I enjoyed this on so many levels - it simply was just such a good book. I also do believe that Alice Oseman herself is aro/ace while the main characteI enjoyed this on so many levels - it simply was just such a good book. I also do believe that Alice Oseman herself is aro/ace while the main character of this book is aro/ace which I would like to think the representation was ok in this novel. I am however also perfectly aware that the asexual spectrum is HUGE and that everyone’s experience with it is completely different, and with this being my first novel where the protagonist was ace, I am aware that this book does not represent everyone’s experience and this book merely shows one perspective.
The thing with YA contemporary is than more likely than not, I’m probably going to enjoy it as most likely it’ll be a fun easy read that I’ll be able to fly through. I suppose one slight issue with YA novels as a whole is that it is generally predictable as to the way as to how it will end, and that was true in this case. This sort of means that despite all the intense drama and falling outs that occurred throughout the course of this novel, I sort of knew that things were going to be ok. This for me can either be a positive or be a negative, as I can know deep down in my heart that these characters will end up fine and I don’t have to stress too much over them, but on the other, it does mean the plot in some regards will be predictable. This didn’t stop me from enjoying the book at all.
I really liked the characters in this book, there’s no one to really dislike at all(well, except for Lloyd) and I really enjoyed reading about everyone. The platonic relationships in this were amazing and I loved the group of friends in this. They just all had a really good relationship together, though I did feel that Jason was occasionally left out, with more of the spotlight focussing on Pip and Rooney, which in the context of the book made total sense. I also liked the relationship between Pip and Rooney, which I found to be decently developed, and I liked how it ended up playing out. The growth and bonding between Rooney and, Georgia was fantastic, and I adored how their relationship played out. The growth of those two characters individually was also really well handled I found and in a way at how they grew together to one, love themselves, but also love others and it was just really sweet and heart-warming.
In fact, there were lots of scenes that were just so, so wholesome and sometimes, you really need that in a book, I need that in a book. Not everything needs to be super sad and miserable, and while there wasn’t much plot, and it was very character focussed - I didn’t mind the lack of plot because I really enjoyed these moments when these characters were together just living their lives and slowly understanding who they are.
Alice Oseman’s writing in a sense is just really easy to read, which is why I flew through this book. As someone who doesn’t read a lot of contemporaries(I largely read fantasy), it’s always interesting there being lots of references to the actual world. Sometimes it does feel overdone, but I also like it, nonetheless. I admit that I don’t understand all the references, especially since I’m not too familiar with Shakespeare and these characters all love Shakespeare, but there was a Trump reference and I got that, and that was great. I also generally find myself relating to characters in contemporaries more, simply because these characters’ lives and experiences in some respects are things that to a lesser degree I’ve gone, or am going through. Maybe it’s odd that I have so much sympathy towards fictional characters or that I’m so attached to them in the first place, but I am.
Anyway, I really, really enjoyed this. I want to give it a five because of how much I enjoyed it and how it is the first time in a book where there is an asexual main character that I’ve read, which is really unfortunate and sad(I’m aware), but in some ways, in predictable and plot, it didn’t differentiate from a few YA contemporaries that I’ve read. 8.5/10...more
Thanks to Booktasters and the author Millie Thom for sending me a free copy in exchange for an honest review.
I’ll be frank here, I haven’t read an abuThanks to Booktasters and the author Millie Thom for sending me a free copy in exchange for an honest review.
I’ll be frank here, I haven’t read an abundance of historical fiction, but I’ve always been wanting to read more of it, but I’m never sure what books I’ll enjoy. Part of this is because a lot of historical fiction I’ve found in generally set around WW1 or WW2, which I totally get. However, I’ve always sort of wanted to read more historical fiction that is more in the vein of this book which is set during Anglo-Saxon England /the Viking era, which I found to be really interesting as it is a period of history that I’m not overly familiar with - more on this later. As someone that really likes learning about history it’s always fascinating going back into eras and experiencing what these individuals at the time would have experienced.
I liked all the history here and after a flash of research, most of these characters in the book are based off real people and it takes course over about seven years or so, and in that regard, it does feel like it is setting things up for the rest of the series. As far as I am aware, we don’t know too much about these historical figures and so naturally the author here I guess in a sense used her creative liberties to come up with events and conversations while following what occurred in these people’s lives. As someone who went into this not knowing much about the era, I was constantly surprised by the turn of events, though not necessarily shocked considering how brutal of a time it was. It did certainly make the reading experience really interesting as I did not see many of the things happening.
