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scifi_rat's review
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Plot: 3.5★
Prose: 3.5★
Pace: 4★
Concept/Execution: 4.75★/3.75★
Characters: 3★
Worldbuilding: 4★
Ending: 4★
Prose: 3.5★
Pace: 4★
Concept/Execution: 4.75★/3.75★
Characters: 3★
Worldbuilding: 4★
Ending: 4★
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Misogyny, Violence, Grief, and Medical content
Minor: Gun violence, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Murder, Sexism, Stalking, War, Colonisation, Panic attacks/disorders, and Forced institutionalization
danaaliyalevinson's review
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
I had a lot of people telling me to go into this book as blind as possible and I’m glad I did. It’s a short little novel about the nature of existence, the human place in the world and the universe, and the ways we touch each other’s lives sometimes without even realizing. Now take all these themes and throw it into a book about a depressed and lost time traveler searching for purpose and connection and you’ve really got something super interesting. I really loved this book. Honestly, my only quibble with it comes down to my personal taste for character forward literature. So I admittedly kept finding myself wishing it were longer so that I could spend more time with the interior lives of the characters. But on the whole, a really lovely little novel that I’m going to remember for some time.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Murder, Death, Medical content, and Grief
Minor: War
alspacedout's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Super, super interesting ideas, most of the reveals and connections were very exciting, but overall just not very satisfying, but I'm almost ok with that with how quick of a read it was.
Will read more of Mandel's work for sure, looking foward to Station Eleven! ( probably not Glass Hotel since Vincent/Mirella's sections within this book were very boring to me, like there is nothing intriguing about a ponzi scheme mystery(?) to me to be honest. I've been more convinced to read Cloud Atlas through this haha. )
Will read more of Mandel's work for sure, looking foward to Station Eleven!
Content Warnings
Minor: Medical content
airis_j's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
tense
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? It's complicated
4.75
I did not think this would turn out to be as good as it did. The writing just never misses for me. And the way author writes her characters has me in awe. I'm glad I read Station Eleven before I read this and now I'm gonna read more of her work because I'm just so so so in love with this book.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Medical content
Minor: Colonisation, Murder, Death, and War
foldingthepage_kayleigh's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
informative
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content
rainbowrachel's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
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? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Confinement and Medical content
Minor: Colonisation, Gun violence, and Suicide
mandi4886's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder, Violence, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Blood, Gun violence, Child abuse, Death, Deportation, Grief, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, and Mental illness
lynxpardinus's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: War, Grief, Gun violence, Medical content, Pandemic/Epidemic, Colonisation, Death, Suicide, Confinement, Cancer, and Death of parent
Minor: Forced institutionalization, Car accident, and Child death
anarchist_al's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
tense
medium-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
4.0
An extremely disorienting read, but I suspect that was the point. Bouncing across time and space was difficult to get used to, but I did get used to the drastic switch in perspective and context eventually. The overall premise was very cool, and I think very well done. I love that the initial mystery is really a bait and switch. The characters all felt real and lived in. The settings were all gorgeous and very easy to picture, which can be difficult in a sci-fi futuristic context. I also found the character of Olive to be super compelling, and the autobiographical bits of her character were cool to see—St. John Mandel was clearly discussing her experience with Station Eleven and Covid-19. Really cool read, just a little hard to get into at first.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Terminal illness
lilifane's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
This is - without a doubt - the best book I've read this year so far.
I recommend it to everyone, basically.
And I think now is the perfect time to read it.
I won't say anything about the plot here, because I think it is best if you go into it blind. But I was blown away by the ideas and the discussions and the mystery and the setting/atmosphere and the writing! It's such a short book (surprisingly short given the contents) and you fly through it, especially the second half.
That being said, to get the most out of it, I recommend reading Station Eleven and The Glass Hotel first, since there are some subtle and some very obvious references to these two books.
If you don't want to read those book, that's fine, Sea of Tranquility will make perfect sense.
But if you think about reading the 2 books after Sea of Tranquility, be warned that there are major spoilers for both of them in this book.
I recommend it to everyone, basically.
And I think now is the perfect time to read it.
I won't say anything about the plot here, because I think it is best if you go into it blind. But I was blown away by the ideas and the discussions and the mystery and the setting/atmosphere and the writing! It's such a short book (surprisingly short given the contents) and you fly through it, especially the second half.
That being said, to get the most out of it, I recommend reading Station Eleven and The Glass Hotel first, since there are some subtle and some very obvious references to these two books.
If you don't want to read those book, that's fine, Sea of Tranquility will make perfect sense.
But if you think about reading the 2 books after Sea of Tranquility, be warned that there are major spoilers for both of them in this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Confinement, and Medical content
Moderate: Colonisation and Terminal illness
Minor: Gun violence, Grief, and War