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gardens_and_dragons's review against another edition
Well, this book had a lot of very interesting concepts. it tries to cover peaceful first contact with aliens, the future of radical, socialist, government governments versus capitalist, governments, motherhood, and how that interacts with leadership, communication, identity (Jewishness), gender politics, polyamory/alt family dynamics.
This isn’t to say that I disagreed with most things the author was saying, but it felt so convoluted to fit into a book all at once - the actual first contact story was buried under exposition and lots of stuff that could have been cut down. (I just read the Texicalaan duology, and they handle actually making a story that interweaves similar themes and is BY FAR better written).
I think that it was a huge disservice that most characters felt tokenized, too. It felt somewhat forced on the part of the author. I think it would have been stronger with another editing pass to distillate some of the concepts a little better.
This isn’t to say that I disagreed with most things the author was saying, but it felt so convoluted to fit into a book all at once - the actual first contact story was buried under exposition and lots of stuff that could have been cut down. (I just read the Texicalaan duology, and they handle actually making a story that interweaves similar themes and is BY FAR better written).
I think that it was a huge disservice that most characters felt tokenized, too. It felt somewhat forced on the part of the author. I think it would have been stronger with another editing pass to distillate some of the concepts a little better.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Xenophobia and Pregnancy
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
hwesta's review
adventurous
hopeful
reflective
- 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
I loved this book.
It's set a couple generations into the future, where watershed networks have formed to try and take care of and heal the earth, pushing back on the power of nation states and corporations. It opens with aliens arriving and saying "I'm so glad we arrived before you destroyed yourselves, time to leave!" and humanity, or at least the narrator, saying "but we just started fixing it!" And a book ensues, full of politics and people and aliens and different perspectives and hope.
It's also unapologetically queer and polyamorous and Jewish.
It's set a couple generations into the future, where watershed networks have formed to try and take care of and heal the earth, pushing back on the power of nation states and corporations. It opens with aliens arriving and saying "I'm so glad we arrived before you destroyed yourselves, time to leave!" and humanity, or at least the narrator, saying "but we just started fixing it!" And a book ensues, full of politics and people and aliens and different perspectives and hope.
It's also unapologetically queer and polyamorous and Jewish.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Xenophobia
Minor: Religious bigotry and Transphobia
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