I found the characters for the most part to be well realised, despite their being quite the large cast of characters in this book - with lots of names to keep track off. There were certainly some chapters that I was more interested in, like Eadwulf and his journey throughout the course of the novel which I thoroughly enjoyed. Eadwulf’s POV certainly had some of the more distressing elements of the novel I would say as this book doesn’t shy away from lots of horrific things that occurred during that period and my goodness were some of these things absolute tragedies.
There’s Burgred, who look, he can go die in a hole. Did not like his character one bit and I believe that was the point because all he is, is that he is a lecherous bastard that does nothing productive. Oh, and poor Aethelswith. And poor Morwenna. And I feel bad for Judith and Freydis. And every other woman in this book. It really did irk me and how women were treated as things to be given to each other and it’s simply quite disgusting and I hated it, so much. There were moments were I almost wanted things to be better, but after a while, I sort of knew that things weren’t going to go well for these exceptionally strong female characters.
I enjoyed the plot, though in a sense, it does just follow historical events chronologically and I don’t know how much leeway the author really had in changing things up. I did enjoy the whole plot with Eadwulf and his progression was the most interesting to me. There is some travelling, though most of it cut out which is great because it makes the story a lot punchier. I thought the ending was good, though it was quite abrupt in my view and it ended quite quickly even though it was an important character moment for Eadwulf. Just sort of wished that there would have been more payoff as it just was not the most satisfying considering everything that led to the moment, but I suppose it did subvert expectations.
The pacing was fine for the most part. Massive time jumps of several months or in this book, a few chapters denoting the events of several years even is always sort of dodgy for me as it just feels a bit choppy at how much time has passed and as the reader, I don’t get to see what the character went through for a long time. This was particularly true for Eadwulf where for a portion of the book, we didn’t follow his character and when we went back, I believe a few years had passed and while there’s nothing wrong with that, I personally don’t always like that, though what it does is significantly advance the plot the author wants to tell.
Overall, I enjoyed this immensely and it was just solid historical fiction that was not afraid to be honest or brutal, it had well realised characters and the writing was really solid. 8/10...more
Read with the Between the Pages bookclub for our December book of the month.
This was really, really nice and I adored this book so much. It’s always gRead with the Between the Pages bookclub for our December book of the month.
This was really, really nice and I adored this book so much. It’s always good to be reading some YA, especially YA contemporary as I do tend to spend a lot of time reading fantasy, and more often than not adult fantasy, which can often be dense, slow and complex. This was just a really easy read and I flew right through it and that was great. The writing was sort of simple(which can be good or bad depending on your taste), which made it easy to read and I suppose it just doesn’t require that much thought and I can be entirely engaged in this book.
I largely really liked the characters in this book, particularly our main character Nishat as well as her younger sister Priti. Priti really was everything and really shined as someone who is just kind and supportive and we need more of those characters. I found Nishat to be well written with lots of depth and as the book is told from her perspective, we get to know her pretty well. That being said, I would have liked more depth from our side characters, like Jess, Chaewon or Chyna as they sort of just felt there to move the plot along and not to say that they were badly written, but rather that I wanted a bit more.
This book does tackle some serious issues like homophobia, cultural appropriation and getting outed. Personally, I’m really glad that these stories are being told, and that they should continue to be told. Yes, the plot was not this strongest suit by far as lots of these plot devices have been used in similar fashions before. However, we are seeing the story here from a Bengali girl and her experiences while going through these things and that’s incredibly insightful. Yes, it’s fiction, but I, and I’m sure many out there hope that people can feel their voices are heard with this book and that they can relate certain experiences to this novel. So maybe the way the book dealt with some topics or used plot devices that aren’t deemed ‘original,’ it is so vital that these stories are told from all cultures, and then told again, and again, so that people feel represented.
Like, I’m Chinese-Australian and there were aspects of the novel that I could relate to, such as say people being racist even if they weren’t aware of it or perhaps having a family that may have conservative views on certain things.
I enjoyed reading about certain elements of Bengali culture as I don’t actually believe I’ve read a book by an author originally from Bangladesh, which is sort of wild, but it’s true - and it shows that so many more stories from cultures around the world need to be told, and then once they are told, people need to give those stories a voice and a platform so that the people that need those stories can experience them.
Overall, I liked the romance, but at times, it did feel sort of weak as well. Part of that is probably the way the book is marketed as this competition between rivals, because well, there really wasn’t a whole lot of competing and there wasn’t much rivalry. Some things also felt smoothed over a bit too quickly, like the cultural appropriation. Look, I’m always glad for sapphic and wlw romances and there were some moments that were cute and angsty and I really enjoyed that, but some things were just a bit odd? I suppose?
Anyway, I did end up really enjoying it - and although it wasn’t perfect, I certainly will be recommending this, and it is just a good story that tackles important issues that still need to be addressed. 8/10...more
Well, look, this was whimsical and fun and I enjoyed it. Probably took me way longer than it should have to finish it, but that’s alright. Longer reviWell, look, this was whimsical and fun and I enjoyed it. Probably took me way longer than it should have to finish it, but that’s alright. Longer review to come eventually? Possibly....more
Ok, well, this was really wholesome and sweet, and I really enjoyed it for that. It was just really nice to read something that was sweet and fairly hOk, well, this was really wholesome and sweet, and I really enjoyed it for that. It was just really nice to read something that was sweet and fairly happy, with an interesting and diverse cast of likeable characters, so that was really good. It was great seeing how normal it was for something to be part of the LGBTQIA+ community, or a person of colour and how that was normal. In a lot of books, characters often make a big deal out of these things and here, it was just accepted. Now, I’m perfectly aware the world is not this kind to everyone, and I hate that, but reading through all of this, it was just really, really nice to see a world, even if it doesn’t properly exist in our own world yet, what society can, and should be like. Where people aren’t prejudiced towards one another, but instead value the integrity of the person instead of their looks, the colour of their skin, their beliefs or who they love.
I actually thought I would get through this quicker, but I clearly didn’t, and that was largely fine by me, considering that I honestly didn’t spend a lot of time reading this past week, because exams or something, but oh well. See, on one hand, I really wanted to savour every moment with these characters, especially Lucy and Gramps, *cough*cough* Graham, whilst on the other hand, I’m like, just kiss already, but I will say, the slow burn romance between the two of them was handled really, really well.
It’s not really plot based at all, but instead really character focussed, which, from my limited experience suits comics really well. There are several individual arcs centred around a particular Dimanche chef each time, and the comic sort of just moves from one to another. For the most part, I really liked each arc and they all brought along a good dosage of both good and bad times as well as important character development for all the main characters.
The art style was amazing, and I really loved how everything was drawn and simply the amount of time and effort that would have gone into these, is quite astounding to someone like me, who cannot draw to save my life. I mean, I haven’t read my comics or graphic novels at all, but one thing I’ve found myself really enjoying and appreciating is the art style, and as someone who predominantly reads prose, there’s another form of beauty to comics that isn’t present in books written in prose.
I genuinely really liked the characters, and they all had fascinating lives that I enjoyed following along. There’s also really good character development and important lessons that everyone should take on, and while occasionally I found it to be a bit too much and how frequent these explaining how sad my life is monologues, or something along those lines, they were executed well and remained meaningful, despite their repetitious nature.
There’s also so much food in this book, that made the entire comic quite a delicious read. Also, the way that Lucy brightens up with food and people cooking for her is just - really heart-warming and sweet, especially since the reader knows what she has gone through. I did somewhat predict the ending, as I really couldn’t see it end in a different way, especially after Lucy still hadn’t found what she was looking for, and while it was predictable - partly because it kept dragging on with more and more chefs.
So, while it wasn’t necessary perfect for me, I still adored this webcomic so darn much, and look, just because it is quite long, I don’t know if I will go back for a reread, especially anytime soon, but who knows what the future, or even tomorrow will bring. 9/10...more
Ehh. Ok, so look, it’s one of those books for me again, where the concept is SO, SO cool, but the plot fails to wow, and the characters are mediocre. Ehh. Ok, so look, it’s one of those books for me again, where the concept is SO, SO cool, but the plot fails to wow, and the characters are mediocre. I normally always really like concepts in sci-fi novels, as what is there not to like, as there are some really great ideas out here to be explored. Much like fantasy, there are an endless array of things to be discovered. And see, it’s not that this book was terrible, because it wasn’t and there are a diverse cast of characters, but I wanted so much more from it.
