A review by purplepenning
To Be Taught, If Fortunate by Becky Chambers

adventurous challenging emotional reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

Hope isn’t about predicting the future; it’s about how you approach it.

A blend of hard science fiction, philosophy, and ethics that can be read as either hopepunk or horror — much like the great classic science fiction stories. 

Chambers is one of my favorite authors, but this is probably my least favorite of their writings. It has the well-written, quietly thoughtful characters and situations that I love, but there's also some sort of vaguely melancholy and threatening personal academic association with it that kept me from really connecting. Obviously, authors can't account for a reader's vague, personal associations, so that's entirely on me. 

It is difficult to give thought to the stars when the ground is swallowing you up.
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