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adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I will come back to this review if time has made my opinion of this book more concrete. For now, I can say that I liked it. It was quite boring in the middle, although; if I reread it, I do not think that I would find it so.
I did not see many of the twists coming. There were plenty of theories I had but none of them turned out to be true. I also didn’t expect it to be such a love story. And even halfway through if you told me it was, I wouldn’t have been able to guess.
I did not see many of the twists coming. There were plenty of theories I had but none of them turned out to be true. I also didn’t expect it to be such a love story. And even halfway through if you told me it was, I wouldn’t have been able to guess.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Pandemic/Epidemic
adventurous
emotional
funny
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
One of my favourite reads of the year so far. I loved the characters (especially Graham Gore, very sexy!), and the writing had a compelling tone and pace that kept me hooked. The start felt a bit like time-travel fanfiction, and the protagonist initially gave off self-insert vibes, but the book quickly won me over.
It’s a fun, thought-provoking premise that really pulled on my heartstrings. Some of the prose leans a little overwritten - lots of seasonal metaphors and poetic imagery - but overall, I really enjoyed it. A strong five stars from me.
It’s a fun, thought-provoking premise that really pulled on my heartstrings. Some of the prose leans a little overwritten - lots of seasonal metaphors and poetic imagery - but overall, I really enjoyed it. A strong five stars from me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Sexual content
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I've been putting off this Hugo Best Novel nominee for as long as I can because I was told it's a genre I dislike (romance) featuring one of my least favorite tropes (time travel) so I thought I would hate it, and I was ultimately right.
At first my feelings were more mixed. Commander Graham Gore is a relentlessly charming person, and there are a handful of other characters I enjoyed (Margaret Kemble and Simellia). But the deeper I got, the more messy the book became. By the timethe protagonist pushes Simellia away with some frankly bigoted comments about race I knew the tolerable part of the book was over for me. The first half has a lighthearted, comedic tone, but it's not a comedy. Two people fall in love, but it's not a Romance. And the protagonist shuts her eyes and puts her hands over her ears to avoid the sci-fi thriller happening in the background until it's unavoidable, at which point the whole book goes down in flames.
My gods did I hate the protagonist. She is an extremely passive person who only cares about not rocking the boat and pinning for the guy she likes. I've never found myself saying "oh fuck you" out loud to a protagonist before, and I said it to her twice. I've also never found myself in complete agreement with an antagonist before. She's just such a shitty person, but not even in an interesting way. I also don't think thatour protagonist really learned anything or changed as a person, just continuing to be sad and pine even after admitting the Ministry was evil.
I feel like the parts of the book that are the most interesting are when it's talking about being a first-generation child of immigrants or being mixed-race. Most of the book is close to being a non-speculative literary novel anyway and I wish it had stayed that way. The book doesn't really comfortably fit in a genre, and on some level I'm irritated that Chain-Gang All-Stars was "too literary" for the Hugos but this isn't? And to add to its tally of sins, this book also doesn't understand how diseases and immune systems work.
This is the clearest case of "no award" I've ever encountered, and how it got nominated for anything I will be confused about until I die.
At first my feelings were more mixed. Commander Graham Gore is a relentlessly charming person, and there are a handful of other characters I enjoyed (Margaret Kemble and Simellia). But the deeper I got, the more messy the book became. By the time
My gods did I hate the protagonist. She is an extremely passive person who only cares about not rocking the boat and pinning for the guy she likes. I've never found myself saying "oh fuck you" out loud to a protagonist before, and I said it to her twice. I've also never found myself in complete agreement with an antagonist before. She's just such a shitty person, but not even in an interesting way. I also don't think that
I feel like the parts of the book that are the most interesting are when it's talking about being a first-generation child of immigrants or being mixed-race. Most of the book is close to being a non-speculative literary novel anyway and I wish it had stayed that way. The book doesn't really comfortably fit in a genre, and on some level I'm irritated that Chain-Gang All-Stars was "too literary" for the Hugos but this isn't? And to add to its tally of sins, this book also doesn't understand how diseases and immune systems work.