My primary issues that I had with the plot was that it was so fricking boring. Yes, this book is centred around a competition, except that from the start, 8 out of 10 people win, so, the stakes don’t feel that high(like, naturally it does become quite competitive to stay up, but there are so many winners here). Additionally, aside from maybe the start of the book, it is do repetitive. The entire book is just same thing over and over again and the plot barely moves forward at all. It’s fight scene after fight scene after training scene after training scene with some dialogue splashed in the middle and that’s it. Not to mention these massive scoreboards that appear every few pages that doesn’t really help with immersion. I honestly started to skim stuff because I just could not get into it. Since there are just so many of them, none of them really have any value whatsoever and it really did mean the plot does not move forward at all.
The characters were ok, there’s talk about them all being broken and whatever, and like sure, they are, but compared to other characters that are ‘broken’ or have led tragic lives in the past, I just found them to fall short. Most of these characters, especially the side characters felt like they had one defining personality trait for them and that’s about it without little nuance beyond that. Granted, there’s lots of characters, but just adding more depth and making them more human than just, he’s always a prick, he’s always super polite, she’s super smart and leaving it at that just wasn’t enough for me.
And, despite the concept being cool, the entire book is spent on this one ship travelling through space and there is no worldbuilding. None whatsoever. We learn almost nothing about Babel except that it’s a rich company and know very little about technology, the situation on Earth that led them to this, very little about the alien species and nothing much about the planet Eden either. Everything is so centred on this mystical substance called Nyxia which wasn’t really properly defined, and we don’t know what boundaries it has apart from the fact that it is super overpowered and can do practically anything.
Also that instalove at the end - it was completely unnecessary and it was genuinely so forced!
It’s just, the basic concept was cool but my goodness, imo at least, it lacked so much in its execution. 4.5/10...more
Snap, this was really good. Not that I was expecting otherwise, of course, but I really enjoyed this more than I thought. This is a mystery/thriller ISnap, this was really good. Not that I was expecting otherwise, of course, but I really enjoyed this more than I thought. This is a mystery/thriller I think, which is a genre that I really don’t much of, but this novel was so stellar. Ok, look, it’s not quite a five star, but it is an extremely high four star, because reasons. The mystery element was handled really, really well and for most the novel, I just kept wanting to read chapter after chapter, and because of that, I actually got through it a bit faster than I had anticipated, which when reading a book is generally a good sign.
I found the beginning to be incredibly enticing and interesting, as frankly, neither our main character, Cecily or the reader has a clue of what the heck is happening. There’s constant hints and snippets, without giving too much away, while maintaining a quick, fairly pace that was just really interesting to read about. It does make you wonder and think about the character’s situation and where they are, and what is going on. It was just such a cool concept! So yeah, that was great.
The characters were all well realised and were interesting individuals, and they feel real enough for their age. Like, yes, some of them are pretty intelligent, but so are lot of teens, but it’s rather the way they think sometimes that I found spoke really well, in that these aren’t overly mature people and there is this real aura of uncertain and confusion. As we learn, some of these characters aren’t exactly great people, but they still are really enticing to follow and to find where things will lead. There is also good chemistry and well written dialogue between all these characters.
It’s not too romance heavy, though as these are hormonal teenagers, these things are on the main character’s mind a fair, which makes total sense. I did actually really enjoy at the way the main romance was built up and it also is a sapphic relationship. There is almost somewhat of a love triangle going on in the first half, although it’s not really a love triangle at the same time(if you have read the book, this becomes much clearer and it largely has to do with memories). The ending was really good and the way these two characters Cecily and Nia went out. The way this ended was fairly cinematic and it was full of intensity, high stakes and drama. Nia herself was also a well written character and honestly, she probably is my favourite out of them all. There’s just so much to her that makes her quite unique and she also has a prosthetic leg, which I don’t know if I’ve really seen much if YA fiction, so that was really good. Naturally, that could also just be more representative of the books I’ve read(in regards to a character having a prosthetic leg), as I primarily read fantasy, though I would like to think I’ve read a fair number of books set in the modern world in the last few years.
A slight criticism that I do have, was that there was this part in the middle chunk or so that started to feel slightly repetitive and I just didn’t really care as much about the story as I did during the start and the end of this book, which I found to be the golden points. It wasn’t that it was well written, but rather just personally I was not as invested. I did feel that at some points, I could almost sense, not quite, but almost sense the direction the story was going to head in during the middle section. There are hints of foreshadowing placed throughout that was done well, though the ending was completely unexpected, and it was glorious.
