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toopunkrockforshul's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Absolutely loved this book, so Jewish in both values and in actual representation and makes me feel like maybe things will be okay in the world one day.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping and Sexism
Moderate: Dysphoria, Xenophobia, Mental illness, Colonisation, Pregnancy, and Antisemitism
Minor: Sexual content, Transphobia, Genocide, Religious bigotry, and Outing
maeverose's review against another edition
slow-paced
2.5
TL;DR: I liked the themes and representation much more than the plot or execution. It was too dense for me, as well as too long. I struggled to understand the political negotiations, which make up the majority of the book. The tech/worldbuilding was never fully explained. It ended up boring me, unfortunately.
This book definitely isn’t for everyone. It’s largely political negotiations and navigating each other’s different cultures, which I can definitely see some people loving, but for me it was boring and often confusing. I really struggled with the political language throughout. I liked the leftist take, but the language made it hard for me to understand, and I felt like I was missing a lot. The technology and worldbuilding wasn’t really clearly explained. I grasped it better as the book went on, but I’m still not confident I fully understood it. I did enjoy the topics, the exploration of gender identity and expression (though I do think that was overdone a bit, especially with the Asterions, and that’s coming from a genderqueer person), the different ways of parenting, the Ringer’s culture. I liked the inclusion of queer and disabled people, as well as a jewish protagonist. However there were no obvious people of color. Nobody’s skin color or race is ever mentioned, that I noticed.
This book definitely isn’t for everyone. It’s largely political negotiations and navigating each other’s different cultures, which I can definitely see some people loving, but for me it was boring and often confusing. I really struggled with the political language throughout. I liked the leftist take, but the language made it hard for me to understand, and I felt like I was missing a lot. The technology and worldbuilding wasn’t really clearly explained. I grasped it better as the book went on, but I’m still not confident I fully understood it. I did enjoy the topics, the exploration of gender identity and expression (though I do think that was overdone a bit, especially with the Asterions, and that’s coming from a genderqueer person), the different ways of parenting, the Ringer’s culture. I liked the inclusion of queer and disabled people, as well as a jewish protagonist. However there were no obvious people of color. Nobody’s skin color or race is ever mentioned, that I noticed.
One thing I surprisingly (being a childfree genderqueer person) loved was the representation of motherhood in this book. To see people casually breastfeeding without judgment during a first contact meeting with aliens was so refreshing. Sci fi has historically been such a male dominated genre full of misogyny that its really is nice to have a book like this for a change. I also really liked the non traditional family dynamic, with co-parenting and queer parents.
I wanted to love this book based on the synopsis and my newfound love for cozy sci fi, but unfortunately it wasn’t quite what I wanted. Still a good book, just didn’t work for me.
I wanted to love this book based on the synopsis and my newfound love for cozy sci fi, but unfortunately it wasn’t quite what I wanted. Still a good book, just didn’t work for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping
Moderate: Sexual content, Colonisation, and Excrement
Minor: Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Eating disorder, Cursing, and Transphobia
There isn’t an actual eating disorder, just lots of mentions of food which could be triggering.kylieqrada's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
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
This book is something else. If I had to compare it to anything, I guess the Earthseed duology by Octavia Butler comes to mind in that it almost reads like a manifesto for a post-apocalyptic Earth. But it's also like super warm and cozy in a way? You really have to read it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation and Sexual content
Moderate: Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, and Transphobia
Minor: Suicidal thoughts
julesg's review against another edition
medium-paced
2.0
Full review: https://scepticalreading.com/2022/11/half-thought-through/
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content
mandkips's review
challenging
hopeful
reflective
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
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation and Sexual content
Moderate: Religious bigotry, Transphobia, and Kidnapping
Minor: Suicidal thoughts
adancewithbooks's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
3.0
Thank you to TorDotCom and Netgalley for the review copy in exchange for an honest review. This does not change my opinion in anyway.
An alien contact human story was what drew me to this book to request to review. I got something a lot more and while I did not love it at all I think there is a lot for others to discover here.
I think the whole concept of this future Earth is rather interesting. Basically Earth has fallen ecosystem and corporalism wise. There are big watershed networks all over the planet that are working hard on trying to recover our eco system while making decisions as a whole without one person as the leader. The corporates were pushed away by them and they settled on what was previous new zeeland/austriala I believe. The family dynamics are also very different. Couples take on children and form families with other couples so that there is more of a network for each other and the children. This can be romantic/sexual as well but doesn't have to be. A lot is open about queer identity but even here there seems to still be a stigma on being trans.
As much as I liked exploring that part of this book I felt that we were thrown into this story without very little explanation. I was grasping at straws while we were also meeting the aliens and I am fairly certain I didn't manage to catch all the great things about this set up. I think that was a shame. A bit more of a focus on the world building, like the explanation of the actual collapse and war with the corporations would have been nice.
Adding into that I am sorry to say is that I did not care for the element of romance in this. It wasn't about it being three persons but about one of them being a headless spider having sex with an f/f couple wih its tentacles/paws/whatever. Like no, okay. I didn't need it to be that graphic either.
An alien contact human story was what drew me to this book to request to review. I got something a lot more and while I did not love it at all I think there is a lot for others to discover here.
I think the whole concept of this future Earth is rather interesting. Basically Earth has fallen ecosystem and corporalism wise. There are big watershed networks all over the planet that are working hard on trying to recover our eco system while making decisions as a whole without one person as the leader. The corporates were pushed away by them and they settled on what was previous new zeeland/austriala I believe. The family dynamics are also very different. Couples take on children and form families with other couples so that there is more of a network for each other and the children. This can be romantic/sexual as well but doesn't have to be. A lot is open about queer identity but even here there seems to still be a stigma on being trans.
As much as I liked exploring that part of this book I felt that we were thrown into this story without very little explanation. I was grasping at straws while we were also meeting the aliens and I am fairly certain I didn't manage to catch all the great things about this set up. I think that was a shame. A bit more of a focus on the world building, like the explanation of the actual collapse and war with the corporations would have been nice.
Adding into that I am sorry to say is that I did not care for the element of romance in this. It wasn't about it being three persons but about one of them being a headless spider having sex with an f/f couple wih its tentacles/paws/whatever. Like no, okay. I didn't need it to be that graphic either.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
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