Scan barcode
loxeletters's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.0
This books left me with extremely mixed feelings.
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Grief
Moderate: Drug use, Suicide attempt, Violence, Terminal illness, Confinement, War, and Xenophobia
mobymaize's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
sad
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
5.0
Damn this shit is so good. I really like a sci-fi universe that is built around the people in it, and The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet provides. :)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Religious bigotry, War, Xenophobia, Chronic illness, Death, Racial slurs, Racism, Alcohol, Gun violence, Outing, Animal death, Classism, Colonisation, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Genocide, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Terminal illness, and Torture
Moderate: Blood and Child death
melodyseestrees's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
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
5.0
This story is best described as Cozy Sci-Fi. The vast majority of species' differences in cultures and believes are handled in a respectful manner. A character has a judgment about another species and then reminds themselves that they are holding this other character to standards that weren't made for them. There is one character who is the most unforgiving towards differences. There is not quite a justification for it but there is a reveal that this character had a difficult homelife.
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Death, and Violence
Moderate: Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Terminal illness, Xenophobia, War, and Physical abuse
Minor: Sexual content, Drug use, and Genocide
bookwormdystopian2's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Grief
Moderate: Xenophobia
Minor: Genocide
yikeslou's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
relaxing
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
5.0
i love this book too much for words so i'm simply going to say slayyyy bc it's what kizzy would want
Content Warnings
Graphic: Xenophobia, Police brutality, and Terminal illness
Moderate: Medical content, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, War, and Grief
tsukk's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
sad
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Terminal illness, Blood, Alcohol, Classism, Death, Police brutality, Violence, Drug use, and Xenophobia
arinheck's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
relaxing
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? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Terminal illness, and War
Moderate: Gun violence, Xenophobia, Chronic illness, Violence, Racial slurs, and Medical content
Minor: Ableism, Colonisation, Drug use, and Alcohol
biobeetle's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
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? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gun violence
Minor: Xenophobia
puckeverlasting's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Was obsessed with "A Psalm for the Wild Built," and came to this one after. It took me a bit longer to get into, but once I did I was hooked. So many warm and cozy feelings, but it doesn't shy away from complex topics and conversations. First time for quite a while that I've cried multiple times while reading.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Genocide, War, Colonisation, Racism, Chronic illness, Death, Gun violence, Xenophobia, and Classism
delvainy's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
I am a fool for space queers. It felt very slice of life in a way I found comforting, but it was still interesting enough to keep me intrigued. I loved the moments when the entire human race got razzed, for some reason (inter-species relationships for the win ig), and was made to find a reptilian woman hot. Go figure. I want to wrap them all up in my arms and tote them around with me. I want to live in this world. I’ve been in a bit of a reading slump, and this helped pull me right out!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, Terminal illness, and Xenophobia