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4.16 AVERAGE
4.16 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Minor: Sexual assault
adventurous
challenging
emotional
reflective
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:
Yes
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
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:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
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:
Yes
The Sparrow is a character-driven anthropological science fiction story in the vein of Ursula LeGuin. It's a book that describes the fullness of human experience - not on an individual level, but as an unweighted average coalesced into a few choice representatives. It's a book about the indifference of the universe, and the way that human beings counteract that indifference by filtering events through a lens of personalization. It is exquisite and poignant; brutal and beautiful. Russell does an amazing job of depicting a world without God while simultaneously showing the incredible value of faith. This is not the fun first-contact adventure I expected, but I fell in love with the characters and Russell's capacity for illustration. Her prose is intense and captivating and I will definitely be seeking out more of her work.
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
My review would’ve been higher for the majority of this book but I felt like the story ended up reproducing some colonial ways of thinking that I thought would be deconstructed. Telling an alien first contact story from the perspective of the catholic church was really interesting and I felt more invested in the characters than I have been in a story in a long time. I will probably end up reading the sequel
dark
reflective
sad
slow-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
Wanted to like it but tbh I just didn’t. It felt exploitative (of its readers) and made cheap decisions. It had so much potential and the prose was occasionally nice, but it never delivered what I hoped it would.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
adventurous
mysterious
reflective