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aviabraham's review
dark
emotional
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
This book was such a freaking bummer. I loved the overstory a lot which is the only reason I read this, since it’s really not my usual kind of book, but I was super disappointed. The narrator is the most boring, annoying character in the story. I found the way the author talks about women to be bizarre and dehumanizing. The ending felt rushed and didn’t make sense with the rest of the narrative. Would not recommend.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Car accident, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Child death, Death of parent, Mental illness, Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Grief
astridrv's review
The hardest book to review this year.
I love Powers’ writing - yes it’s grandiose and saccharine and dramatic and I love it. Some pages left me breathless - the space chapters?? Perfection.
It felt cathartic to have my gut feelings about the climate crisis put unflinchingly in words.
I do think the books has some interesting things to say about neurodivergence: to which extend is the society we are supposed to function in even desirable? What treatment helps you to live, what treatment changes you, what doesn’t change you, why does it matter? What do we owe our children and ourselves? How to parent with a broken heart in a broken world?
But I also feel really conflicted about how Robbie’s autism was dealt with in the book, and I’m really upset by the ending, that is so seeped in the ableist trope of “ultra sensitive being representing humanity’s consciousness and downfall” when he is just a young human who deserves care and guidance and happiness.
I can sense that it was written with nothing but love, but I have big issues with it.
I love Powers’ writing - yes it’s grandiose and saccharine and dramatic and I love it. Some pages left me breathless - the space chapters?? Perfection.
It felt cathartic to have my gut feelings about the climate crisis put unflinchingly in words.
I do think the books has some interesting things to say about neurodivergence: to which extend is the society we are supposed to function in even desirable? What treatment helps you to live, what treatment changes you, what doesn’t change you, why does it matter? What do we owe our children and ourselves? How to parent with a broken heart in a broken world?
But I also feel really conflicted about how Robbie’s autism was dealt with in the book, and I’m really upset by the ending, that is so seeped in the ableist trope of “ultra sensitive being representing humanity’s consciousness and downfall” when he is just a young human who deserves care and guidance and happiness.
I can sense that it was written with nothing but love, but I have big issues with it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Child death, Death of parent, and Ableism
Moderate: Physical abuse
Minor: Animal death
kirstym25's review against another edition
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Grief, Ableism, and Death of parent
Moderate: Car accident and Animal death
gentle_human's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, Bullying, Self harm, Animal death, Child death, Grief, Suicide, Death, Medical content, Mental illness, Car accident, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Ableism
steveatwaywords's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
There is a lot to like about Powers's sentimental, often preachy, heavily-crafted story. Certainly some of my politics (environmentalism, freedom of speech, etc.) align well, so the book is written to me; and that's half its problem.
Don't seek nuance (or much complexity) as Powers aspires to bring nothing less than the infinite outer-verse and inner-verse into alignment and then sighs, "But humans. . . . " In many ways Daniel Keyes did as well or better with his own mouse. But once our author has allied himself with Algernon, the whole story is un-enthusiastically foretold. The ending death of Robyn is not only a needless martyrdom, but by the time we reach it, I felt more like we killed him off only because the story was over rather than have his father continue to face raising him for more than a few narrative months.
It is Powers's deliberate and heavy-handed work to offer a sentimental story which makes this entire venture more ideology than literature, more emotional catharsis ("Somebody gets me!") than genuine reflection. Just because it's my propaganda doesn't make it less so.
But enough of that. Along the way, Powers does show why he remains a popular writer and that has more to do with real moments of waxing lyricism (a Neruda fan, for sure). He's eminently quotable: undoubtably portions of this work are already appearing on t-shirts, bumper stickers, and framed IG reels. His highly problematic glossing of medicine, schooling, and cognitive studies, for instance, from the vantage of such pithy verse, can safely be ignored. His takes on political dread or the micro-/macro-scales of nature and the universe, instead of providing challenges to us, are given in the briefest of chapters, only enough time for nods of the head.
My problem with the book isn't about his simplicity, with his designing the story and structure to be easy-reader friendly, it isn't even with the potent questions which appear here and there: it's that these insights are offered as conclusions, not as opportunities for exploration. So many writers have already done so much more . . .
