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A review by sahcloudy
Unearthed by Meagan Spooner, Amie Kaufman
2.0
This book started well. We had an androgynous looking main character who alluded to a past of robin hood-esque badassery. And a POC love interested with intelligence beyond compare and a familial bond so strong it took him to another planet just to prove his father right.
We also had this new, alien planet. Littered with reminders of earth but at the same time surrounded by foreign landscapes. We had futuristic technologies and corporations set to save the world.
And then the characters met an the whole thing turned to shit.
Not just with Mia but Jules as well. Both were presented as such capable characters, with determinate goals and independent thoughts. But once Mia comes on the scene suddenly this 17 year old boy can't keep it in his pants and he can't concentrate and he can't do everything he used to and so basically he just walks around following his boner. And Mia, god, SHE HAD SUCH PROMISE. But nah, this badass chick who has been a scavenger of modern ruins for who knows how long, sleeping alongside some of the worlds nastiest criminals will not pick a fight for two unreasonable reasons.
1. Too small. Her inner monologue killed me when her fighting skills were tested. While I didn't need her to be strong, I needed her to be able to fight. So much talk about her speed and her quick thinking only to read her simply give up without even trying because she's TOO FREAKING SMALL. She didn't have to be good, or even win, but her character spoke that she would've at least tried.
2. idk man she's some kind of pacifist? She holds this war torn, fend for yourself type of past of Jules as though he'd never understand her deep complexities. But when push comes to shove she's the one spewing and unnerved. She's the one who can't hurt a fly because then her precious image would be ruined? Only, it's ruined by her not doing anything morally ambiguous as someone described in detail as a person who does what needs to be done for her sister. UGH.
Speaking of her deep complexities. THE LOVE SUBPLOT TOOK OVER THE ENTIRE STORYLINE. Did you start reading this book because you thought the world sound awesome and the characters, on their own seemed very goal driven? Well, oops! No dice. You get to read about them thinking about some surprise kiss and talk in some weird telepathy about drawings and shit. Now, I'm only angry because I despise romance books, they make me cringe and ugh. I can't jell man. Maybe someone else could but I never saw anything in the blurb or the library sorting that said this was a romance. It is, in space. That's all. Fuck the cool alien planet and its dead not dead inhabitants, fuck the whole portal thing, fuck the fact that these teenage kids are running away from full mercenaries paid to kill them. We're just gonna see what Jules has to say about the light freckles on Mia's face lit by a lantern and alien stars. Bleh.
The characters themselves are victim to insta-love/loyalty. They constantly circuit back to the fact they've only known each other a day or two but 'gawd it feels like forever'. I hate that shit.
Also remember the POC love interest? No? That's okay, literally no one else does either. I live for the day when POC can be left to exist in books without being described by hair type and skin shade every two sentences but, it's a known fact most readers have been programmed to white wash casts as a result of writers doing exactly that for so long. So when there are, and I counted, only THREE sentences describing this POC character, with no allusion to culture or anything, I didn't view this as progressive. It felt like an after thought. Like, shit, we don't have anything different or diverse about our love story in space, THROW SOMETHING BROWN IN THERE. Like ?? This boy and all brown boys deserve so much better than this. I mean come on, he was so intelligent. I don't read very many POC cast in the intelligent spot unless their 'Asian' especially not brown boys. And seeing his heritage referred to one or twice in the book hurt, we can't afford this type of subtlety yet.
Their feelings for each other are messy, and honestly I can't get into it man, I'M HEATED.
The relationship itself is unhealthy, founded in distrust and lies. Just because they have superficial inner turmoil about doing bad things to each other doesn't make this relationship '#goals". They're constantly making the reader aware of the lack of time lapsed between them meeting and their now unbreakable bond. It's a gimmick and not a likeable one.
The reading was easy in terms of language, but the pacing was almost unbearable. It was dragged down by so much telling and no showing. Every little thought and action was spelled out with the utmost exaggeration. Nothing was left to interpretation.
