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A review by caitlin_bookchats
Starglass by Phoebe North
2.0
What and odd and interesting book.
The two stars was definitely an it's me thing. This book is certainly well written and I agree with several other reviewers that the descriptions of the world (especially botany) and Terra's growing appreciation of her fellow workers is really well done but it was also quite painful to read in several parts where Terra couldn't see what I did and I read in horrifying realism as she saytalked herself into thinking she loved a man who obviously loved another man or didn't recognize the signs of her father's depression and impending suicide or even as she drowned herself in lustful desire to distract herself from a task she didn't truly want and an emptiness she didn't know how to fill .
When Terra finally reaches for more control in the last chapters of the book, I think it was too late for me to truly love the book. This is definitely a situation in which your mileage may vary.
One quick note. I've seen several reviewers mention they're hesitant to read this because the starship it takes place on is culturally Jewish and they are worried the book is trying to push a religion. To that I say: it's a secular Jewish starship which means they're dedicated to preserving Jewish culture absent the religious aspects (more or less). Overtly religious tradition is only mentioned once by a character who only late in the book discovers the Torah and begins to read it.I'm not quite sure if it was intentional but I also thought it seemed to say something that the character who began to take comfort in the Torah was of a lower social/intellectual class than Terra and Terra seemed to clearly think it was a sort of emotional crutch.
The two stars was definitely an it's me thing. This book is certainly well written and I agree with several other reviewers that the descriptions of the world (especially botany) and Terra's growing appreciation of her fellow workers is really well done but it was also quite painful to read in several parts where Terra couldn't see what I did and I read in horrifying realism as she say
When Terra finally reaches for more control in the last chapters of the book, I think it was too late for me to truly love the book. This is definitely a situation in which your mileage may vary.
One quick note. I've seen several reviewers mention they're hesitant to read this because the starship it takes place on is culturally Jewish and they are worried the book is trying to push a religion. To that I say: it's a secular Jewish starship which means they're dedicated to preserving Jewish culture absent the religious aspects (more or less). Overtly religious tradition is only mentioned once by a character who only late in the book discovers the Torah and begins to read it.