Reviews tagging 'Racism'

Vers les étoiles by Mary Robinette Kowal

50 reviews

tay_af's review against another edition

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adventurous dark 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

4.0

I enjoyed this book immensely, and found the writing and descriptions to be particularly vivid—sometimes in ways that were painful to read. I’m curious to see where the story goes next. My main critique is that the (honestly, relatively unnecessary) sex scenes between the main character and her husband used a significant number of “rocket launch” euphemisms which, while perhaps amusing in theory, felt hokey and broke some of the immersion of the book in practice. Occasionally, the jargon was a bit hard to follow as well, but the grounding in an almost-familiar setting helped offset this. 

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yuyine's review

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inspiring 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? N/A

5.0

C’est un coup de coeur pour Vers les étoiles! Le roman est absolument passionnant  et propose une uchronie palpitante qui dénonce le sexisme et le racisme de l’époque (et bien évidemment de la notre, malheureusement), parle d’enjeux écologiques et met des étoiles plein les yeux grâce à la passion sincère d’Elma et ses paires. L’héroïne, avec ses failles et son talent, est absolument inoubliable. Vivement la découverte de la suite!

Critique complète sur yuyine.be!

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oceanwriter's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful inspiring 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

4.5

This was my first time reading an alternate history novel and I was not disappointed. While there were differences, some of the issues and real life people mentioned/involved remained accurate. I will definitely be continuing the series!

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bookbrig's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

I looooooved this. It's such a satisfying read that blends survival, science, flying, math, and friendship with an amazing married couple. Plus: space!!! 

10/10 will read again. 

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cynthiareads's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5


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pumpkinpit's review against another edition

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adventurous inspiring 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

2.75


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deedireads's review against another edition

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adventurous 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? It's complicated

3.75

I'll do a full review of the series when I finish all three, but thoughts on book 1:

  • Creative, emotional premise (alternate history in which a meteor destroyed DC and the East Coast in the early 1950s, triggering an extinction event like the dinosaurs, with a female mathematician MC who decides to fight to be the first woman in space)
  • Not super fast paced, but still a pretty quick read
  • Love the Jewish rep, especially in SFF and in the 50s
  • Great commentary on the stigmatization of mental health challenges and treatment
  • Occasionally cheesy or bumpy writing but could be worse for sure
  • I like that the main characters (white) are progressive but not unrealistically so for their time; they make mistakes (especially about race and feminism) and try to learn from them
  • Elma and Nethaniel are OTP and their cheesy fade-to-black bedroom scenes make me smile


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elliethelibrarian's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful informative inspiring 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? No

4.0


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brittshaw_p's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

5/5⭐️ | 2/5🌶 | 1.5/3⚠️ | 16+

Genre: historical dystopian sci-fi 
Diversity: STEMinist, Jewish, B/A, Taiwanese, mental health/anxiety+
Moods: dark, hopeful, 
Pace: medium
Device(s): 
Trope(s): 

Notes: soooo good, best opening 100 pages I’ve EVER read, loved the historical sci-fi aspect - was super approachable, amazing steminist characters, fantastic main relationship, spice wasn’t graphic (great on theme euphemisms) but was fairly frequent, really great learning journey for MC re Race relations = good social commentary.  I think it’s best if you go in cold. 

# of pages: 421
AB length: 11:41
Took me ~ to read: 8:10

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booksthatburn's review against another edition

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The setting is an alternate-history version of the 1950’s and 1960’s after a meteorite strikes and wipes out most of the USA’s East Coast. While it’s undoubtedly science fiction, it’s not my preferred kind. It has really nuanced portrayals of issues like sexism and anxiety, but ultimately those are too real for me right now, mostly because of the historical setting.

Not my thing but seems well done, try this if you want an alternate history portrayal of women fighting sexist inertia to be in flight after a catastrophe turns the world’s attention to escaping off-planet. 

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