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A review by crackedspines_
The Gravity of Us by Phil Stamper
5.0
OVERALL RATING: 5/5 stars! The Gravity of Us is heartfelt, emotional, and so, so beautiful. It's written so well, the characters are developed so well, and the storyline is so interesting. I can't decide if I'm happy I finished it because I love it so much, or sad that it's over.
PLOT: 5/5 stars. The plot was perfectly paced and felt very natural. The plot twists struck a good balance between being surprising and not being so random that it felt forced and unrealistic. I especially loved the bit about Leon. It was interesting and relatable, and I loved seeing that kind of representation. It added the perfect amount of heartbreak to the story.
STRUCTURE: 4.5/5 stars. I personally do not do super well with books that have interludes between chapters, like the news reports included in Gravity. However, they were definitely helpful in furthering the plot and were also interesting to read. My struggle with that was more an issue of my illness and less about the actual structure of the book.
WORLD-BUILDING: 5/5 stars. I never once felt that the Orpheus mission or any of the science mentioned was unrealistic. The world was set up so nicely, I found myself sucked into it almost immediately. This was especially impressive because I am obviously not famous, and so many of the characters are, but I didn't find myself really thinking about that divide much. It felt so natural.
THEME: 5/5 stars. I have always loved space and learning about space exploration. I feel that it's extremely important. It was fun to escape to a world where one of the biggest current-day goals in spaceflight was an immediate reality! The themes of various representation were, again, amazing.
CHARACTERS: 5/5 stars. I'm starting to feel like a broken record here. I almost never give such thoroughly positive reviews; in the spirit of honesty I include both the positives and negatives of books I read. But I honestly can't think of a single thing I didn't like about this book! I can already tell it's going to be one I reread time and time again.
DIALOGUE: 5/5. Yup, you guessed it. The dialogue was earnest and dimensional. Kat and Cal's dialogue was genuine and their friendship is lovely. Leon and Cal's dialogue was emotional and beautiful and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I'm running out of complimentary words here! I liked that the book included a mixture of nasty dialogue and friendly dialogue, happy and sad, angry and emotional. That's how the whole book was, really. The Gravity of Us is a true work of art.
PLOT: 5/5 stars. The plot was perfectly paced and felt very natural. The plot twists struck a good balance between being surprising and not being so random that it felt forced and unrealistic. I especially loved the bit about Leon. It was interesting and relatable, and I loved seeing that kind of representation. It added the perfect amount of heartbreak to the story.
STRUCTURE: 4.5/5 stars. I personally do not do super well with books that have interludes between chapters, like the news reports included in Gravity. However, they were definitely helpful in furthering the plot and were also interesting to read. My struggle with that was more an issue of my illness and less about the actual structure of the book.
WORLD-BUILDING: 5/5 stars. I never once felt that the Orpheus mission or any of the science mentioned was unrealistic. The world was set up so nicely, I found myself sucked into it almost immediately. This was especially impressive because I am obviously not famous, and so many of the characters are, but I didn't find myself really thinking about that divide much. It felt so natural.
THEME: 5/5 stars. I have always loved space and learning about space exploration. I feel that it's extremely important. It was fun to escape to a world where one of the biggest current-day goals in spaceflight was an immediate reality! The themes of various representation were, again, amazing.
CHARACTERS: 5/5 stars. I'm starting to feel like a broken record here. I almost never give such thoroughly positive reviews; in the spirit of honesty I include both the positives and negatives of books I read. But I honestly can't think of a single thing I didn't like about this book! I can already tell it's going to be one I reread time and time again.
DIALOGUE: 5/5. Yup, you guessed it. The dialogue was earnest and dimensional. Kat and Cal's dialogue was genuine and their friendship is lovely. Leon and Cal's dialogue was emotional and beautiful and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I'm running out of complimentary words here! I liked that the book included a mixture of nasty dialogue and friendly dialogue, happy and sad, angry and emotional. That's how the whole book was, really. The Gravity of Us is a true work of art.