jess_davies 's review for:

Before Mars by Emma Newman
4.0

This series of books continues to blow me away. I love how intricate the plots are, and how everything ties together from previous novels in the series - even though they aren't direct sequels.

This novel explores motherhood, and postpartum depression. It discusses so many different things really, but these two are at the forefront. We follow Anna Kubrin, a geologist and artist who is sent to Mars to paint its landscape. We follow her as she interacts with the team there and starts to uncover secrets. We journey with her as she explores her feelings of leaving her husband and daughter and her history of emotional trauma and mental illness. I found this was really well done, and discussed in length. It's easy to assume everyone loves motherhood, but we don't consider what happens when women just can't cope with these huge changes in their lives and need help, but feel too ashamed to reach out. I'm not a mother, but I still felt like this did a really good job shedding light on this issue.

Overall, I really enjoyed this and exploring more in the Planetfall universe. Definitely recommend this series!