This was my second novel by Lili Wilkinson, after After The Lights Go Out, which I also happened to really enjoy. Overall, I loved this book a lot and there was just so many elements of it that was really masterful and superb, and now that libraries are open again where I live, I really need to check out more #LoveOzYa, because Australian authors write some fantastic books ya’ll. Also, that title is just brilliant. 8.5/10...more
Well, this was not what I expected from this book. I suppose that since this is there view of Frankenstein being this scary horror novel about this moWell, this was not what I expected from this book. I suppose that since this is there view of Frankenstein being this scary horror novel about this monster that this person creates, and that was the view I had going into this novel. It actually ended up being pretty chill and calm, and certainly there were, I suppose creepy or weird moments, though there wasn’t anything that was truly horrifying in my opinion. If there wasn’t a monster in this novel, from my limited experience in classics, it easily could have just been like a novel by Austen or the Brontë’s in a sense that it deals with drama and family and that sort of stuff.
Still, despite that, I still ended up enjoying it, though not for the reasons that it was a horror story(to be fair, my experience with horror is even less than that of classics as I feel that’s it not really my genre but I thought that I would try this as it is October and everyone is reading these sort of scary novels).
I generally always quite like the writing style in classics, partly because the English language has evolved in some aspects in the past several hundred years and it evokes a really different sense of style. Now, reading historical fiction, the writing itself may still feel fresh and modern, although I find in reading classics, often just because of word choices, it really is quite different. Some words like hitherto are constantly used and it’s interesting to me as words like that have seen quite a significant decline in use. I mean, no one goes around saying hitherto anymore.
While it was not scary, I did find some elements to be quite sad and tragic, though perhaps not emotionally so. I’m not going to delve into spoilers, but from all perspectives, there is a lot of pain and hurt here. I found that it was interesting that the author in fact spent a significant portion providing the reader with the monster’s point of view and to experience what someone who is so fundamentally different to the rest of society feels and experiences. Naturally, even now, there is a lot of prejudice towards many of groups people, particularly LGBTQIA+, BIPOC and so forth, so you can imagine at people’s reactions when a figure literally described as a ‘fiend’ rocks up. In some sense, and this may sound weird, but in some ways, I did sympathise with the monster at times, partly because of the way that it is viewed by society and at how it is treated.
I also had heard that the monster is not called Frankenstein, but I forgot going into this novel, but I don’t think the monster is actually names. It is vividly described as this atrocious looking thing, but we aren’t provided with a name. Frankenstein is actually the last name of the protagonist, Victor and I feel that even though it probably wasn’t meant to be an overly scary sounding name, but over time, we apply it to the terrible creature instead as it is the title of the book.
It’s formatted in a fairly interesting way, with the start and end consisting entirely of letters from a character and his experience with Victor, with the main body of the work following Victor, which was interesting. I was initially slightly confused at the beginning, yet by the end things made sense in the way it was told and the purpose of the start of the novel.
So overall, I actually enjoyed this a fair bit, though not for its horror elements, which were lacking though I don’t exactly blame the book for it, but rather what I was led into believing the book was about. 7.5/10...more
So, I believe that this is Erin Gough’s debut, and overall, I really liked it. I don’t know if I’d say if I enjoyed it as much as Amelia Westlake, whSo, I believe that this is Erin Gough’s debut, and overall, I really liked it. I don’t know if I’d say if I enjoyed it as much as Amelia Westlake, which I read earlyish last year. This is a YA contemporary with a sapphic relationship, which I definitely want to read more of, so that was really good. It was largely felt light-hearted in mood in the way it was narrated but it dealt with some pretty serious topics. I thought the characters were engaging and the main character was interesting to follow.
The main character, Delilah has to go through a lot of homophobic garbage and at how poorly she is treated once the school finds out she is lesbian(or at least likes girls, I don’t remember if it is confirmed that she considers herself to be a lesbian). While these things have been done before, it is vitally important the world gets the message that being homophobic and making jokes about LGBTQIA+ people is one, not okay, and secondly, not what you should base your personality around. It really disgusts me that people have the gall to make fun of people and their sexuality. I feel that some of the things going on with Delilah can feel that it is exaggerated, but truthfully it really isn’t.
I appreciated the character development in the novel and though the novel takes place over a relatively short space of time, with the characters going through a lot, it felt realistic and genuine. Even though I didn’t like all of the primary characters, Charlie got on my nerves sometimes, I liked the relationship and chemistry they all had together. They are able to work through things together, and fights, but importantly they are friends and it really shows that.
There’s no real plot, as was expected but there are goals and things the characters want done. It wasn’t amazing, but it also wasn’t bad, and I enjoyed it. I dunno if it was actually pretty fast paced or I just was able to get through it quickly, but I found myself being engaged the whole way through and wanting to read more it. There were times where I would maybe have liked a bit more payoff, with some threads ending somewhat anticlimactically, but I thought it was fine at the way the novel resolved. It was a neat ending, and in a sense, it was what I expected, considering that it is a YA contemporary.
I found the central romance between Delilah and Rosa to be quite cute and sweet. Del sort of stalked Rosa for a while, which I found to just be really sweet and the yearning that Del has for her, ahh! I felt that it progressed in a real enough way for sure and considering the length of the book, I do think that the author did a good job in building up the chemistry and relationship between the two of them. I also really liked Rosa as a character and at how the author highlighted at how things can be difficult for her personal life because of her family. I find that to also be an important conversation that needs to be had, as not everyone can openly come out to the world whether it is because they could face serious backlash from family or friends(not to mention that it is strictly illegal across much of the world), so I liked that was a conversation that was had in this novel.
So, overall, I enjoyed myself and thought that it was just a pretty solid YA contemporary with interesting characters and quite the lovely sapphic romance, that achieved all it needed to achieve. 7.5/10...more
And now I’ve finished the trilogy. So, hooray for me! Out of this trilogy, my favourite was The Dark Forest, which is interesting as generally middleAnd now I’ve finished the trilogy. So, hooray for me! Out of this trilogy, my favourite was The Dark Forest, which is interesting as generally middle books in trilogies are often my least favourite. I have lots of praises for this trilogy as a whole, but also some persistent problems across all three books that stopped it from being truly outstanding for me personally.
One thing this trilogy does really well are the concepts and the ideas. This is especially true for this novel, which explores some incredibly interesting elements, not only for humanity, for raises questions about the entire universe. A slight downside to this was that there were lots of info dumps and explanations on how things may have worked. They were really fascinating read for sure, it did on occasion also slow the book.
As so much of the novel was focussed on these ideas, at times, it did feel the whole purpose of the plot was to really bring about these ideas. Many of the events in the novel, didn’t necessarily feel like it was moving on the plot, but rather as a way for the author to explore these different concepts. I felt that because of this, and that while plot events were interesting, I wasn’t really able to be that emotionally invested in anything that was really going on. The one plot point where I was sort of interested in was when they went to Australia, because, Australia is relevant? What??? As someone living in Australia and where it just is never mentioned, it was nice seeing that my country was slightly relevant. I also did like at how it talked about Aboriginal culture and Fraisse was an interesting character.
Now, talking about characters, there are perhaps my biggest gripe with this entire trilogy. In book 1, there were really weak. In book 2, while Luo Ji not being the most likeable character, was interesting to follow. Now in this book, I dunno. Like, Cheng Xin, our main characters it ok I suppose. Throughout the seven hundred pages, I could never really feel any connection to her and there is no real development in her character at all. Perhaps the most interesting person in this novel was the robot, Sophon, mainly because she was a robot. Despite the myriad of horrific events the characters go through, there’s no change in them. Cheng Xin, as well as Ai AA don’t go through any development. Cixin Liu here is amazing with his concepts and ideas yet his characters often fell short for me.
I found the events occurring in both the first and last third to be really interesting and it did manage to grip me. The way certain things unfolded was really interesting and the plot did not go in the direction I expected it do, especially the first third of the novel. I still feel slightly conflicted about the ending, as it does make it feel all the accomplishments and events in the three books feel pretty pointless. It also felt pretty disconnected from the rest of the trilogy as it was inherently so different. However, it was very daring in its approach and I do have to commend the author for that. While I liked the start and end for the most part, I did feel that the middle did drag a bit and while things happened, it wasn’t very exciting or tense and some of the things that occurred here didn’t end up being really meaningful to the overall plot.
It is really epic both in scope and even in the size of the book and it really was able to accomplish lots of great things. I can’t really comment on the prose since it is a translated work, but it does read really well, and Ken Liu here did a great job on it.
