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4.31 AVERAGE
4.31 AVERAGE
Hard times can bring people closer together, and that's what happens here. Sarah goes through some truly difficult challenges. They bring her a new family. But if she wants to keep it, she has to fight using everything she is and has.
Brilliantly written, there's not much to dislike about this book. The good guys aren't handed happiness on a platter. The bad guys bring depth to the story that most romance novels lack.
Brilliantly written, there's not much to dislike about this book. The good guys aren't handed happiness on a platter. The bad guys bring depth to the story that most romance novels lack.
“If she had gone as I wished, in a year’s time, her contract elapsed, I would have let her go.... She has told me lie after lie. I see this now. She has lied to me with every breath.” He allowed himself a pang of honest admiration for the audacity of this truth before crushing it. “You, she merely offer to fuck.”
That said, it has quite the book hangover. There's a lot of brain food to chew on in this book. A lot of the reality of human nature to gut punch you. I'm not sure when I'll read it again.
If you liked Heart's Prisoner by Olivia Riley (one of my favorites), you'll love this!
challenging
dark
tense
slow-paced
Cottonwood is a hard pill to swallow.
This is a fictional story about all the ugly parts of American society, and the utter lengths certain interest groups will go to in order to control disadvantaged people. This is also a story about the perseverance of good over evil, the triumph of love over hate, and the power of family and connection.
I’m still speechless so maybe I’ll update this later. Be warned that the male protagonist is a literal arthropodic alien.
This is a fictional story about all the ugly parts of American society, and the utter lengths certain interest groups will go to in order to control disadvantaged people. This is also a story about the perseverance of good over evil, the triumph of love over hate, and the power of family and connection.
I’m still speechless so maybe I’ll update this later. Be warned that the male protagonist is a literal arthropodic alien.
4.4 stars.
This was another great book by the author. I liked that I got the chance to see what like was like here for the aliens after having read how it was when humans went to their land. The previous story was better in my opinion.
I liked how the author tied in political morals in the story and showcased how racism for another species was very similar to Nazi Germany.
This author is definitely one I'll be watching now
This was another great book by the author. I liked that I got the chance to see what like was like here for the aliens after having read how it was when humans went to their land. The previous story was better in my opinion.
I liked how the author tied in political morals in the story and showcased how racism for another species was very similar to Nazi Germany.
This author is definitely one I'll be watching now
dark
emotional
funny
inspiring
sad
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:
N/A
They never meant to come to Earth. They were never allowed to leave...
Welcome to Cottonwood.
I am pretty sure this book took away all my feelings and have been processing and trying to get them back ever since. I don't even know how to describe this book ... Sci-fi, slow burn, like the District 9 movie, ants, sad, happy, and humor.
This book surely took me by surprise. It's not my typical book go for but am so happy I dove into this book without any second thought.
This book depicts humans and aliens being segregated. The author does a wonderful job doing this without having political undertones or trying to sway you in a certain way. love how the author does this and commend her for pulling off such a feat. Also the sci-fi in this isn't truly sci-fi but it is because we are dealing with another species if that makes any sense.
This book is filled with heroism, violence, little bit of gore, a sense of humor, and a wonderfully told story all in one. I loved the story and it's one won't forgot for a while. Beautiful job.
Welcome to Cottonwood.
I am pretty sure this book took away all my feelings and have been processing and trying to get them back ever since. I don't even know how to describe this book ... Sci-fi, slow burn, like the District 9 movie, ants, sad, happy, and humor.
This book surely took me by surprise. It's not my typical book go for but am so happy I dove into this book without any second thought.
This book depicts humans and aliens being segregated. The author does a wonderful job doing this without having political undertones or trying to sway you in a certain way. love how the author does this and commend her for pulling off such a feat. Also the sci-fi in this isn't truly sci-fi but it is because we are dealing with another species if that makes any sense.
