stardustrohrig's reviews
71 reviews

Model Home by Rivers Solomon

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I can always count on Rivers Solomon to write something deeply disturbing and powerful while exploring various themes and this book, with the central themes of trauma, memory, racism/segregation, and parenting, was no different. There are a lot of different layers to what was actually going on due to Ezri’s (along with their siblings’) memories not being completely reliable. It’s clear their ongoing trauma has caused all of their memories are muddled and mixed up with what they believe happened and what actually happened. The truth does come out in the end and it’s even worse than you might expect. 

The writing style might take some getting used to as it’s somewhat stream of conscious deeply in Ezri’s head but I think it works once you get used to it. The ending is a bit abrupt and there are unanswered questions but it makes sense for the story. That said there is also the sense that the unresolved issues that still need to be worked out, between the siblings, will be more than they were before. 

Màgòdiz by Gabe Calderón

adventurous dark hopeful inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This was a really interesting and complex book with great characters. I really liked how everything developed and the way the characters ended up working together. I enjoyed the complicated ending and the fact that it ends with hope for a better future. The world building was interesting though I did feel like things could have been explained in a bit more detail. However that may have been intentional since a lot of information had been lost and what was left was very personal, including cultural stories that aren’t for outsiders. That said I really enjoyed the oral story telling aspect of the book and the various stories that were told throughout. I also liked the gender and disability representation in the book as well and the way both aspects just existed as part of the story. 

The book does get fairly graphic in places both with regard to the violence the characters experience and the bleakness of the dystopian future. There are also a couple sex scenes near the end of the book that are somewhat graphic as well. 

Everything for Everyone: An Oral History of the New York Commune, 2052–2072 by Eman Abdelhadi, M.E. O'Brien

hopeful informative reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.0

This was a very interesting book about how things could be. It’s written as if it’s a non-fiction book of interviews with various people who survived all the uprisings and disasters and now live in what’s left of New York. The authors (who are academics) are written as themselves doing the interviews with fictional interviewees. It’s vitally important to read the introduction to this book as it explains the future setting and who the various people are. I think a lot of people are tempted to skip introductions to non-fiction books, but this one does the work of explaining what actually happened between now and the future setting. 

I think there’s a lot of good world building within the book, and while there is a lot of telling instead of showing I think it makes sense given the chosen format. That said I do think there are very obvious gaps in explaining everything. We get a general sense that things are better now for everyone but only on a surface level. We don’t really know for sure how things have been resolved – is racism still a thing? Sexism? Etc. 

In addition, while disabled people are mentioned don’t really get a sense of how things are for disabled people in general in this future. While many of the interviewees have mental trauma and mental health issues there wasn’t anyone with a physical or sensory or cognitive disability. I would have liked it better if at least one interviewee had been disabled themselves instead of just mention of specific individuals with disabilities. 

In general though I do believe the book works as an idea of how things could be and depicts a hopeful future after a series of disasters even if I wasn’t entirely convinced that everything is for everyone in this future. 

The Deep Sky by Yume Kitasei

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

While the book starts out pretty slowly I ended up really enjoying it by the end. The book is split between the current timeline and Asuka's time in training in the program years before. We learn a lot about Asuka's relationships with the various people on the ship and those she left behind (her mother in particular). All of it ends up being relevant and important to the current storyline. There are a couple plot elements that aren't really explained in depth which was a little frustrating but not terribly so. I thought the characters were pretty well developed with the help of the flashback sections. Overall I liked how everything worked out and I thought the ending fit the story. 

The Ghosts of Trappist by K.B. Wagers

adventurous emotional funny hopeful mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

I really enjoyed this book - the characters are great and I love their relationships. That said I occasionally felt like there was too much interpersonal stuff going on instead of focusing on the actual current situation that was happening. Not to a terrible degree since I felt like it made sense to have those elements in it. 

Also, while the book is supposed to be set two years after the previous one it doesn't entirely feel that way with regard to how some characters are dealing with those events. Not that it didn't make sense in regard to dealing with trauma but it felt a little too much like events had just happened rather than being two years later. As a result the book doesn't feel like as much of a stand online story as the author wanted it to be. 

In any case I did feel as though the mystery plot was well thought out and I enjoyed how things were handled. There's a lot of different elements going on within the story and I really enjoyed how the characters figured everything out. 

The Terraformers by Annalee Newitz

adventurous dark hopeful informative medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This was a really interesting book with a lot going on. It’s split into three sections with large time jumps between each section – basically focusing on one generation to the next with some overlap of characters. There are a lot of great characters and the world building is complex. In some ways I would have preferred it if there had been some closure to each section because of how abrupt the time jumps felt. However by the end it becomes clear that the point was to show that real societal change often takes multiple lifetimes to achieve. There’s no simple solutions and no quick fixes. 

I did have mixed feelings about how intelligence is used in the book. Everyone on the planet is artificially created including some “animals” and machines/robots that are now sapient and are considered people. Because everyone is created from specific templates, there’s a lot of discussion about intelligence levels. The different design types have “limiters” that control how “intelligent” a person is. I do think the reader is supposed to come away with mixed feeling about it because of how things played out. There are clearly characters who disagree completely with the intelligence system and the limiters, however most don’t go the full step of changing anything for the characters who have been limited in this way. 

Overall I thought the author did a good job exploring the various issues and showing the problems that a society can have even in the far future. The intelligence issue isn’t the main issue being solved but it is relevant to the overall themes and is part of the many ways the people of Sask-E have been manipulated and controlled and that freedom comes in multiple forms. 

Infinity Gate by M.R. Carey
Did not finish book.

Completely unnecessary use of the R-word - yes fine it's for medical reasons (character has possible brain damage) but I'm not having it. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism

Hold Fast Through the Fire by K.B. Wagers

adventurous emotional sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I really enjoyed this book and the characters in it. There was one plot line that isn’t usually something I like but it ended up being resolved rather quickly and the story moved on. I liked how that plot line was resolved and how the fallout was handled about. I enjoyed the interactions between all the characters and the way the relationships developed. I’m glad that the new crew member, Chae, ends up fitting right in, and I enjoyed how their situation was resolved. As with the other books I like how there are non-binary or trans characters just existing in the book without it being a thing.

Power to Yield and Other Stories by Bogi Takács

adventurous challenging hopeful informative inspiring mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

All of the stories in the collection are interesting and I enjoyed reading them a lot. There are multiple concepts explored in each of the stories with a lot of focus on communication and conflict resolution. I really liked the blending of themes (gender identity, neurodivergence, and religion) in the stories and how things fit together in different ways. 

I do think it's important for readers to read the Forward, written by Ada Hoffmann, for additional context about the stories and the author. 

Additional reviews for each story on my blog:
https://stardustrohrig.com/2024/12/15/power-to-yield-review/

Defying Doomsday by Tsana Dolichva

adventurous emotional hopeful informative reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

This is a great collection of stories! There aren’t a lot of people with disabilities in most post-apocalyptic stories and when there are they’re often the first to be killed off. Usually because the plot acts as if they can’t possibly cope with the world or will be a burden to others in the group. This collection of stories shows how disabled people can both survive and thrive different scenarios. While there are a few stories where the disabilities have more impact on how things go in general the disabilities are just part of the characters life which I liked. 

Reviews for the individual stories can be found on my blog:
https://stardustrohrig.com/2024/12/15/defying-doomsday-review/