Overall, I thought that it was great, but I would have liked to have been a bit more invested in the characters. 7.5/10...more
Compared to The Three-Body Problem, The Dark Forest was better in essentially every aspect. I generally consider myself to be a fan of sci-fi, even tCompared to The Three-Body Problem, The Dark Forest was better in essentially every aspect. I generally consider myself to be a fan of sci-fi, even though I have not read a large number of sci-fi works, especially books on this sort of epic scale. I certainly get as to why this series is so popular, because even though I have yet to read the third book, Death’s End, The Dark Forest is stellar. I felt that the first book lacked direction, characterisation and that there was no real coherent plot, whilst I praised it for its ideas. This book definitely improved on all of those aspects by a massive amount and the way this ended was so great.
There’s a fairly interesting cast of characters here, most of which were not present in the first novel. These characters were much better developed and written as a whole in my opinion compared to Three-Body. They felt much more real and I was actually intrigued to follow them and to see where the story would take these individuals. I have certainly read better written characters, but the level of improvement compared to book one is huge. Even the more minor characters had some sort of personality that made them unique and each of the individual Wallfacers, especially Luo Ji were particularly interesting to read about.
The Dark Forest also featured a more coherent plot that had a purpose. Throughout the novel, there was a clear end goal in mind, and I liked that as book 1 felt very aimless. The pacing stays pretty steady during the course of the entire novel. There aren’t really any chapters, but merely a few parts, but these are divided between constant switches of POV’s that is able to keep the reader engaged amongst all the areas the novel needs to cover. I really liked the ending and at how it really fitted the title of the novel.
Both of these first two books are, or at least feels incredibly smart(or that I’m really dumb, both can be true at the same time). There’s a lot of scientific things being thrown around that certainly makes it feel much more realistic for sure. I don’t know how plausible some of these things are, especially in terms of some of the really advanced technology, but it is presented in a way that certainly feels real enough. There’s a lot of moments that does make you think, and a lot of discussions can be had over some of these things that this book constantly talks about and it really looks at humanity as a whole.
The last 100-150 pages of this are just fantastic. It was tense, exciting and featured extremely high stakes and while there was one thing that I sort of predicated of part 3 of this book, it did not go in the direction I expected it to. It was actually pretty conclusive that while there is a lot left to tell, I mean the last book is over 700 pages for crying at loud, so I am really excited as to what direction the final book go in. I was the slightest bit nervous going into this book because I didn’t Three Body, I gave it three stars, but now I am really excited to finish the last book because of how much I enjoyed this book.
What I often really love about sci-fi are the concepts and the way it explores these certain concepts in such varied and unique ways. This trilogy’s concept is great, and the author has been able to do some really interesting and fascinating things with it and I really loved that.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book, much more so than book 1 and I am excited as to what will happen in book 3. 9/10...more
Ok, so, I’ve heard lots of great things about this book and it has won a Hugo award and everything, which is huge. Now here’s me giving it a three staOk, so, I’ve heard lots of great things about this book and it has won a Hugo award and everything, which is huge. Now here’s me giving it a three star. Ok, before everyone comes and attacks me, a three star is not a bad rating, it means I liked it, but I also had some problems with it. So yes, overall, I liked it a lot, but in some respects, I also found it to be lacking. I have heard that books 2 and 3 are much better, just after looking at some reviews and I am continuing on with the series.
What I really found interesting was the whole concept. The game, Three-Body was really interesting. However, I also found that the book failed to have a proper plot structure in terms of executing it and the constant jumping back in forth in time and across star systems made it slightly disorienting, especially at how random these things occurred. Additionally, I could not connect with these characters at all and I felt that too much of the novel was focussed on the ideas aspect, which was amazing, but I have found that I really need engaging characters as well as an great concept for me to be truly engaged in a book.
There didn’t feel to be any real plot and most of it stays pretty mysterious as to what is going on with the world and I liked that aspect as how things were hidden towards the end. However, because of this, it also lacked direction and the reveal came incredibly late in the book that the first 60% or so didn’t feel like it had a purpose. Like I said, I found the Three-Body game to be interesting and unique, but we spend an awfully long amount of time in there without an apparent reason and it slowly became repetitive. I felt like at times that the author showed too much and that it instead could have been spent on building a connection between the reader and the characters.