This book is filled with heroism, violence, little bit of gore, a sense of humor, and a wonderfully told story all in one. I loved the story and it's one won't forgot for a while. Beautiful job.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
“They were never meant to come to Earth. They were never allowed to leave…”
I thought R. Lee Smith had tapped into all my feelings when I read her book Land of the Beautiful Dead, but reading Cottonwood has made me realize that Smith is nowhere near done with me. I never saw myself picking up a romance between an ant-like alien man and a human woman, but here I am. And it’s now one of my favorite books of all time.
If I attempted to describe Cottonwood in a few simple words, I would say that it’s best described as an erotic sci-fi romance with horror elements, reminiscent of the movie, ‘District 9.’
“His family on yang’Tak had ceased to exist; they offered him no hope, no sense of purpose. Earth’s reality had killed that memory and all he had was here, and it was Hell.”
The two love interests could not be more different, and Smith shows you a myriad of reasons why this unnatural pairing should not work. But, that’s the beauty of her writing – I found myself desperate for more, clinging to every subtle moment I could get. The heartfelt connection between Sanford and Sarah was a beautiful thing to unfold. I’ll remember their love for a long time.
“I am your air, your heart. I drink water from your hands. You bare your back to me.” He spoke softer now, but with growing intensity, the words vibrating from his chest-plate to her breast. “Your voice is the secret sounding of my name. I give my unprotected skin to your touch. I am always in you. You are always with me.”
It’s nearly impossible for the reader not to make parallels between what transpires in Cottonwood and other atrocities in human history. The story has political undertones, but the reader is not shown a clear “right” answer on which species is best. Now that I’ve read two of Smith’s books, I’ve found that her storytelling is nothing short of provocative, leaving me to ruminate on its profound messages long after I’ve finished her work.
“You are doing,” he said, sternly now, “the best you can. And biting at your hands for what they can’t carry achieves nothing.”
“If they can do this to their own kind, what hope is there for us?”
In essence, this book made me feel overwhelming sadness, grief, longing, happiness, agony, despair, and hope. I also lived for the short moments of humor that Smith expertly placed into the story. It’s going to live in my heart for a long time. If you’re looking for a story to captivate you from the moment you open it, to long after you turn the final page, look no further than Cottonwood.
“I am you and you are me.”
P.S. If there was ever a side character I was desperate to have a spin-off book written for, it’s Samaritan. I adore that hilarious, menacing asshole.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was amazing honestly, I cried multiple times reading this
3.5, on the 4 side
--
In Cottonwood's author's note, R. Lee Smith describes the initial conception of the novel as an "aliens come here" story, but one that imagines a situation in which the aliens that arrive do so in desperation rather than conquest. It was meant as the inversion of what would become The Last Hour of Gann (a.k.a. "Humans go there in desperation rather than conquest.") Both novels made good use of their respective themes, and importantly, each felt distinct despite the overt similarities between the plots. I mean, really, super distinct.
The tone in Cottonwood was significantly lighter than the last two R. Lee Smith works I read. Obviously this doesn't make it light; much of what happened was horrifying, and Smith isn't one to shy away from inflicting significant injury upon her main characters. More accurately, the dark tones were balanced out by the sweet and gentle dispositions of the two LIs, as well as the inclusion of a supremely adorable alien child.
I also trusted the narrative a bit more, meaning, it's becoming clearer to me to expect a great deal of hurt followed by comfort. Smith grapples with a lot of difficult themes in her work, but so far, she holds sacred the core relationship between hero and heroine, and there are some lines that she falls short of crossing (I never truly worried for T'aki's fate, for example, which helped considerably with the tone). I really appreciate the HEA's, even if they can be contrived or resolved too easily. The payoff simply wouldn't be there without them.
As is standard, the narrative focuses heavily on violence, particularly violence against the "Other." This is a theme that Smith plays with frequently, and she does it very well. In this book, the "other" are the yang'ti, a race of spacefaring humanoids that most closely resemble insects on Earth. They are immediately waylaid by the military upon crash-landing and spend the next two decades in detention facilities across the world, used primarily for slave labor by an opportunistic arms dealer named van Meyer. The dehumanization (for lack of a better term) that the yang'ti are subjected to has uncomfortable basis in reality, both historical and current, which made the book feel less SF / Fantasy than some of Smith's other works. The world felt modern, with just enough technological advancements to lend credibility to the purported year the book takes place (TruTouch, the "paz", the alien-technology augmented weaponry, etc.) without feeling like an entirely different era or culture.
