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3.46 AVERAGE
3.46 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
hopeful
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
quick short and ate it uppppp
it felt like a lot was trying to be accomplished with the world-building in such a short book so it was kind of a lot to follow but the pace kept me intrigued and there was a lil queer romance so how could i be mad
kind of a weird vibe with pregnancy a couple of times to TW with that + it wasn't my favorite choice in plot point but in the end it still was enjoyable overall
it felt like a lot was trying to be accomplished with the world-building in such a short book so it was kind of a lot to follow but the pace kept me intrigued and there was a lil queer romance so how could i be mad
kind of a weird vibe with pregnancy a couple of times to TW with that + it wasn't my favorite choice in plot point but in the end it still was enjoyable overall
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Abandonment
Moderate: Trafficking
adventurous
inspiring
tense
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:
Yes
adventurous
dark
hopeful
I really enjoyed the world and the book. There was an odd combo of sections with a lot of world detail and sections with very little detail that felt a little unbalanced. One thing that bothered me is that if the Brannick twins gene lock was truly Y chromosome dependent then both twins would have it. Thats just how genetics works. Although I guess maybe the “magic” is some kind of epigenetic modification of the Y chromosome that only one twin got.
Thanks to Edelweiss+ and Dutton Books for Young Readers for my e-ARC
There was a fair amount to like in this book, but ultimately, it fell short. The characters were likable, but they seemed to be so much of the focus of attention that the setting faded to a nice, convenient backdrop that only had a bearing on the situation when it was convenient for the plot's sake. And that's a shame, because there's a lot of lore that mostly gets dumped in dense little snippets but points at a fascinating wider world that we only rarely glimpse and a magic system that mostly gets the same treatment.
Speaking of these infodumps, they're not all bad. While initially they have all the appeal of reading an encyclopedia cover-to-cover, they do get more personal as the story goes on, and thus it feels more like a genuine insight than a narrator drowning you in technobabble.
As far as the plot goes, I'm going to place part of the blame on the people who wrote the blurb. What you see on the blurb is almost what you get. There's not all that much more, really. And, if you read the blurb, you probably noticed that this book sort of uses a trope similar to Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone, namely, the unwanted child with special abilities. I felt that Rowling overplayed it there and Johnston does here as well, though with a little more commentary on social issues than Rowling, which is nice.
The middle is pleasant, but not really much happens. It all somehow feels sort of artificial in terms of the way the plot progresses here. Events happen because they need to happen to progress the plot, not because they feel like they grow organically out of the story. The ending ratchets up the suspense a little bit, but it all just feels kind of tepid and languid, a story that drags on a little too long in each part and might be better as a novella or even a novelette.
None of this is to say that this has put me off Johnston forever or that I could necessarily write a better novel. I feel like I've been perhaps too brutally honest about my opinion, so let me dole out at least a few compliments: The characters were all likable, and the world had potential. If you want a book with a harrowing beginning and a middle and end that are just sort of pleasantly there, this fits the bill. Some people in other reviews are calling it "slice-of life" and I guess that's sort of it, but it's also trying to be something else and it doesn't really manage to have its cake and eat it too. It's not bad per se, just not great. 2.5 stars, rounded up to three on Goodreads because it didn't actively tick me off like some other books
There was a fair amount to like in this book, but ultimately, it fell short. The characters were likable, but they seemed to be so much of the focus of attention that the setting faded to a nice, convenient backdrop that only had a bearing on the situation when it was convenient for the plot's sake. And that's a shame, because there's a lot of lore that mostly gets dumped in dense little snippets but points at a fascinating wider world that we only rarely glimpse and a magic system that mostly gets the same treatment.
Speaking of these infodumps, they're not all bad. While initially they have all the appeal of reading an encyclopedia cover-to-cover, they do get more personal as the story goes on, and thus it feels more like a genuine insight than a narrator drowning you in technobabble.
As far as the plot goes, I'm going to place part of the blame on the people who wrote the blurb. What you see on the blurb is almost what you get. There's not all that much more, really. And, if you read the blurb, you probably noticed that this book sort of uses a trope similar to Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone, namely, the unwanted child with special abilities. I felt that Rowling overplayed it there and Johnston does here as well, though with a little more commentary on social issues than Rowling, which is nice.
The middle is pleasant, but not really much happens. It all somehow feels sort of artificial in terms of the way the plot progresses here. Events happen because they need to happen to progress the plot, not because they feel like they grow organically out of the story. The ending ratchets up the suspense a little bit, but it all just feels kind of tepid and languid, a story that drags on a little too long in each part and might be better as a novella or even a novelette.
None of this is to say that this has put me off Johnston forever or that I could necessarily write a better novel. I feel like I've been perhaps too brutally honest about my opinion, so let me dole out at least a few compliments: The characters were all likable, and the world had potential. If you want a book with a harrowing beginning and a middle and end that are just sort of pleasantly there, this fits the bill. Some people in other reviews are calling it "slice-of life" and I guess that's sort of it, but it's also trying to be something else and it doesn't really manage to have its cake and eat it too. It's not bad per se, just not great. 2.5 stars, rounded up to three on Goodreads because it didn't actively tick me off like some other books
Weird! Fun tropes! Weird discussion of pregnancy and body autonomy. Not bad, but very specifically weird.
wasn’t super interesting to listen to, but Ashley Eckstein was very good at narrating this audiobook (it still took me an embarrassing amount of time to finish listening to it)
I really wanted to like this book because the premise was fun, but it was so lackluster. The world has so much going for it with futuristic humans in space with magic tied to the aether. We only really learn about the gene magic of the main character not much else of any other magic though something with electricity is mentioned a lot as well as star sense (I think it’s called that?)
Reading other reviews I now realize there was a trans character which wasn’t obvious until other people mentioned it and then some small comments at the end made sense. I really think the author danced around this subject and yet so gallantly plunged into willing teenage pregnancy??
I thought there was going to be some big epic battle or something and nope, we just fake Romeo and Juliet it and everyone walks away leaving any real confrontation for a future book, if there even is one, and these character get their happy ending.
TLDR: The world building and writing were great but there was barely any plot.
Reading other reviews I now realize there was a trans character which wasn’t obvious until other people mentioned it and then some small comments at the end made sense. I really think the author danced around this subject and yet so gallantly plunged into willing teenage pregnancy??
I thought there was going to be some big epic battle or something and nope, we just fake Romeo and Juliet it and everyone walks away leaving any real confrontation for a future book, if there even is one, and these character get their happy ending.
TLDR: The world building and writing were great but there was barely any plot.
I liked a lot about this book, but the one thing that kept it from being 5 stars for me is that I really wanted there to be more consequences for the Harland at the end.
The author gives a trigger warning - "This book contains a scene of medical violence. Characters also obsess about food and count calories." What this warning misses is that the book includes the following themes: loss of bodily autonomy, human trafficking, forced pregnancy, abuse against children, murder of infants.
And that's not to mention that two of the three main characters have sex in order to reproduce, because Pendt says it will be easier if she's interacting inside herself. As if artificial insemination isn't a thing.
And that's not to mention that two of the three main characters have sex in order to reproduce, because Pendt says it will be easier if she's interacting inside herself. As if artificial insemination isn't a thing.
adventurous
hopeful
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes