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A review by booksjessreads
An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon
challenging
dark
emotional
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? Yes
5.0
This is my first ever sci-fi read, and I must say that this is an incredible book. I felt so immersed into this story and genuinely, it was phenomenal. The world-building, the dialogue, the complexity of characters, the natural flow of writing. It was just... amazing!
I will admit that it took me about 2-3 chapters to fully get going. I listened to the audiobook and I also felt like whilst I was listening in the first couple of chapters, I did miss key details about the world-building, but just continued listening. I felt like as I went through the story, this didn't matter too much and I thought I had a good grip of the world by the middle of the book. I have bought a physical copy so that next time I read, I read the print copy to annotate those extra details.
Genuinely, the conjunction between structural racism and generational ships in Matilda was my favourite part about the whole thing and thought the crafting of this world was done extremely well. I saw some 'critics reviews' that said the 'many layers of metaphor' and 'worldbuilding by poetry' disappointed readers that wanted hard science fiction, but this is what I loved most. The poetic language only heightened the worldbuilding and reading between the lines made it all the more real for the reader. Although, I understand this is not to everyone's taste.
I am of the opinion of other reviews where the ending does feel slightly rushed and there were some things that could have been explored in some more depth for me, but I still really enjoyed the story anyway! I felt the pace really picks up about half way through, and that it was a very packed ending in the last few chapters. I did also feel as though the death of the Sovereign and Lune's death could have been explored more. I felt like in the middle of the story, we were looking towards a mystery of what the fluid-like metal was and how it got there, but we were abruptly given the answer to that and I felt like it could have been dragged out more mysteriously before we came to that conclusion.
It is very rare I want a book to be longer, but I wish it was so that there could be so many more things added. I thought the book was excellent as it was anyway, not just because of the worldbuilding, but the ending, for me, was unexpected. I just wish that themes could have been explored more. I just never really wanted the book to end.
I would recommend this book 100%! I think it was an amazing experience, especially listening to the audio as it just brought everything to life. Before reading though, please read the trigger warnings, as there are a lot of graphic triggers in this book.
I will admit that it took me about 2-3 chapters to fully get going. I listened to the audiobook and I also felt like whilst I was listening in the first couple of chapters, I did miss key details about the world-building, but just continued listening. I felt like as I went through the story, this didn't matter too much and I thought I had a good grip of the world by the middle of the book. I have bought a physical copy so that next time I read, I read the print copy to annotate those extra details.
Genuinely, the conjunction between structural racism and generational ships in Matilda was my favourite part about the whole thing and thought the crafting of this world was done extremely well. I saw some 'critics reviews' that said the 'many layers of metaphor' and 'worldbuilding by poetry' disappointed readers that wanted hard science fiction, but this is what I loved most. The poetic language only heightened the worldbuilding and reading between the lines made it all the more real for the reader. Although, I understand this is not to everyone's taste.
I am of the opinion of other reviews where the ending does feel slightly rushed and there were some things that could have been explored in some more depth for me, but I still really enjoyed the story anyway! I felt the pace really picks up about half way through, and that it was a very packed ending in the last few chapters.
It is very rare I want a book to be longer, but I wish it was so that there could be so many more things added. I thought the book was excellent as it was anyway, not just because of the worldbuilding, but the ending, for me, was unexpected. I just wish that themes could have been explored more. I just never really wanted the book to end.
I would recommend this book 100%! I think it was an amazing experience, especially listening to the audio as it just brought everything to life. Before reading though, please read the trigger warnings, as there are a lot of graphic triggers in this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Violence, Suicide attempt, Medical content, Rape, Physical abuse, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Death
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Sexual assault, Infertility, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, and Suicide