Reviews with content warning for Animal death - The Book of Strange New Things

This book came with a moderate amount of hype, by which I mean that I've only seen it recommended by one person, but she said she adored it and I do trust her opinion. What excited me about it was the prospect of philosophical sci-fi with heart. It's the story of a man who is sent to communicate with another life form on a planet far far away. What the review and the blurb didn't say, and which I think is important to mention, is that this man, Peter, is deeply religious and lives his life through the prism of his Catholicism. Which isn't a point of view I'm comfortable with, to begin with, but I understand that it is really personal. Then this man talks about loving everyone and being a Good Person but sometimes he's weirdly judgmental and not in a good way, but I couldn't decide if it was ironic on the author's part, to contrast that with Peter's religion and how he tries to be a Good Christian when in fact he's so full of prejudices and racism.

I'd say this book is good for people who are not into sci-fi because — and I do hope it doesn't sound like a criticism because it's not — it reads like a science-fiction book written by an author who specialises in literary fiction. It was a feeling I had. It reminded me a lot of the sections in His Dark Materials between Mary and the mulefas, but to me it didn't have the elements of wonder and deep, deep scientific interest that Mary has and which make her story exciting to read.

I don't know. This book made me uncomfortable and although I'm pretty sure it's just me, I wouldn't know who to recommend it to. Last but not least, and this is very personal, I really don't like reading from the perspective of cis men talking about their bodies. Again, that's very personal. But I was absolutely certain Peter was in his late 40s so when he states at some point that he's 33, it made me question a lot of things and took me out of the story a little bit more. All in all, I think this is a good book but you have to be ready for a very flawed character who is not questioned when he thinks racist or fatphobic things. This book made me angry and I considered abandoning it so often it was ridiculous.

CW : sexual content, fatphobia, racism, intense animal cruelty & death (I skipped the 2 pages where it happens).

Rep : lesbian secondary character, asexual secondary character (and a rather nice paragraph about asexuality as well).

Content Warnings

emmyh_reads's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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benasbooks's review against another edition

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challenging inspiring sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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moonlunatik's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring reflective relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

I this book while I was reading it. Being a Christian myself, the subject matter was super interesting to me and Faber really draws you into the story, slowly revealing both the world and it's characters in a really captivating way.

However the ending let me feeling a bit cold. It wouldn't be a bad ending if this was the first book in a series, but as a standalone novel it was a bit... unsatisfactory.

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kitten_nuisance's review against another edition

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reflective slow-paced

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