This is the clearest case of "no award" I've ever encountered, and how it got nominated for anything I will be confused about until I die.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Xenophobia, Vomit, Grief, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Moderate: Confinement, Genocide, Sexism, Slavery, Kidnapping, Colonisation
Minor: Cannibalism, Death of parent, War, Pandemic/Epidemic
Holocaust and 9/11 mentions. Covid mention (badly handled)
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Homophobia, Sexual content, Violence
Moderate: Violence, War
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I give this book 2 stars solely for the three expat characters: Graham, Maggie and Arthur. Otherwise, it would have been 1. It had a 3-star start, but a 1-star ending.
Overall, it's an interesting concept, but the execution was lacking. It was confusing and a bit all over the place, both in the writing style and the plot. The prose was so clunky it was almost painful to read at times. Why use simple language when you can throw in confusing metaphors and unnecessarily bulky language instead? Thank goodness I was reading the ebook because the number of times I had to use the Kobo dictionary to look a word up was embarrassing.
I'm not sure that the book knew what it wanted to be... mostly it felt like the author was really interested in the failed Arctic expedition that Graham Gore was part of (true events) and tried to write a book around "what if one of the people from that expedition got dropped into the future". Then came up with an assortment of disjointed moments and tried to turn that into a book. It didn't really work for me. It didn't feel cohesive in any way.
I liked the few characters we actually got to know (Arthur, Maggie, Graham), but the rest of the characters were kind of underdeveloped and not that interesting, and they were all so flat that kept getting confused over who was who. Names came out of nowhere and made me go, "huh"?
The "romance" itself was very disappointing, and by the end, I was kind of annoyed with the main narrator. (Did we ever find out her name?)
As for the plot... I'm still scratching my head. Maybe I'm dense, but I really didn't get it. Even when the big reveal happened (which wasn't that surprising, even if it didn't really make sense), I had to read it three times and I still didn't understand why the characters were doing what they were doing, so I found it kind of unsatisfying by the end of the book.
Wouldn't recommend it unless you like those types of books that confuse you.
Overall, it's an interesting concept, but the execution was lacking. It was confusing and a bit all over the place, both in the writing style and the plot. The prose was so clunky it was almost painful to read at times. Why use simple language when you can throw in confusing metaphors and unnecessarily bulky language instead? Thank goodness I was reading the ebook because the number of times I had to use the Kobo dictionary to look a word up was embarrassing.
I'm not sure that the book knew what it wanted to be... mostly it felt like the author was really interested in the failed Arctic expedition that Graham Gore was part of (true events) and tried to write a book around "what if one of the people from that expedition got dropped into the future". Then came up with an assortment of disjointed moments and tried to turn that into a book. It didn't really work for me. It didn't feel cohesive in any way.
I liked the few characters we actually got to know (Arthur, Maggie, Graham), but the rest of the characters were kind of underdeveloped and not that interesting, and they were all so flat that kept getting confused over who was who. Names came out of nowhere and made me go, "huh"?
The "romance" itself was very disappointing, and by the end, I was kind of annoyed with the main narrator. (Did we ever find out her name?)
As for the plot... I'm still scratching my head. Maybe I'm dense, but I really didn't get it. Even when the big reveal happened (which wasn't that surprising, even if it didn't really make sense), I had to read it three times and I still didn't understand why the characters were doing what they were doing, so I found it kind of unsatisfying by the end of the book.
Wouldn't recommend it unless you like those types of books that confuse you.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Blood
Minor: Cannibalism
challenging
funny
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Initially gave this 3 stars but I have spent so much time in the weeks since I finished it talking so much shit about how much I hate this book and how frustrated I feel that I feel like I was far too generous and am immediately demoting this to 1 star which the book earned by pissing me off enough that I’ve given it far more time than it deserved.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Grief, Cannibalism, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Colonisation, War
Moderate: Homophobia, Slavery
Minor: Biphobia
adventurous
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-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
Loved it, the only reason I didn’t give it 5* is because I found parts of the prose grandiloquent where it needn’t have been. Can’t wait for the TV adaptation and to see Commander Gore brought to life on screen. Also the sex scenes are hot.
Content Warnings
Minor: Death, Racial slurs, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Murder, Colonisation
adventurous
dark
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
tense
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:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Racism, Grief, Cannibalism, Murder, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail
adventurous
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Gun violence, Racism, Sexual content, Xenophobia, Cannibalism
adventurous
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
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
Content Warnings
Minor: Death, Sexual content, Cannibalism