The only reason this book got two stars rather than one was because, I managed to finish it so it wasn't completely unforgivable and because it read as a romance and seeing as though I don't like that genre I can't be too harsh considering it's probably good romance writing.
Don't think I'll be picking up the next books though.
We also had this new, alien planet. Littered with reminders of earth but at the same time surrounded by foreign landscapes. We had futuristic technologies and corporations set to save the world.
And then the characters met an the whole thing turned to shit.
Not just with Mia but Jules as well. Both were presented as such capable characters, with determinate goals and independent thoughts. But once Mia comes on the scene suddenly this 17 year old boy can't keep it in his pants and he can't concentrate and he can't do everything he used to and so basically he just walks around following his boner. And Mia, god, SHE HAD SUCH PROMISE. But nah, this badass chick who has been a scavenger of modern ruins for who knows how long, sleeping alongside some of the worlds nastiest criminals will not pick a fight for two unreasonable reasons.
1. Too small. Her inner monologue killed me when her fighting skills were tested. While I didn't need her to be strong, I needed her to be able to fight. So much talk about her speed and her quick thinking only to read her simply give up without even trying because she's TOO FREAKING SMALL. She didn't have to be good, or even win, but her character spoke that she would've at least tried.
2. idk man she's some kind of pacifist? She holds this war torn, fend for yourself type of past of Jules as though he'd never understand her deep complexities. But when push comes to shove she's the one spewing and unnerved. She's the one who can't hurt a fly because then her precious image would be ruined? Only, it's ruined by her not doing anything morally ambiguous as someone described in detail as a person who does what needs to be done for her sister. UGH.
Speaking of her deep complexities. THE LOVE SUBPLOT TOOK OVER THE ENTIRE STORYLINE. Did you start reading this book because you thought the world sound awesome and the characters, on their own seemed very goal driven? Well, oops! No dice. You get to read about them thinking about some surprise kiss and talk in some weird telepathy about drawings and shit. Now, I'm only angry because I despise romance books, they make me cringe and ugh. I can't jell man. Maybe someone else could but I never saw anything in the blurb or the library sorting that said this was a romance. It is, in space. That's all. Fuck the cool alien planet and its dead not dead inhabitants, fuck the whole portal thing, fuck the fact that these teenage kids are running away from full mercenaries paid to kill them. We're just gonna see what Jules has to say about the light freckles on Mia's face lit by a lantern and alien stars. Bleh.
The characters themselves are victim to insta-love/loyalty. They constantly circuit back to the fact they've only known each other a day or two but 'gawd it feels like forever'. I hate that shit.
Also remember the POC love interest? No? That's okay, literally no one else does either. I live for the day when POC can be left to exist in books without being described by hair type and skin shade every two sentences but, it's a known fact most readers have been programmed to white wash casts as a result of writers doing exactly that for so long. So when there are, and I counted, only THREE sentences describing this POC character, with no allusion to culture or anything, I didn't view this as progressive. It felt like an after thought. Like, shit, we don't have anything different or diverse about our love story in space, THROW SOMETHING BROWN IN THERE. Like ?? This boy and all brown boys deserve so much better than this. I mean come on, he was so intelligent. I don't read very many POC cast in the intelligent spot unless their 'Asian' especially not brown boys. And seeing his heritage referred to one or twice in the book hurt, we can't afford this type of subtlety yet.
Their feelings for each other are messy, and honestly I can't get into it man, I'M HEATED.
The relationship itself is unhealthy, founded in distrust and lies. Just because they have superficial inner turmoil about doing bad things to each other doesn't make this relationship '#goals". They're constantly making the reader aware of the lack of time lapsed between them meeting and their now unbreakable bond. It's a gimmick and not a likeable one.
The reading was easy in terms of language, but the pacing was almost unbearable. It was dragged down by so much telling and no showing. Every little thought and action was spelled out with the utmost exaggeration. Nothing was left to interpretation.
The only reason this book got two stars rather than one was because, I managed to finish it so it wasn't completely unforgivable and because it read as a romance and seeing as though I don't like that genre I can't be too harsh considering it's probably good romance writing.
Don't think I'll be picking up the next books though.