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foxclcves's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Police brutality
Moderate: Animal death and Cursing
Minor: Drug use, Genocide, Racial slurs, Racism, Terminal illness, Violence, Xenophobia, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail
loxeletters's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.0
First off, there were a few things I liked quite a bit: the sort of "mixed media" approach of including emails and news articles was fun, the world and cultures the author had created were interesting, and the writing style was simple and binge read-able.
That being said, I had some major gripes and for the first 80% I thought it was gonna be a 2.5 star at best. Most prominently, while I enjoyed the prose itself (except for some genre-typical infodumps), the storytelling decisions made in this book baffled me. Most of the conflicts, relationships, and arcs set up for the characters developed and resolved quickly and/or off-page, whereas I found myself annotating over and over again: "This would have been impactful if it had been properly set up" for the conflicts that actually were explored on-page.
The time skips seriously took me out of the story multiple times, especially since there is no in-text discussion of time passing.
Since we spend so little time getting to know the characters, I was unable to connect to most of them on any deeper level, especially the (intentionally) unlikeable ones, and this eliminated any emotional impact the first 3/4s of the book should've had. It was still a fun read! But I could tell in many scenes the author was trying to make things emotional or tense, while I just did not care. Certainly not enough to read pages worth of "tragic" backstory for a character that was supposed to be unlikeable less than ten pages ago. This really irked me.
The last 20% or so did kind of throw me for a loop, in that I suddenly did really connect with one emotional event, which I didn't expect. That is what made this book 3 stars for me, in the end. I did also appreciate the final ending, which wrapped up some ties very neatly.
Tldr: while this was an enjoyable and fun read, the narrative structure was bizarre and undermined the emotional impact of many scenes. However, the final conflict and ending surprised me positively in this regard.
Graphic: Death and Grief
Moderate: Confinement, Drug use, Terminal illness, Violence, Xenophobia, Suicide attempt, and War
nolalee's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet is one of the most perfect cozy science fiction novels. How can something so out of this world be so down to earth? Chambers creates an ensemble cast of species and characters, dialogue, and provoking thought experiments that are innately grounded in a not so far future reality. Human captain Ashby Santoso of The Wayfarer and his interspecies space tunneling crew (the interstate highway road crew, if you will, of this science fiction story) acquire a job that will take them to the outer edges of their known galaxy. Following the Wayfarer Crew to metropolitan planet hops and backwater moons, we are transported to a beautifully visual and visceral science fiction universe bursting with the full range of life's ups and downs.
I adore this book and this series. I find myself re-reading the Wayfarers series yearly and I always come back to the main focus of these books: what does it mean to be a person, alive and experiencing this world? The warmth radiating from these spacefaring chapters will call to you like an interstellar beacon to continue picking up this series again and again.
Moderate: Grief and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: War
shorelinepages's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Death, Violence, and War
Moderate: Vomit
mobymaize's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Animal death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Genocide, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Racism, Terminal illness, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Outing, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Child death and Blood
melodyseestrees's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
There is an upsetting but realistic terminal illness scene towards the last 20% of the book where one character is actively dying, the others are pressuring them to forsake their culture in order to live, and ultimately another character forces the choice upon them in misguided well-meaning. This is met with anger and indignation but ultimately treated as a good thing as the healing character decides to stay with the crew regardless of what their culture dictates they should do.
I do wish three of the characters had been a little more present throughout the whole story but two of them become way more involved at the end of the story. The other one is removed entirely after an event and while I understand why I do wish they had been able to stay.
The ending of this story is solid enough you could treat it as a standalone, even though it is part of a series.
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Grief
Moderate: Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Xenophobia, Medical content, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Drug use, Genocide, and Sexual content
the_reading_wren's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I wasn’t expecting it but I liked the episodic style of storytelling because it made every chapter satisfying. I could tell this was Chambers’ debut novel due to pacing and some lack of clarity in the messages (which in her more recent books are more honed), but the fact I still gave it 5 stars shows just how much I love her world building, and the wisdom she shares through her characters.
Graphic: Gun violence, Grief, and War
Minor: Ableism, Child death, Confinement, Deadnaming, Death, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
yikeslou's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Terminal illness, Xenophobia, and Police brutality
Moderate: Medical content, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Drug use, Grief, War, and Injury/Injury detail
arinheck's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Terminal illness, Grief, and War
Moderate: Chronic illness, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Violence, Xenophobia, and Medical content
Minor: Ableism, Drug use, Alcohol, and Colonisation
jeannis's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Death and Terminal illness
Moderate: War