freedom410 's review for:

The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell
5.0

I certainly didn't expect to fall in love with this book as much as I did. This is a first contact story with a great twist at the end. But more than that it has characters I actually cared about. These aren't the lifeless automatons of an Arthur C. Clarke novel. Anne and Sophia and Jimmy and Emilio feel like real people. I felt invested in their fate. I also love how Russell depicts a truly bizarre, alien culture that nevertheless isn't grounded stereotype. Definitely worth reading.