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ksorianotaylor's review
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
an interesting take on intergenerational trauma in the form of three eras that add up to the founding of a “utopian” religion. while i didn’t really love any of the characters, the book was definitely a fun/exciting read. definitely scratched that “i want to solve a mystery” itch. i felt like the pacing was great in that it’s slow at the beginning when you’re learning about everything and the events leading up to the main plot are taking shape and by the end it’s racing alongside the journey.
definitely saw some big “twists” coming, but i think that was intentional. and there were enough that i didn’t catch them all. the world building to me was just so-so, but the connections between the three settings were super interesting. one of the books it reminded me of that hasn’t been brought up yet is the fifth sacred thing by starhawk, so people might enjoy that.
i’m rating it a little lower i guess because while i overall enjoyed the book, a lot of it seemed unbelievable to me (which is a dumb reason for a sci-fi book i know). but like leah as a character was boring and kind of stock-y to me (also why didn’t she have a cell phone? in 2012?!) likewise ajul and ixul were the least interesting part of the 1012 era, and ket suffered from weird wise-child syndrome. the 3012 era had the most promise to me but it was super hard for me to believe that a dispersed nomadic society dedicated pluralism would ALL so dogmatically believe in the laviaja/st leah religion. also there was just sooo much unsexy sex. (that i don’t think was intentional.) like i would have expected to see more fun sex stuff happening in 3012 with endless ~future~ possibilities? but instead we got tired twincest and leah. and i think the author could have used more queer/trans input in those relationships. ahh sorry now that i said it leah was so boring!
also the kriol and spanish that people complained about is definitely intelligible/context oriented, i did not have a problem with it at all.
definitely saw some big “twists” coming, but i think that was intentional. and there were enough that i didn’t catch them all. the world building to me was just so-so, but the connections between the three settings were super interesting. one of the books it reminded me of that hasn’t been brought up yet is the fifth sacred thing by starhawk, so people might enjoy that.
i’m rating it a little lower i guess because while i overall enjoyed the book, a lot of it seemed unbelievable to me (which is a dumb reason for a sci-fi book i know). but like leah as a character was boring and kind of stock-y to me (also why didn’t she have a cell phone? in 2012?!) likewise ajul and ixul were the least interesting part of the 1012 era, and ket suffered from weird wise-child syndrome. the 3012 era had the most promise to me but it was super hard for me to believe that a dispersed nomadic society dedicated pluralism would ALL so dogmatically believe in the laviaja/st leah religion. also there was just sooo much unsexy sex. (that i don’t think was intentional.) like i would have expected to see more fun sex stuff happening in 3012 with endless ~future~ possibilities? but instead we got tired twincest and leah. and i think the author could have used more queer/trans input in those relationships. ahh sorry now that i said it leah was so boring!
also the kriol and spanish that people complained about is definitely intelligible/context oriented, i did not have a problem with it at all.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Incest, Blood, and Self harm
vanamo's review
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
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? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Self harm
moonm's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Incest, Violence, and Self harm
readingrachael7's review
challenging
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Incest and Self harm
beccaand's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
reflective
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? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Self harm, Incest, Sexual content, and Blood
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Child death
Minor: Terminal illness
cleo_wylde's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
reflective
tense
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
4.0
Loved the world the author has conceptualised and how it all comes together. A book that tries very hard to hit lots of points and overall succeeds.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Murder, Self harm, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, and Blood
Moderate: Incest, Religious bigotry, and Injury/Injury detail
madelaine__grace's review
challenging
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Definitely exploratory, experimental, and theoretical in nature. Covers gaps in history and the development of socioeconomic structures. or rather the decline, of structures that lead to the parallel analysis of the transcendent and diasporic existence of humans.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Incest, Self harm, and Sexual content
cadimy's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Self harm and Sexual content
Minor: Death, Vomit, Drug use, Gore, and Abandonment
juliwi's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
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
I remember reading Monica Byrne's The Girl in the Road during a hot summer and being utterly captivated. The way Byrne saw the world, or rather, the way in which she could make worlds she saw visible to her readers, took hold of me and in the years since I have been hungerly awaiting new visions from her. So of course The Actual Star moved straight to the top of my reading list once I heard about it. And she has done it again. Byrne's The Actual Star blew me away and yet also cradled me close, whispering secrets. Thanks to Harper Voyager and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
The Actual Star is my favourite book of 2021. I know that we still have a few months to go in this year and that many other great books are still coming out. I already know, or rather I already feel, however, that the way in which this novel has reached me won't be repeated so easily. The blurb calls this novel a 'feast of ideas' and it is indeed both a feast and full of ideas. Reading The Actual Star was so smooth, so enjoyable, that it only struck me at night, when I finally stepped away from it, just how many ideas and thoughts the book had brought up. I found that the novel influenced my thinking on gender and sexuality, on the function of religion, on the line between censorship and open discussion, on identity, on the ties between family, on tradition, on love, on the future. And yet never, not once, did the themes or ideas overtake the story and the feeling of the story itself. Story drives The Actual Star and its themes and ideas are woven in beautifully. I will be re-reading this book over the coming years, as I have done with Byrne's previous novel, The Girl in the Road. And on every re-reading I will find something new, I will reach new understandings and discover a new part of myself.
