Reviews - To Be Taught, If Fortunate

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8.63k reviews for:

To Be Taught, If Fortunate

Becky Chambers

4.27 AVERAGE

cournme's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous emotional hopeful reflective tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

This novella was packed with emotion. It gave a real sense of the isolation of space, of the hope of exploring it, and of the love & companionship between the crew mates.

vmbookie's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous informative inspiring medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Loveable characters: Yes

ela000's review against another edition

3.75

emotional hopeful informative inspiring fast-paced

I liked this book a lot. The setting was great, the characters were interesting, and the sci fi elements were really cool. But honestly, I expected a bit more from it. I think that is mostly my fault because I went into it with very high expectations. I had read so many glowing reviews, with people saying it was one of the best books they had ever read, so of course my hopes were up. If I had gone in blind, I probably would have enjoyed it more.

The whole thing had a bit of a creative writing assignment vibe, but not in a bad way. It was very well written, just structured in a way that sometimes felt a little like an essay. The writing itself was beautiful. It was not poetic in the way that it read like poetry, but the overall mood felt lyrical, which I really liked.

I also appreciated the themes. There were touches of anti-colonialism and other more liberal themes (which I absolutely loved), and the LGBT representation was perfect. It was just there, completely natural, without being treated as a dramatic twist or made into a huge deal. That felt really refreshing.

The book explored some really big questions, like our place in the universe, the purpose of space exploration when there are so many problems here on Earth, and whether it is worth seeking out the unknown at all. These are heavy themes, and while I liked how the author approached them, I kept waiting for some big emotional moment or personal revelation that would really hit me. That moment never came. There was no grand reveal at the end, which is fine, but it left me feeling like something was missing.

The biology facts and sci fi details were fascinating, but they were not enough to give me that deep, personal reaction I was hoping for. It reminded me a bit of the vibe of I Who Have Never Known Men (not the story or content, just the feeling it left me with). That book completely changed me when I finished it, so maybe I was unfairly expecting this one to do the same.

The pacing was good, and I never got bored. It is a short book, which worked well, but also meant there were ideas I wished had been explored in more depth. That might be why it felt like a creative writing piece to me. It touched on a lot of themes but never fully dove into them.

Overall, I am glad I read it. It was a nice experience, just not life-changing. I don't think I would reread it, but I am not disappointed either.

sinnylong's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous emotional reflective 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

theapplewitch's review against another edition

4.0

It's actually quite hard for me to rate this story.
It's good. I like Becky's writing style and love the diversity when it comes to characters (both in the sense of their personalities and identities).
But I guess I am not quite used to stories like this. It is really hard to describe.
The Wayfarer books were pretty much the first real sci-fi books that I read, so I am not that used the the genre.
To Be Taught, If Fortunate did not keep me reading because of its strong story. I kept reading because I wanted to know what the next planet's thing is and how the characters react to that (which is actually pretty close to the other two books by Becky Chambers that I read so far). And in between it sneaks some biology lessons in and does not feel lecturing while doing so, which is nice.

In the end I give it four stars, because I can't think of anything bad, but of several good things. But I - and I don't know why - personally don't see it as a great book. It's good. But that's it.