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anrevat's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.25
andrea_is_reading's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
bibliowrecka's review against another edition
challenging
dark
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
winterreader40's review
3.0
Anya is a peacekeeper in the settlement of Novayarkha what they believe to be the last of humanity, until a ship comes into orbit around their planet. This story has a little bit of everything, 'alien' contact, disappearances, murder, political maneuvers, bigotry, genetic manipulation, kidnapping, an invisible kid that never talks, LGBTQ rep, exiles and a few other twists and turns as well.
This book has a lot going for it, but it just seemed a bit to slow for me even with all the twists and turns, the characters are interesting though.
However if you love a good mildly political sci-fi with 2 insular societies meeting unexpectedly and in spite of distrust attempting to help each other, then this will be a story for you.
I received this ARC through NetGalley and House Panther Publishing.
This book has a lot going for it, but it just seemed a bit to slow for me even with all the twists and turns, the characters are interesting though.
However if you love a good mildly political sci-fi with 2 insular societies meeting unexpectedly and in spite of distrust attempting to help each other, then this will be a story for you.
I received this ARC through NetGalley and House Panther Publishing.
gabrielleint's review against another edition
4.0
I really liked this book but took off one star because I think the writing was good but not breathtaking. I could read books about isolated human space colonies which think every other human is dead and then the colony discovers or is discovered by other humans for the rest of my life and never get bored. I absolutely love that shit. This book also had one of my favorite things which is in-world primary sources which are interspersed throughout the book. There was also a secondary colony which seemed like it might be a myth just to scare people but it turns out the colony is both real *and* used to keep people in the primary colony in line. Overall a very strong standalone speculative fiction. Another reason I love it--it's not part of a series! I am getting more and more into wanting to read a self-contained scifi novel instead of getting embroiled into yet another series. Series can often be good and done well (hello Broken Earth trilogy by N.K. Jemisin) but too often I think authors stretch an interesting idea into a series when it could have been one tight spec-fic.
kchisholm02's review against another edition
4.0
Thank you Netgalley for providing me an arc in exchange for my honest review.
Arkhangelsk grabbed my attention because I was looking for a book similar to 'The Martian" by Andy Weir. This novel did not disappoint! Every moment felt as if I were in the alien world of Novayarkha, but Bonesteel still managed to create the atmosphere of that planet being a real place.
There was a variety of character dynamics within the novel, and I felt Bonesteel did a fantastic job of showing us readers how we change depending on who we are with and the situations we are in. Anya is a law abiding citizen and says "yes ma'am" and "no ma'am" when confronted by her superior Governor Orlova. When she is around her childhood friend, Costa, we see a softer and friendlier side. With Aleksey, Anya becomes the commander in chief.
One of the features I enjoyed most about this novel was Bonesteel didn't go out of her way to explain the rules of this new world. She intertwines details of how society functions, laws to abide by, and who each character is and what role of importance they play. Too many novels I've read have suffered from trying to make sure the reader understands the world they are presenting, and gets lost in those details the plot can't move forward. In "Arkhangelsk' we don't get lost. We are fed detail in pieces at a time to be able to put them together for ourselves. There may be questions we have along the way, but eventually we learn the answers. This is also a brilliant way to write because it engages the reader further. We have to pay more attention to the hidden details quietly and efficiently laid into place among the writing.
Overall, I really enjoyed reading this novel. I never felt like I was missing information or events taking place were shortsighted. I was satisfied with the conclusion of the novel, and I didn't feel as if any storylines were left unfinished or questions I had were left unanswered.
Arkhangelsk grabbed my attention because I was looking for a book similar to 'The Martian" by Andy Weir. This novel did not disappoint! Every moment felt as if I were in the alien world of Novayarkha, but Bonesteel still managed to create the atmosphere of that planet being a real place.
