A review by tallangryplanet
The Galaxy, and the Ground Within by Becky Chambers

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective relaxing slow-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

A group of aliens from different species get stranded in a space rest stop whose manager tries to get them to eat cake. That's it, that's the plot. This book is incredibly character driven, and yet there wasn't a single moment where I wished it would just move faster. We get to explore the character's motivations, their pasts, and their expectations of the future. It is part of a series, but the story is self contained enough and with just the right amount of worldbuilding so that you can read it as a standalone.

This is the kind of book that you pull out every once in a while, on a rainy Sunday afternoon after a particularly hard week, and it reminds you that yes, life is a mess, but it is so worth living. None of the characters are human, and yet they feel as if they represent some sort of Universal Human Experience, the experience of messing up but never giving up on yourself and others. It is an incredibly comforting book that I would absolutely recommend to everybody.