dancers_and_dragons 's review for:

The Deep Sky by Yume Kitasei

4.0

challenging emotional tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Kitasei does a wonderful job of describing and weaving poignant metaphors with words that illustrate both the tension and the joys of the characters. This book started slower but flew past quickly toward the end, and the unknown was so well described with the limited narrator perspective.

Part of me wants to re-read the book again to see if I can pick up on subtle cues leading to the answering the mystery, but things were well-explained and I loved the twists that were explored. The author also does a wonderful job of making each character into a protagonist of their own and weighing the goods and beads of their personalities. The characters were diverse and nuanced, and it truly came through in the storytelling. Overall a great read, and one I hope to revisit in the future. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Gore, Mental illness, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Hate crime, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Death, Gun violence, Infertility, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship

For Ableism:

Themes of eugenics are explored and explicitly addressed from the middle to the end of the book. The characters don't initially consider this in their training to be mission staff on the Phoenix, but they do recognize that being selected based on physical and mental health criteria is a little sketchy.