Where to begin with the story? The Actual Star takes place across three timelines, in three different millennia. The first takes place in 1012, where the royal Mayan twins Ajal and Ixul prepare to take their parents' throne in the hopes to restore their empire to prosperity and glory. With them is their younger sister Ket, who connects to their traditions and history in a different way. In 2012 we find our second storyline, in which Leah from Minnesota travels to Belize to discover her roots and fill the void she has always felt within her. There she meets the twins Xander and Javier, tour guides, whose relationship to each other and their country's history and tradition is tense. The third storyline takes place in 3012, in which the religion and way of life established after catastrophic climate change is threatened when two thinkers imagine different futures. And that's where I'm going to leave you, plot wise. I tried to go into The Actual Star as blindly as possible, which I would argue is the best way. I have also removed a paragraph from the blurb above because the connection between these stories, the strands that braid them together, should be discovered page by page. Don't think too far ahead, just join these brilliant characters as they search for meaning in ancient tradition, for help from silent gods, to connection across the years.
The world-building that has gone into The Actual Star is honestly mind-blowing. Byrne has done painstaking research into the Maya civilization, their beliefs, their language, and it all show in the chapters dedicated to the first timeline. But it also echoes through the others and that was one of my favourite aspects of the novel: the way in which culture reshapes, survives, and adapts. But not only has she brought to life a period of the past that is unknown to many readers, she has also envisioned a breathtaking vision for the future, shaped by climate change and refugees. In a way it knocked the wind out of me the way Mad Max: Fury Road did, in that I saw a fully realized and whole, that I could see. Only that Byrne gives me so much more to hope for, so much more potential good, while never forgetting that humans will remain humans. With such brilliant work done on the 1012 and 3012 timeline, one could imagine that the more "pedestrian" 2012 would feel flat. But through the eyes of Leah it is brought utterly to life. The way she sees herself, the world, the people around her, it is entirely vivid and real.
Monica Byrne finds the sharp edge between accessible writing and complex thought, and walks it seemingly effortlessly. While The Actual Star does a lot of complex things, like working across three different timelines, employing a variety of languages, envisioning an entirely radical new future, commenting on climate change, refugees, gender, identity, and so much more, Byrne never lets this complicate her writing. The Actual Star is accessible in the best possible way in that no matter how different the characters' situations are from your own, you still recognize them as people. They are deeply human, whether they live in 1012, 2012 or 3012. They have desires and needs, fears and hopes, secrets and grand plans. They need to sleep, they need to wash, they also need to connect and talk and even fight with others. It is not often, in my opinion, that a novel manages to strike this balance so well, to be epic and grand without any sign of pretension, to go deeply into the human soul and actually not neglect the human aspect. The Actual Star is stunning, human, other-worldly and innovative, as well as all the things in between. Go read it. Do yourself the favour!
At the risk of sounding too mind-blown, too adoring, The Actual Star is one of a kind. With its depth and reach, it is unlike any other book I have read in the last few years. It will stay with me for a long time and I will be recommending it wherever I go.
You can support Monica Byrne through her Patreon.