There was a variety of character dynamics within the novel, and I felt Bonesteel did a fantastic job of showing us readers how we change depending on who we are with and the situations we are in. Anya is a law abiding citizen and says "yes ma'am" and "no ma'am" when confronted by her superior Governor Orlova. When she is around her childhood friend, Costa, we see a softer and friendlier side. With Aleksey, Anya becomes the commander in chief.
One of the features I enjoyed most about this novel was Bonesteel didn't go out of her way to explain the rules of this new world. She intertwines details of how society functions, laws to abide by, and who each character is and what role of importance they play. Too many novels I've read have suffered from trying to make sure the reader understands the world they are presenting, and gets lost in those details the plot can't move forward. In "Arkhangelsk' we don't get lost. We are fed detail in pieces at a time to be able to put them together for ourselves. There may be questions we have along the way, but eventually we learn the answers. This is also a brilliant way to write because it engages the reader further. We have to pay more attention to the hidden details quietly and efficiently laid into place among the writing.
Overall, I really enjoyed reading this novel. I never felt like I was missing information or events taking place were shortsighted. I was satisfied with the conclusion of the novel, and I didn't feel as if any storylines were left unfinished or questions I had were left unanswered.
excavatinglizard's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
this book had a good mixture of sci-fi, political intrigue and character relationships, and I enjoyed it. That being said, I definitely had some issues with weird simplifications of major themes where chapters before they’d been handled with nuance. Most things tied up well but there were definitely plot points that either got shoe-horned in or disappeared. Still, the writing was solid and I was invested in the characters.
I got very blindsided by the sudden forced-pregnancy and borderline medical horror, which…kind of wasn’t really addressed. Some of the pacing was definitely strange
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pregnancy, Medical trauma, Xenophobia, and Cancer
morganswoboda's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
fast-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? No
4.75
altlovesbooks's review
4.0
"You think you escaped from Earth? You're fools, every one of you. All you did was bring it with you."
Novayarkha is a colony on a harsh planet where its residents have carved out a living against all odds. Living in the remains of the dismantled colony ship Arkhangelsk can be tough, with all sorts of health risks and radiation to contend with, but its population is more or less content with their lot in the universe and convinced that the "old world" (Earth) is no more. What they believe is then turned on its head as a starship sent from Earth on an entirely different mission appears in orbit, and Anya, the head peace officer, makes an unlikely friend in space.
There's a lot going on here, as the story is part murder mystery, part sci-fi dystopia, part found family/romance (depending on how deep you read between the lines). I thought it mostly worked out well, actually, with the beginning dovetailing neatly into the conclusion at the end. I thought the relationship between Anya and the captain of the starship was sweet, and I really loved the author's writing style throughout. There's a lot to think about here with themes of gene manipulation, xenophobia, and mob justice prevalent. I particularly liked the old Arkhangelsk logs left throughout the book, as it starts to paint a very different picture from what Anya learned about their origins growing up.
I'm really glad to have given this book a shot, and look forward to trying out more books by this author now that I've discovered them.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Novayarkha is a colony on a harsh planet where its residents have carved out a living against all odds. Living in the remains of the dismantled colony ship Arkhangelsk can be tough, with all sorts of health risks and radiation to contend with, but its population is more or less content with their lot in the universe and convinced that the "old world" (Earth) is no more. What they believe is then turned on its head as a starship sent from Earth on an entirely different mission appears in orbit, and Anya, the head peace officer, makes an unlikely friend in space.
There's a lot going on here, as the story is part murder mystery, part sci-fi dystopia, part found family/romance (depending on how deep you read between the lines). I thought it mostly worked out well, actually, with the beginning dovetailing neatly into the conclusion at the end. I thought the relationship between Anya and the captain of the starship was sweet, and I really loved the author's writing style throughout. There's a lot to think about here with themes of gene manipulation, xenophobia, and mob justice prevalent. I particularly liked the old Arkhangelsk logs left throughout the book, as it starts to paint a very different picture from what Anya learned about their origins growing up.
I'm really glad to have given this book a shot, and look forward to trying out more books by this author now that I've discovered them.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.