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cdc95's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Terminal illness, Incest, Death, Child death, Sexual content, Violence, Gore, War, Death of parent, and Self harm
Moderate: Colonisation, Xenophobia, and Genocide
bluemonkey14's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
reflective
medium-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
4.0
I enjoyed this but in the end it left me a bit cold. It felt like the first two acts were building towards something huge and revelatory, but the ending felt like it petered out without really tying up most of the loose ends.
Some of the sexual content felt corny to me, especially contrasted with the grand arcs of the overall storyline and took away from the overall experience. I think it would have been better to gloss over it a little more and let the reader fill in the gaps with their imagination.
Contrary to other reviews I don't think Laviaja is supposed to be taken as some sort of perfect utopia, but just another version of civilisation with pros and cons, similar to how modern society is very different from the Mayan society, but in no way perfect. As we know, anything presented as a utopia is usually nothing of the sort, and I think that holds true here. Byrne cites Black Mirror as one of her influences and I think the 3012 portion of the book should be taken in that same vein - a possible futures.
The Laviaja sections were my favourite, and I would personally love to see more development of it, both before and after the events of The Actual Star. We know some history of the Age of Emergency - aspects like nomadism, mutual aid and the push back against hoarding of resources all make sense in that context. But naturally given the format, there is a huge gap between what we know of today, and where Laviaja is in 3012. And of course there's scope to see how things play out, especially given Niloux's theory about the location of further cortadas.
Some of the sexual content felt corny to me, especially contrasted with the grand arcs of the overall storyline and took away from the overall experience. I think it would have been better to gloss over it a little more and let the reader fill in the gaps with their imagination.
Contrary to other reviews I don't think Laviaja is supposed to be taken as some sort of perfect utopia, but just another version of civilisation with pros and cons, similar to how modern society is very different from the Mayan society, but in no way perfect. As we know, anything presented as a utopia is usually nothing of the sort, and I think that holds true here. Byrne cites Black Mirror as one of her influences and I think the 3012 portion of the book should be taken in that same vein - a possible futures.
The Laviaja sections were my favourite, and I would personally love to see more development of it, both before and after the events of The Actual Star. We know some history of the Age of Emergency - aspects like nomadism, mutual aid and the push back against hoarding of resources all make sense in that context. But naturally given the format, there is a huge gap between what we know of today, and where Laviaja is in 3012. And of course there's scope to see how things play out, especially given Niloux's theory about the location of further cortadas.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Self harm, Incest, Death, Murder, Sexual content, and Blood
Moderate: Drug use
Minor: Cancer, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, and Vomit
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
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
caseythereader's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Thanks to Harper Voyager for the free copy of this book.
- Wow, how do I even review a work like THE ACTUAL STAR? This book is a massive undertaking, telling the stories of three sets of people in three timelines each a thousand years apart. We watch as their stories braid, repeat, differ, and merge.
- I saw elements of Ursula LeGuin, Octavia E. Butler, Simon Jimenez, and more from across decades of sci-fi and fantasy literature in this story.
- I felt deeply invested in each timeline, and was on the edge of my seat as the stories came together. It’s quite a feat to make a slow paced, 600+ page novel a page turner.
- Story aside, the writing is fantastic, too. Beautifully written, with the recurring elements never becoming too heavyhanded.
- Wow, how do I even review a work like THE ACTUAL STAR? This book is a massive undertaking, telling the stories of three sets of people in three timelines each a thousand years apart. We watch as their stories braid, repeat, differ, and merge.
- I saw elements of Ursula LeGuin, Octavia E. Butler, Simon Jimenez, and more from across decades of sci-fi and fantasy literature in this story.
- I felt deeply invested in each timeline, and was on the edge of my seat as the stories came together. It’s quite a feat to make a slow paced, 600+ page novel a page turner.
- Story aside, the writing is fantastic, too. Beautifully written, with the recurring elements never becoming too heavyhanded.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Incest, Infidelity, Self harm, Violence, Cursing, Drug use, Murder, Sexual content, Child death, Death, Blood, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Alcohol
Minor: Terminal illness
krys_kilz's review
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
tense
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
5.0
This book blew me away! The world building was awe inspiring and each of the characters were complex and multifaceted. And how the three timelines braided together to create a multi-generational saga... it was powerful and truly mind blowing.
I could see parallels to Octavia's Earthseed books with god as entropy, Ursula K. Le Guin (especially The Dispossessed) with the questioning/challenging of utopia, and so many other influences.
This is probably one of my favorite books I have ever read.
I could see parallels to Octavia's Earthseed books with god as entropy, Ursula K. Le Guin (especially The Dispossessed) with the questioning/challenging of utopia, and so many other influences.
This is probably one of my favorite books I have ever read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Incest, Self harm, and Sexual content
Moderate: Violence and Death
Minor: Terminal illness
nikichem's review
adventurous
emotional
informative
reflective
tense
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
5.0
I finished this book and immediately started to reread it. I loved it so much but once you know how it ends you want to go back and enjoy all the Easter Eggs. I have been recommending this book like crazy. In each of the first three chapters, there were things that were shocking. I loved the ending. I loved the beginning and I loved the middle. I am not writer; I am a reader and this is the 1st book I can recall starting to read it again as soon as I finished it the 1st time. If you like speculative fiction, Slipstream, Science-Fantasy, Genre Blending, Visionary, Historical check this out it will change the way you view humanity. This book gave me Octavia Butler vibes and it also reminds me some of Cloud Cuckoo Land only based in Belize and with a span of 2000 years (1012 to 3012).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Self harm, Incest, Sexual content, Torture, and Abandonment
Moderate: Violence, Child death, Gore, Physical abuse, Blood, Classism, and Death
Minor: War, Classism, Cancer, Terminal illness, and Religious bigotry
aclaman's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
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
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood
Moderate: Child death, Terminal illness, Suicide, Sexual content, Murder, Incest, and Death
ashybear02's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-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? N/A
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Incest, Death, and Terminal illness
hammy91's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
slow-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
4.75
Very interesting! I enjoyed the first two time periods so much that I didn't want it to end.
The last time period which is in the future was very hard to follow at first, but I want to believe it's because I do not know any Spanish so I had no idea of the Spanish words and conversations. But I later found out there's a glossary in the back so I was referencing it while I read which was very helpful!
As I said, the first two was amazing, I especially enjoyed Leah's story. The Mayan time period was interesting too but during the middle part I felt the plot dragged out a little bit but eventually picked up and things got INTENSE.
I love the ending which is basically all of Book 3 it was just so fun to see everything finally align together.
It wasn't an absolute five-star read but close enough! Definitely recommend!
The last time period which is in the future was very hard to follow at first, but I want to believe it's because I do not know any Spanish so I had no idea of the Spanish words and conversations. But I later found out there's a glossary in the back so I was referencing it while I read which was very helpful!
As I said, the first two was amazing, I especially enjoyed Leah's story. The Mayan time period was interesting too but during the middle part I felt the plot dragged out a little bit but eventually picked up and things got INTENSE.
I love the ending which is basically all of Book 3 it was just so fun to see everything finally align together.
It wasn't an absolute five-star read but close enough! Definitely recommend!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Incest, Self harm, Violence, Blood, and Slavery
Moderate: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, and Murder
Minor: Terminal illness and Vomit
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