Reviews

Before Mars by Emma Newman

dariaanna's review

5.0

I rarely write reviews. More than plot, what strikes me with this author is how seamlessly I fall into the story, the world building feels realistic and so I don’t even stop to wonder about it. So well-done that it is easy to take for granted, and wanted to recognize that.

noisydeadlines's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious 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? It's complicated

5.0

Another brilliant sci-fi book with emotional and psychological depth. Set on a base on Mars, it's  a mysterious thriller with untrustworthy AI's, conspiracies, personal trauma and complex characters. We get a lot of the main character's thought process, it's very intimate. The main character is a geologist and a painter, and she struggles with her decision to leave behind her husband and her daughter on Earth to pursue a one-in-a-lifetime job opportunity. Weird things happen at the base and from the first chapter I was totally into the mystery, wanting to know what happened. It features excellent mental health representation, it's raw and real. I had tears in my eyes when I finished it.

chickadee2's review

4.0

Story of Anna Kubrick who was sent to mars as a geologist and painter. She discovers a secret base where an atlas ship is being built. Later it is revealed that there has been nuclear war on earth, and their memories have been wiped and the atlas ship launched leaving them behind. They build a new ship to follow.
This was really good. I liked the subplot of her struggles with post-partom depression.

jerseygrrrl's review against another edition

3.0

3.5 stars. I loved Planetfall, the first in this series. And I very much enjoyed After Atlas. All three books bring compassion to their stories about people with trauma and/or mental illnesses. This is unusual in the sci-fi world, which has traditionally favored tech and toys to psychological depth.

Before Mars also features an imperfect hero with a background that includes trauma. And it takes place on Mars, so bonus points for that. I didn't find it quite as compelling as the other two, but it was a great read.

eitani's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad medium-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? Yes

4.0

lini002's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

3.0

titusfortner's review

4.0

After the events of the second book, many of the twists and turns weren't actually wasn't as surprising to me as they were written to be... But it's still an amazing book, and I continue to appreciate the frank discussions of mental health issues.

emilyky's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting

Moderate: War and Death

Minor: Suicide attempt and Panic attacks/disorders

wah38's review

5.0

The first book I can remember reading where the ending was spoiled by the previous book in the series. Protagonist wakes up on Mars having apparently just arrived, but with a hand-painted note of hers telling her not to trust the ship's psychiatrist. She has flashes of recognition of the other people on the ship and places she hadn't seen. But once the author starts referring to the date of the start of the book it becomes clear that the book is set in almost the same timeframe as the previous book, which means that right when the capsule is opened on Earth, almost the whole Earth will be destroyed in thermonuclear war. So the protagonist struggles with the obviously-lying AI and the possibly-lying rest of the crew, discovering their innocuous secrets Poirot-style until the big reveal: the psychiatrist erased their memories after they had discovered that the Mars trip (which was sponsored by GaborCorp) was just a ruse to build a ship to go to Pathfinder, just as the Circle cult was the US's ruse to build a ship to go to Pathfinder in book 2. Hard to read the parts involving psychological breakdown, but overall a thrilling mystery not harmed by the fact that the previous book gave away 75% of the ending.

wah38's review against another edition

5.0

The first book I can remember reading where the ending was spoiled by the previous book in the series. Protagonist wakes up on Mars having apparently just arrived, but with a hand-painted note of hers telling her not to trust the ship's psychiatrist. She has flashes of recognition of the other people on the ship and places she hadn't seen. But once the author starts referring to the date of the start of the book it becomes clear that the book is set in almost the same timeframe as the previous book, which means that right when the capsule is opened on Earth, almost the whole Earth will be destroyed in thermonuclear war. So the protagonist struggles with the obviously-lying AI and the possibly-lying rest of the crew, discovering their innocuous secrets Poirot-style until the big reveal: the psychiatrist erased their memories after they had discovered that the Mars trip (which was sponsored by GaborCorp) was just a ruse to build a ship to go to Pathfinder, just as the Circle cult was the US's ruse to build a ship to go to Pathfinder in book 2. Hard to read the parts involving psychological breakdown, but overall a thrilling mystery not harmed by the fact that the previous book gave away 75% of the ending.