A review by lolajh
An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon

challenging dark emotional mysterious medium-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 black autistic intersex nonbinary lesbian main character, Aster, in space! Aster’s childhood best friend is Giselle, whose character arc was heartbreaking and traumatic and so raw and real that she and Aster became my favourite characters. Giselle had some minor chapters in her point of view that I wish we got more of because of how interesting of a character she was.
There was also kind of a lead up to what I thought would be a romance or attraction between both Aster and Giselle which didn’t happen, but was understandable due to Giselle’s mental state at the time. Instead Aster romances with Theo, the space ship’s surgeon, who I always saw as more of a parental figure to Aster than a romance, but it developed anyway. Both Theo and Aster are genderqueer; Rivers described online as Aster being nonbinary and Theo a trans woman, which was nice to see and I still very much liked Theo’s character and their experiences and discussions of gender, HOWEVER, there was a sex scene between Aster and Theo in which Aster asks for them to not penetrate her but also not saying what they could do, but Theo goes down on her anyway. So I think there was a mistranslation of proper consent being done here, which is what let down Theo’s character for me, especially after Aster had already had experiences with sexual assault and rape, it really surprised me that Theo would not be so caring and thorough to ask consent of her properly before doing anything. Before that happened as well they do kiss her face and lips without Aster’s consent, dominating over her and overall it seeming like an unbalanced power dynamic that shouldn’t have happened and then Aster continuing to romance them afterwards.
 

Throughout the story Aster uncovers the mysteries of her mother’s death and the blackouts occurring currently on the ship all whilst dealing with trauma and systemic racism and standing up to it more than anyone had done before. Aster is such a strong and admirable character and I loved her progressions of exploring her gender. Will be visiting more of Rivers’ books.
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