URL:
The Actual Star is my favourite book of 2021. I know that we still have a few months to go in this year and that many other great books are still coming out. I already know, or rather I already feel, however, that the way in which this novel has reached me won't be repeated so easily. The blurb calls this novel a 'feast of ideas' and it is indeed both a feast and full of ideas. Reading The Actual Star was so smooth, so enjoyable, that it only struck me at night, when I finally stepped away from it, just how many ideas and thoughts the book had brought up. I found that the novel influenced my thinking on gender and sexuality, on the function of religion, on the line between censorship and open discussion, on identity, on the ties between family, on tradition, on love, on the future. And yet never, not once, did the themes or ideas overtake the story and the feeling of the story itself. Story drives The Actual Star and its themes and ideas are woven in beautifully. I will be re-reading this book over the coming years, as I have done with Byrne's previous novel, The Girl in the Road. And on every re-reading I will find something new, I will reach new understandings and discover a new part of myself.
Where to begin with the story? The Actual Star takes place across three timelines, in three different millennia. The first takes place in 1012, where the royal Mayan twins Ajal and Ixul prepare to take their parents' throne in the hopes to restore their empire to prosperity and glory. With them is their younger sister Ket, who connects to their traditions and history in a different way. In 2012 we find our second storyline, in which Leah from Minnesota travels to Belize to discover her roots and fill the void she has always felt within her. There she meets the twins Xander and Javier, tour guides, whose relationship to each other and their country's history and tradition is tense. The third storyline takes place in 3012, in which the religion and way of life established after catastrophic climate change is threatened when two thinkers imagine different futures. And that's where I'm going to leave you, plot wise. I tried to go into The Actual Star as blindly as possible, which I would argue is the best way. I have also removed a paragraph from the blurb above because the connection between these stories, the strands that braid them together, should be discovered page by page. Don't think too far ahead, just join these brilliant characters as they search for meaning in ancient tradition, for help from silent gods, to connection across the years.
The world-building that has gone into The Actual Star is honestly mind-blowing. Byrne has done painstaking research into the Maya civilization, their beliefs, their language, and it all show in the chapters dedicated to the first timeline. But it also echoes through the others and that was one of my favourite aspects of the novel: the way in which culture reshapes, survives, and adapts. But not only has she brought to life a period of the past that is unknown to many readers, she has also envisioned a breathtaking vision for the future, shaped by climate change and refugees. In a way it knocked the wind out of me the way Mad Max: Fury Road did, in that I saw a fully realized and whole, that I could see. Only that Byrne gives me so much more to hope for, so much more potential good, while never forgetting that humans will remain humans. With such brilliant work done on the 1012 and 3012 timeline, one could imagine that the more "pedestrian" 2012 would feel flat. But through the eyes of Leah it is brought utterly to life. The way she sees herself, the world, the people around her, it is entirely vivid and real.
Monica Byrne finds the sharp edge between accessible writing and complex thought, and walks it seemingly effortlessly. While The Actual Star does a lot of complex things, like working across three different timelines, employing a variety of languages, envisioning an entirely radical new future, commenting on climate change, refugees, gender, identity, and so much more, Byrne never lets this complicate her writing. The Actual Star is accessible in the best possible way in that no matter how different the characters' situations are from your own, you still recognize them as people. They are deeply human, whether they live in 1012, 2012 or 3012. They have desires and needs, fears and hopes, secrets and grand plans. They need to sleep, they need to wash, they also need to connect and talk and even fight with others. It is not often, in my opinion, that a novel manages to strike this balance so well, to be epic and grand without any sign of pretension, to go deeply into the human soul and actually not neglect the human aspect. The Actual Star is stunning, human, other-worldly and innovative, as well as all the things in between. Go read it. Do yourself the favour!
At the risk of sounding too mind-blown, too adoring, The Actual Star is one of a kind. With its depth and reach, it is unlike any other book I have read in the last few years. It will stay with me for a long time and I will be recommending it wherever I go.
You can support Monica Byrne through her Patreon.
URL:
Content Warnings
Graphic: Self harm
This book contains images and discussion of self harm. While it is not glorified, there is a reason behind it within the story which may not sit right for every reader. For me it did not feel wrong, but everyone has to decide that for themselves.bailey_the_bookworm's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
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 book! Wow. It melted my brain in the best way.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Self harm, Violence, Death, and Incest
Minor: Terminal illness