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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
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.
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