Want a thorough read on animal rights that will grind on readers with its complex ethics? Try Elizabeth Costello by Coetzee. Want to talk about the Great Filter of evolution amongst the stars? Try a dozen science fiction writers from Clarke (philosophy of wonder) to Niven (hard science) to Pellegrino (realist military).
I enjoyed the read, found myself nodding too often appropriately, especially loved the frequent visits to other planets, and will remain committed to my politics and ethics both where they align with Powers and where they do not.
Don't seek nuance (or much complexity) as Powers aspires to bring nothing less than the infinite outer-verse and inner-verse into alignment and then sighs, "But humans. . . . " In many ways Daniel Keyes did as well or better with his own mouse. But once our author has allied himself with Algernon, the whole story is un-enthusiastically foretold.
It is Powers's deliberate and heavy-handed work to offer a sentimental story which makes this entire venture more ideology than literature, more emotional catharsis ("Somebody gets me!") than genuine reflection. Just because it's my propaganda doesn't make it less so.
But enough of that. Along the way, Powers does show why he remains a popular writer and that has more to do with real moments of waxing lyricism (a Neruda fan, for sure). He's eminently quotable: undoubtably portions of this work are already appearing on t-shirts, bumper stickers, and framed IG reels. His highly problematic glossing of medicine, schooling, and cognitive studies, for instance, from the vantage of such pithy verse, can safely be ignored. His takes on political dread or the micro-/macro-scales of nature and the universe, instead of providing challenges to us, are given in the briefest of chapters, only enough time for nods of the head.
My problem with the book isn't about his simplicity, with his designing the story and structure to be easy-reader friendly, it isn't even with the potent questions which appear here and there: it's that these insights are offered as conclusions, not as opportunities for exploration. So many writers have already done so much more . . .
Want a thorough read on animal rights that will grind on readers with its complex ethics? Try Elizabeth Costello by Coetzee. Want to talk about the Great Filter of evolution amongst the stars? Try a dozen science fiction writers from Clarke (philosophy of wonder) to Niven (hard science) to Pellegrino (realist military).
I enjoyed the read, found myself nodding too often appropriately, especially loved the frequent visits to other planets, and will remain committed to my politics and ethics both where they align with Powers and where they do not.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Child death, Death of parent, Mental illness, Pandemic/Epidemic, Animal death, and Grief
lou_christie's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death and Death of parent
Moderate: Animal death
izzybell's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Death, Child death, and Death of parent
m4rtt4's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Like Overstory, this book also gave me so much to think about — what is important in life, what even is life? It was also highly emotional and gave an interesting insight on raising a child on the spectrum. This book had so much potential, but it aimed too high. There were so much interesting concepts like decoded neurofeedback and the whole near-future dystopian world with all its catastrophes; it's almost criminal of Powers to create such future scenarios and only mention them in a single sentence, a fleeting moment. I was very intrigued at first, but I lost my interest more and more towards the ending because I knew that I'd never get the explanations I wanted. In that way the story kind of stayed true to itself, though — just like me, we as a society will never know enough about this world and all our answers might be wrong. The ending was lame, it was too dramatic for no reason and the results weren't even properly dealt with. the death of Robin was so unnecessary and didn't even give the story any emotional value as it was just quietly swept under the carpet — also you just can't end the book by him dying without even telling us the consequences?? just let him live, his death didn't even have the symbolic impact of 'we humans are doomed' as it probably was intended to.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, and Death
Moderate: Animal death, Ableism, Violence, Child death, Animal cruelty, and Car accident
alaina's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Utterly devastating and beautiful meditation on being a person who loves in a changing and challenging climate.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Death of parent, and Child death
Moderate: Animal death, Deportation, Xenophobia, and Animal cruelty
Climate grief and environmental destruction are central to the story. Political division and the rise of fascism also present throughout.hippejulia's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Aika masentava kuvaus jostain lähitulevaisuudesta joka ei edes ole ilmastokriisikuvauksillaan niin kauana todellisuudesta. Paikoitellen minusta vähän ableistinen.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Car accident, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, and Grief
Moderate: Child death, Death of parent, Ableism, and Mental illness
Minor: Medical content and Infidelity