many points for solving those specific complications of m/m sex that more than a few female authors forget about (JR Ward, I'm looking at you); if you're going to have aliens, after all, why not go wild with their biology to take care of 'problems' like lube?
I guess it wouldn't work so well in a 'hard' sci-fi story, but it slides perfectly into place (ahem) in this light-hearted romp.
It's not all fluff, though. Deep and complicated emotions are at the heart of this story, giving it a poignancy that will ensure I remember this one for a long time, and that make it stand out from the crowd. There's also some incredibly interesting world-building - while I found the galoi utterly fascinating, I was also impressed by how sneakily Carriger managed to drop hints about how humanity's been faring since they left the 'Hu-Core', aka little ol' Earth. Even if I wasn't eager to see more of Tris and Drey, I'd hope for more books just to explore this galaxy Carriger's created.
I do hope any future books are a bit better edited, however. There were more than a few cases of accidental homophone usage, which made me wince. I also didn't especially enjoy the sex scenes, but that I think is down to personal preference; I'm sure there are plenty of other readers who enjoyed (or will enjoy) them a lot.
A final note: while the romance is functionally m/m, I think Carriger did an excellent job of creating - and conveying - zyga as an identity; Tris is biologically loga, but identifies as zyga, the 5th gender of the title. I won't explain exactly what that means here, because spoilers, but it's incredibly important to Tris, the story, and his culture, and I found it deeply moving. Most of all, I would love to see more books in the universe so as to follow Tris in his journey as zyga. Somehow, I don't think Drey will have too much trouble keeping up with him!
psghayleaux's review against another edition
4.0
Couldn't put this down. Was checking my e-mail very early this morning as a prelude to trying to go back to sleep. Then I saw the e-mail that this book was now out, I immediately downloaded it. And then proceeded to read more than half of it before getting out of bed to start my day. And I finished it not long after.
Very interesting story, likable characters, I'd love to see more in this universe. A very enjoyable read.
Very interesting story, likable characters, I'd love to see more in this universe. A very enjoyable read.
liza5326's review against another edition
5.0
I was pleasantly surprised by this book. Tris is an incredibly adorable Lavender alien exiled because of his gender and preferences. Drey is a human security officer. It has everything a great story needs, intrigue, romance, laughter, REALLY sexy times, and a good mystery. I am eager for the nect Installment of the series!!