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adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
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
I feel like I have been very hard to please lately when it comes to books, but this one checked all the boxes for me. In fact, I'm kind of obsessed. I will say I was vaguely disappointed when I looked up Gore's daguerrotype, but I guess you can't have everything.
But the book is just so, so deep and profound, and a very truthful rendering of the human experience. I felt like Bradley did a good job of balancing the realistic recognition of the world not being as it should be (now or in the past), and our struggle to find ourselves on the right side of history in the future. I feel like she also offers the solution (which many sermonizing authors do not), which is to do the next right thing.
There was a fantastic reveal that I never saw coming in a million years and created a super unique relationship dynamic. The ending was also very satisfying for my personal reading style. What really did it for me was when the narrator described the holocaust as "preventable." That hit home for me as a healthcare professional because preventable diseases often occur because they require us to give up a degree of comfort to try to prevent them, like eating healthy to prevent obesity. In a moral sense though, it's not just our bodies we damage by choosing comfort, but the people of the world around us, and the very fabric of the future.
Stylistically, the book is beautiful written. Bradley just has such a way with words and an incredible skill for weaving the plot together. The characters are well-developed, and thoroughly, undeniably human, if that makes any sense. The setting is just exotic enough to push into science fiction, but grounded enough to be a viable near future.
To make a long review short, it was a winner in my book, and a worthwhile, thought-provoking read.
But the book is just so, so deep and profound, and a very truthful rendering of the human experience. I felt like Bradley did a good job of balancing the realistic recognition of the world not being as it should be (now or in the past), and our struggle to find ourselves on the right side of history in the future. I feel like she also offers the solution (which many sermonizing authors do not), which is to do the next right thing.
There was a fantastic reveal that I never saw coming in a million years and created a super unique relationship dynamic. The ending was also very satisfying for my personal reading style. What really did it for me was when the narrator described the holocaust as "preventable." That hit home for me as a healthcare professional because preventable diseases often occur because they require us to give up a degree of comfort to try to prevent them, like eating healthy to prevent obesity. In a moral sense though, it's not just our bodies we damage by choosing comfort, but the people of the world around us, and the very fabric of the future.
Stylistically, the book is beautiful written. Bradley just has such a way with words and an incredible skill for weaving the plot together. The characters are well-developed, and thoroughly, undeniably human, if that makes any sense. The setting is just exotic enough to push into science fiction, but grounded enough to be a viable near future.
To make a long review short, it was a winner in my book, and a worthwhile, thought-provoking read.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content, Violence, Xenophobia, Murder
Minor: Racism, Slavery
adventurous
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
It was so much fun. I loved the story it was telling and how Time Travel was used in an incredibly militarised way (as it would be!) rather than the usual route of time travel books.
The time travel aspects were not perfect, but I feel that the narrative was strong enough to pull it through. And although I did not like the narrator character (and she really was a terrible bridge), I think that her persepective was a really good one to experience this through.
I laughed a lot through the book, the humour was just my style. I enjoyed the characters, they all felt uniquely themselves and there was not any one character that felt cartoonishly villainous, which I've come to notice is an easy trap these sorts of narratives fall into.
The fact that the book didn't have a happy ending, nor anything solidly conclusive, was a breathe of fresh air for me with these more light-hearted action stories. I like that everything wasn't neatly wrapped up in a nice little package, and also the implication that the adventure is not entirely over is nice (although I would probably hate a sequel).
This was a fun romp that I'd recommend.
It was so much fun. I loved the story it was telling and how Time Travel was used in an incredibly militarised way (as it would be!) rather than the usual route of time travel books.
The time travel aspects were not perfect, but I feel that the narrative was strong enough to pull it through. And although I did not like the narrator character (and she really was a terrible bridge), I think that her persepective was a really good one to experience this through.
I laughed a lot through the book, the humour was just my style. I enjoyed the characters, they all felt uniquely themselves and there was not any one character that felt cartoonishly villainous, which I've come to notice is an easy trap these sorts of narratives fall into.
The fact that the book didn't have a happy ending, nor anything solidly conclusive, was a breathe of fresh air for me with these more light-hearted action stories. I like that everything wasn't neatly wrapped up in a nice little package, and also the implication that the adventure is not entirely over is nice (although I would probably hate a sequel).
This was a fun romp that I'd recommend.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Racism, Sexual content, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Murder
Moderate: Homophobia, Medical content, Medical trauma, Lesbophobia, Outing
Minor: Cannibalism, War
adventurous
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
Graphic: Gun violence, Murder
Moderate: Homophobia, Racism, Blood, Vomit
Minor: Confinement, Cannibalism, War
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
challenging
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
I'm not sure how to feel about this novel. At times, I thought it was really beautifully and skillfully written. Other times, I felt it was slow and boring, bogged down by inconsequential details. I struggled to keep my attention on it, and as it got closer to the climax, I got more and more confused as I struggled to keep up. Perhaps I have trained my reading mind into laziness with less complex reads. I think this is the reason I have always disliked fantasy novels--I struggle to keep up so greatly that the reading becomes a chore rather than an escape. I wouldn't call this a fantasy novel, though maybe in a way it is. Time travel is pretty fantastical.
I would like to give this novel another chance. Maybe if I read the physical copy I could take my time with it and not become confused or bored. Overall, my feelings about it are more positive than not.
I would like to give this novel another chance. Maybe if I read the physical copy I could take my time with it and not become confused or bored. Overall, my feelings about it are more positive than not.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Racism, Sexual content, Violence, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Murder
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
funny
mysterious
reflective
sad
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:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cursing, Sexual content
Minor: Drug use, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Blood, Murder, Alcohol, Colonisation, War
funny
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Masterfully done, and all the more impressive given it’s a debut novel. Delivers on its premise with believable characters, excellent pacing, and JUST the right amount of world-building and romance. Layered message, too, about identity, fate, and imperialism.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism
Moderate: Cursing, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Sexism, Sexual content, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, Colonisation
Minor: Animal death, Biphobia, Slavery
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