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4.19 AVERAGE
4.19 AVERAGE
emotional
hopeful
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
I wasn't really thinking about my expectations for this book when I started it, but what I expected wasn't what I got. I expected a cozy science fiction story that was character-driven but still had what I could easily recognize as a plot. What I got was a slice-of-life snapshot of five different humans (mostly) onboard the Exodus Fleet as they cope with life.
Now, I do generally like slice-of-life stories when they're done well. This one was no exception. I enjoyed seeing how the Fleet worked and how it didn't. (Sawyer is the example here of what didn't work: while there is a supposedly open policy for humans to return to the Fleet after being away, it was really hard for Sawyer—a human born on a planet to parents who had left the Fleet—to get a start onboard one of the ships as a member of Exodian society.) I enjoyed getting to see the post-Earth human culture both from the inside and through the eyes of an alien researcher (journalist?) who visits one of our POV characters. This was an enjoyable character study of a book, it just wasn't what I had thought I was picking up.
However, it didn't feel as cozy to me as the first two books in the series. It doesn't pretend to be what it's not, though; it starts with a major disaster that leaves hundreds (maybe thousands) dead and the daughter of one of our POV characters traumatized. (Side note: while that whole disaster starts the book, the healing part is sidelined into a "years later" time jump in the narrative that I felt a little unsatisfying.)
While I enjoyed this book for the slice-of-life narrative that it is, it almost feels out of place among the other two books in the series I've read so far. Looking at future series rereads, I might treat this as a "companion book" instead of part of the main series. (It helps that the series really is four very loosely connected books, so you don't really need to read them in any kind of order.)
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death
inspiring
reflective
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:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death
emotional
hopeful
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:
No
Maybe I read this at the wrong time. I couldn't connect with any of the characters. I ended up skimming quite a few parts because I was bored. Still, I liked the ending and nothing here was offensive.
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
this one took a minute for me to get into but once i did boy was i into it. i love the idea of like... space colonies theyre so fascinating to be in a lot of ways and i love learning about their way of life and i love how becky chambers shows humanity from outside perspectives and how aliens would view what we do and what makes us human and what it means to be alive. i loved the characters - kip who just wants to get out, and learns to love home again, eyas who tended the dead, but in the end helped people figure out how to settle - a transtionary figure, i loved her persective, sawyer, oh poor sawyer, cautionary tale. it genuinely made me so very sad. tessa, who loves her home, her space, and yet goes and changes something, makes a new life when she realises her home isnt really her home anymore, or at least isnt enough of it to hold her there, and isabel, who charts it all, bringing them all together, our guide in a way. again, a stunner from becky chambers, truly i think one of my favourite authors
hopeful
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
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
I love this series and the way each entry acts as an independent story of world and character building. This third entry centers on the human experience with the twist of a lost home world and an emphasis on legacy, rebirth, and history. I was SHOCKED by some of the plot development and emotionally wrecked with the poetic writing style. The central theme of hope is carried through and everything continues to feel lived in and loved.
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
medium-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
Beautiful book. I cried.