As for flaws, there were definitely a few. Firstly, the novel isn't on par technically with either The Last Hour of Gann or Land of the Beautiful Dead. The plot was smoother and possessed fewer holes than LotBD, but the ending was similarly simplistic in construction (and in the case of Cottonwood, very rushed). Additionally, while the romance was very sweet, there wasn't much passion involved. The sex scenes were pretty tame (and even a bit awkward, given the differences in anatomy between species), which I both liked and disliked.
Another R. Lee Smith down. :)
--
In Cottonwood's author's note, R. Lee Smith describes the initial conception of the novel as an "aliens come here" story, but one that imagines a situation in which the aliens that arrive do so in desperation rather than conquest. It was meant as the inversion of what would become The Last Hour of Gann (a.k.a. "Humans go there in desperation rather than conquest.") Both novels made good use of their respective themes, and importantly, each felt distinct despite the overt similarities between the plots. I mean, really, super distinct.
The tone in Cottonwood was significantly lighter than the last two R. Lee Smith works I read. Obviously this doesn't make it light; much of what happened was horrifying, and Smith isn't one to shy away from inflicting significant injury upon her main characters. More accurately, the dark tones were balanced out by the sweet and gentle dispositions of the two LIs, as well as the inclusion of a supremely adorable alien child.
I also trusted the narrative a bit more, meaning, it's becoming clearer to me to expect a great deal of hurt followed by comfort. Smith grapples with a lot of difficult themes in her work, but so far, she holds sacred the core relationship between hero and heroine, and there are some lines that she falls short of crossing (I never truly worried for T'aki's fate, for example, which helped considerably with the tone). I really appreciate the HEA's, even if they can be contrived or resolved too easily. The payoff simply wouldn't be there without them.
As is standard, the narrative focuses heavily on violence, particularly violence against the "Other." This is a theme that Smith plays with frequently, and she does it very well. In this book, the "other" are the yang'ti, a race of spacefaring humanoids that most closely resemble insects on Earth. They are immediately waylaid by the military upon crash-landing and spend the next two decades in detention facilities across the world, used primarily for slave labor by an opportunistic arms dealer named van Meyer. The dehumanization (for lack of a better term) that the yang'ti are subjected to has uncomfortable basis in reality, both historical and current, which made the book feel less SF / Fantasy than some of Smith's other works. The world felt modern, with just enough technological advancements to lend credibility to the purported year the book takes place (TruTouch, the "paz", the alien-technology augmented weaponry, etc.) without feeling like an entirely different era or culture.
As for flaws, there were definitely a few. Firstly, the novel isn't on par technically with either The Last Hour of Gann or Land of the Beautiful Dead. The plot was smoother and possessed fewer holes than LotBD, but the ending was similarly simplistic in construction (and in the case of Cottonwood, very rushed). Additionally, while the romance was very sweet, there wasn't much passion involved. The sex scenes were pretty tame (and even a bit awkward, given the differences in anatomy between species), which I both liked and disliked.
Another R. Lee Smith down. :)
Holy smokes. I'm gonna need a minute to process this one. Viciously compelling. It details numerous crimes against humanity in graphic, believable detail and yet still has moments of brevity and hope. It IS a romance at its core, as much as it is an indictment and vindication of humans--often inextricably bound.
My main quibble was that the ending feels a bit loose--there are huge time jumps that I thought would have been better served as flashbacks, and there was an interesting choice of sharing vignettes of other families that, while I appreciate the intention and believe it did add something, thought could have been done in a way that didn't mess with the pacing as much.
Really research the CWs for this one--I've got more details in my review on Storygraph.
My main quibble was that the ending feels a bit loose--there are huge time jumps that I thought would have been better served as flashbacks, and there was an interesting choice of sharing vignettes of other families that, while I appreciate the intention and believe it did add something, thought could have been done in a way that didn't mess with the pacing as much.
Really research the CWs for this one--I've got more details in my review on Storygraph.
