Scan barcode
miamcmillan's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Moderate: Colonisation, Racism, and Racial slurs
tictactoney's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Everything astrological went right over my head. And it might help as you're reading to make a timeline or keep a list, because there's a lot of characters and a lot of clues and a lot of connections.
But what a hell of a book.
Moderate: Racism
eilidhfisher's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
3.5
Graphic: Racial slurs and Racism
itkit'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
4.5
Graphic: Bullying, Xenophobia, Violence, Racism, Racial slurs, and Hate crime
Moderate: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Sexism, Pregnancy, Miscarriage, Gun violence, Grief, and Drug use
Minor: Blood
sneako's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Miscarriage, Gun violence, Violence, Hate crime, Racism, Racial slurs, Trafficking, Police brutality, Drug use, Drug abuse, Death, Confinement, and Addiction
cursedepub's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
The prose itself does kind of... "put on airs," as the novel is meant to remind a reader of the writing conventions of 19th century literature, to match the setting. In this vein the novel is very clever and very witty, and is very aware of how witty and clever it is. You get the sense that this nothing in this novel is there by accident, and that it's proud of itself for that. To me this was part of the charm, but others may be put off.
One thing to note is that there is a lot of anti-Asian racist violence in the novel, a lot of casual racism in general, and anti-Asian and anti-sex work slurs tossed around liberally. I guess this would be typical of the period and setting. The novel does not excuse the racism and misogyny, but it's very there.
Graphic: Blood, Child death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, and Trafficking
Moderate: Miscarriage and Misogyny
hrhacissej's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Racism
Storygraph suggested this book to me, but I didn't decide to read it until I started a Book Bingo Challenge that had a square for a Story set in New Zealand. I'm glad that I read it and will probably be more inclined to read other Storygraph suggestions. ;-) I found the structure of the story as interesting as the story itself, but the planetary charts were incomprehensible to me despite the author's note at the beginning. I'm interested in watching the miniseries now.