Reviews tagging 'Colonisation'

Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel

59 reviews

emmagreenwood's review against another edition

mysterious medium-paced

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

2.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Colonisation, Confinement, Death, Gaslighting, Grief, Alcohol, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Suicide

caebrown's review against another edition

emotional hopeful mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Death of parent, Death, Confinement, Suicide, and Mental illness

Minor: Colonisation

maeverose's review

4.0

This took a long time - about half the book - to grow on me. Up to that point it was very ‘meh’. But then once the stronger sci-fi elements came in I didn’t want to put it down, and the first half became more interesting in hindsight.

I don’t want to say too much, I think it’s better to go into it not knowing much. If you like sci fi stories that involve a mystery but mainly focus on characters, their relationships, and mundane aspects of people’s lives, I would recommend. I found the writing style very easy to read as well, not confusing or difficult as sci-fi books can be for me sometimes, especially with my adhd brain.

The main content warning I would give for this, in the least spoilery way possible: it involves questioning reality. I didn’t personally feel like it was done in a triggering way. It doesn’t dwell on it too much. But if that’s an especially triggering topic for you then that’s something to keep in mind. The spoiler version:

It’s a ‘life is a simulation’ situation. It’s never fully confirmed in the book that this is the case, but it’s strongly suggested.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Pandemic/Epidemic, Violence, Murder, and War

Moderate: Xenophobia, Grief, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Mental illness, Misogyny, and Colonisation

Minor: Vomit, Alcohol, Infidelity, and Drug use

Ptsd flashback involving dismembered bodies - not described in graphic detail. Questioning of reality:

’life is a simulation’ theory

bloomingpear's review

mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Sexism and Colonisation

Minor: Vomit, Suicide, Alcoholism, War, and Gun violence

bookboi2432's review

adventurous hopeful mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Gun violence and Colonisation

maddie_can_read's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful mysterious reflective 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

5.0

Found it a bit slow to get into. 
The writing and the characterization is so good that even though you're only with each of the initial characters for a short period of time (time both in terms of chapters, and time in terms of a very short period of their lives), you care for them and get a sense of who they are. Loved the writing style. Loved how everything came together at the end. 

The only thing I want from this book is more

more details about the colonies, how the time travel works, more about the time institute, more about the characters

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: War and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Suicide and Violence

Minor: Forced institutionalization, Colonisation, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

the emotional impact of the pandemic is discussed in detail and while it's not covid19 in the novel, the novel was written during covid19 so it's very evocative of this time period

thesapphiccelticbookworm's review against another edition

adventurous challenging medium-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Colonisation

Minor: Death

jhbandcats's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

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

5.0

Wow, what an extraordinary novel. Time travel novels seem really hard to do without glaring anomalies in the timeline. I’m in awe of people who even try to come up with such complex stories. (The Time Traveler’s Wife is a successful one.)

The feel of the book is like Mandel’s Station Eleven - so many tiny revelations of connection and meaning. The format is like David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas where the first and last sections are the same story, the second and next-to-last are the same story, and so on, finally meeting in the middle. It’s a fascinating way to tell a tale - there are so many subtle intricacies. 

I enjoyed Mandel’s sardonic humor in her references to what clearly had been her own experience: being queried at readings in 2020-2021 about her prescient pandemic storyline in Station Eleven, her bewilderment that her first books passed under the radar till Station Eleven hit it big and she was suddenly famous. 

I think this book is just fabulous. It’s a beautiful story about humanity across the centuries. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Confinement, Colonisation, Grief, and Pandemic/Epidemic

quinnyquinnquinn's review

adventurous emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Colonisation

Minor: War, Gun violence, and Suicide

locoemsky's review

mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Minor: Suicide, War, and Colonisation