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kingsteph's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Slavery, Gun violence, Violence, Physical abuse, and Death
jamgrl's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
reflective
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
5.0
What a unique first contact story!
Aliens have invaded Earth— but only the Virgin Islands. The aliens look like humans— but they are much more powerful. They say they are only staying temporarily and peacefully. Issue is, they have short fuses.
This book is super interesting and unique. It weaves together the stories of islanders going through interpersonal issues while also dealing with the political realities of their time- aliens. The book is not just about aliens, they are just another layer to these people’s lives, hiding in the background, and yet they are an inescapable force on the island.
The book switches perspectives quite a lot, but it wasn’t too hard to follow who everyone is. The mystery of the aliens unfolds around and
between the character’s personal dramasfalling in and out of love, making hard choices about when to follow dreams, inter-generational familial conflict. Not to mention how filled it is with Virgin Island culture from an author from the Virgin Islands!
The audiobook has stellar performances from the narrators. (Sometimes they can get whispery, so not every location is ideal for listening.)
(I also liked No Gods, No Monsters by the same author, but I must admit I liked this one better 🫣.)
{{Warning: there is a lot of violence, some fairly graphic, and character death}}
Aliens have invaded Earth— but only the Virgin Islands. The aliens look like humans— but they are much more powerful. They say they are only staying temporarily and peacefully. Issue is, they have short fuses.
This book is super interesting and unique. It weaves together the stories of islanders going through interpersonal issues while also dealing with the political realities of their time- aliens. The book is not just about aliens, they are just another layer to these people’s lives, hiding in the background, and yet they are an inescapable force on the island.
The book switches perspectives quite a lot, but it wasn’t too hard to follow who everyone is. The mystery of the aliens unfolds around and
between the character’s personal dramasfalling in and out of love, making hard choices about when to follow dreams, inter-generational familial conflict. Not to mention how filled it is with Virgin Island culture from an author from the Virgin Islands!
The audiobook has stellar performances from the narrators. (Sometimes they can get whispery, so not every location is ideal for listening.)
(I also liked No Gods, No Monsters by the same author, but I must admit I liked this one better 🫣.)
{{Warning: there is a lot of violence, some fairly graphic, and character death}}
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Gun violence, and Death
Minor: Car accident and Physical abuse
sofia_marie's review
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Slavery, and Violence
vaguely_pink's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, Colonisation, and Slavery
Moderate: Death of parent, Gun violence, Medical content, Pregnancy, Racism, Terminal illness, Violence, Murder, Animal death, Biphobia, Body horror, Cancer, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, and Gore
Minor: Cursing, Homophobia, Sexual content, Suicide, and Vomit
powkaye's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
hopeful
inspiring
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
4.0
There is a way that the nanites spread and it could have been done in a way that was more sanitary it was kinda gross actually and took me out of the book. But the concept and execution of the story was great!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, and Xenophobia
amelew's review
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, Suicide, and Animal death
competencefantasy's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
The pacing in this ramps up sharply as the book goes along. At first you're just getting to know the characters. Then an initial event happens and there's a jump into a future where it seems like things have reached equilibrium. There's mysterious jumping back and forth, more character development, and some more character work. Then something else happens and everything gets dark. Seriously, I made the mistake of trying to finish the book at night, but I was too wound up to sleep.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Racism, Genocide, Cancer, Slavery, Suicide, Death, Xenophobia, and Murder
Moderate: Gun violence, Homophobia, and Car accident
ohlhauc's review
dark
hopeful
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
This story is broken down into three different periods of time on the U.S. Virgin Islands. The first follows the human characters and their normal life a few weeks before aliens, the Ynaa, land on one island. The second period starts five years after the Ynaa arrive and follow the new normal that has fell upon the island, albeit with rising tensions. The third part happens a year after the climactic event in the novel.
The separation of the novel into these three acts was an effective structure to write a first contact novel. Usually we see what happens in the immediate aftermath but by choosing to choose these time frames, we get to see how big events change us in large and small ways, and how quickly we can adjust to such change.
What made the book remarkable was its ending and the themes it covered. Drawing parallels to colonial invasions and slavery (and there were some flashbacks to this time), this was a devastating, poignant reflection on the devastation that can happen when an invading culture clashes with native inhabitants and the social trauma that results whena significant portion of the population is decimated through genocide or murder -- and even parallels to mass incarceration. While some people have mentioned that they didn't like the vagueness behind the Ynaa's purpose on the islands and the open ending, those were my favourite parts. It reflects the realities that when a group of people go through pain, closure doesn't come neatly tied up in a bow and knowing why something was done doesn't make its impact less painful. The reflections the ending raises definitely bumped this novel up from one that was just okay to one that I ended up liking.
What didn't work for me was that I didn't care about the characters. As a society and on the whole, I cared and got emotional during the dramatic scenes but individually, we spent so little time with the characters, that I found it hard to fully connect and understand the characters. The story was told from multiple perspectives by main characters, as well as quite a few secondary and even tertiary characters. It felt like a collection of short stories of different people reflecting on the same event, but each story felt incomplete and I would've liked to see more background.
Overall, I do recommend this book if you're interested in science fiction, literature reflecting on colonialism, and vivid writing with multiple characters.
The separation of the novel into these three acts was an effective structure to write a first contact novel. Usually we see what happens in the immediate aftermath but by choosing to choose these time frames, we get to see how big events change us in large and small ways, and how quickly we can adjust to such change.
What made the book remarkable was its ending and the themes it covered. Drawing parallels to colonial invasions and slavery (and there were some flashbacks to this time), this was a devastating, poignant reflection on the devastation that can happen when an invading culture clashes with native inhabitants and the social trauma that results when
What didn't work for me was that I didn't care about the characters. As a society and on the whole, I cared and got emotional during the dramatic scenes but individually, we spent so little time with the characters, that I found it hard to fully connect and understand the characters. The story was told from multiple perspectives by main characters, as well as quite a few secondary and even tertiary characters. It felt like a collection of short stories of different people reflecting on the same event, but each story felt incomplete and I would've liked to see more background.
Overall, I do recommend this book if you're interested in science fiction, literature reflecting on colonialism, and vivid writing with multiple characters.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Genocide, Gun violence, Slavery, and Violence
Moderate: Infidelity, Murder, and Sexual content
Minor: Animal death
catapocalypse's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
This was an enjoyable read about alien first contact, invasions, power dynamics, and balancing individual wants with those of others around you, all set in the US Virgin Islands. I found the alien Ynaa race and their tech compelling, felt invested in most of the characters, and enjoyed the unique setting. I think most mainland Americans know little to nothing about the US Virgin Islands, myself included, which is shameful.
I felt a few things could have been further fleshed out, including a few of the POV characters' stories, but this is still a strong all around read, for me! Though it is standalone at this time, I honestly would read a sequel about what happens to a few of the characters in the aftermath, and what a few decide to do going forward!
I felt a few things could have been further fleshed out, including a few of the POV characters' stories, but this is still a strong all around read, for me! Though it is standalone at this time, I honestly would read a sequel about what happens to a few of the characters in the aftermath, and what a few decide to do going forward!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Gun violence, Infidelity, Murder, Slavery, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Violence, and Grief
Minor: Animal death
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