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A review by cgoiris
The Black Tides of Heaven by Neon Yang
3.0
I liked the story and the world building, not sure I can say more than the summary without spoiling though. Despite the time jumps, I feel like you get a pretty good sense of character development. I also really liked the subtext of "power to all people".
Points detracted for A LOT of binarity within a world with potential for great non-binarity though. But I'll read more of this, since there are hints at factions that reject the gender binary altogether here and there and I'm hoping these concepts get explored more - and their entanglement with oppression, which is also sort of hinted at but never explored. In a world where one "chooses" their gender and has to confirm it, it seems a little odd, but there's some implications in the fact that near everyone from the ruling family is a woman and the surrounding attitudes.
All in all, it was an enjoyable reading experience with some flaws and holes, but definitely enticing enough to read at least its companion novel at some point.
Points detracted for A LOT of binarity within a world with potential for great non-binarity though. But I'll read more of this, since there are hints at factions that reject the gender binary altogether here and there and I'm hoping these concepts get explored more - and their entanglement with oppression, which is also sort of hinted at but never explored. In a world where one "chooses" their gender and has to confirm it, it seems a little odd, but there's some implications in the fact that near everyone from the ruling family is a woman and the surrounding attitudes.
All in all, it was an enjoyable reading experience with some flaws and holes, but definitely enticing enough to read at least its companion novel at some point.