Now, on these characters, simply, there wasn’t any time really spent on them and most of them really came across as flat with very little personality. Even though there is considerable time building up Ye Wenjie’s backstory, which was fine, we got to learn her history and why she is and who she is in the present, there’s not whole lot of personality and the narration style is really distant. Wang Miao, who is essentially the main character, is really a blank slate. There’s nothing to makes him unique as a character and its annoying because the concept is dope. I don’t know if it is the translation that makes it so that the characters are this way and that if it is different in Chinese. The one character who actually did have a personality and was interesting to read as a character was Shi Qiang but he also does occasionally come off as annoying.
There’s lots of scientific terms and discussions in here which, for my pea sized brain was pretty confusing. It does make it feel far more believable though and in explaining at how things might be, and I liked that. It’s also frustrating in a novel when it doesn’t fully explain things, or make things seem believable, but this book was able to achieve all that which was great.
While there were lots of interesting and cool things going on, nothing about it really made me feel excited or energised to keep the turning the page. I suppose in a sense that there’s no real payoff and that while the ending feels final enough, there was also no lead up and it was just like, yup I’ve explained everything, and the book is over. In that sense, it does feel that this book is a set up book where its purpose is to explain the world and what is going on and gives the reader all the information it needs for the rest of the trilogy. I say this as much of this book is giving the backstory to everything that’s going on and explaining things and introducing the reader to all the different ideas and building up the world which it does an amazing job of.
Overall, I definitely enjoyed it and I ended up really liking the concept, but I did wish for much stronger characters and a more coherent plot. I ultimately don’t know what was lost in the translation unfortunately so I don’t know what that would have changed. 6.5/10...more
See, this is meant to be dystopian, and like yes, it is, a full-on massive water shortage has yet to occur in California, for now. I’m never been to tSee, this is meant to be dystopian, and like yes, it is, a full-on massive water shortage has yet to occur in California, for now. I’m never been to the United States, so I can’t say what exactly what their water levels are like. However, living in Australia, and even just looking at the news, water shortages are becoming more and more common all around the world. I remember seeing images of people in Cape Town lining up with buckets to get water, or that even Sydney had to undergo water restrictions last year. Not to mention entire countries like India or many sub-Saharan countries are facing increased water shortages due to climate change bringing about more droughts and unpredictable rainfall. So, while it is technically dystopian, it also feels frighteningly real at the events that we will almost certainly face in the near future.
For the most part, I liked this book and after thinking over it, I have both positive and negative thoughts on it. The part I think it did the best on, was to really show this level of desperation and at how fast a so-called civilised society can descend into anarchy over something crucial to survival like water. I found it was able to really show how desperate people become and I suppose fall back onto out ‘animal’ instincts on doing nothing more than just survive, even if it means to beat back your friends and family to emerge on the top of the pack. Having these people who are dubbed water zombies by the main characters only adds to this and there are some pretty disgusting and disturbing things at what people will do to survive.
On the writing, it managed to be generally pretty tense and exciting, with pretty high stakes. However, there were some moments that pretty weird, especially where there was this one metaphor that went on for an entire paragraph on comparing women to deer and that you had to catch them or whatever, like ugh, no thanks. That was probably the main one, but there were some passages that I didn’t or couldn’t exactly vibe with and were pretty unnecessary and for me personally, sort of took away from the overall immersion of it.
The plot was fine, if not with some aspects being slightly predictable. There was quite a lot of shock value in some of the things that happened for sure. It’s essentially a happy ending for everyone, and I almost wanted for maybe a character death to have happened, as I feel it would end up being more meaningful to the reader as we read that lots of people died from the water crisis, but nobody that the reader is able to connect with in the novel, so it felt that the ending was slightly anticlimactic, as it was like, oh look, everyone’s fine. The ending was felt a bit rushed, as it was all wrapped up in just a few pages and maybe could have been prolonged slightly, even if just to see the effects the events of the novel had on the characters, as there is not much character development as everything does happen to quickly.
There were these random POV points that were meant to sure the situation of the crisis beyond the lens of the four primary POV characters. I didn’t love or hate that aspect, and I definitely got what the authors were going for here, as to show the reader what is happening elsewhere. However, I felt a lot of them really were not that meaningful and even though most of them were fairly interesting to read about, it didn’t really contribute much to the overall story.
The characters were ok. For me, they weren’t brilliant, but nor were they poorly written. I certainly would have liked a bit more depth and maybe more personality, but that’s being a bit picky, considering it is a YA novel. At least Kelton acknowledged himself that he’s a massive creep. The sort of romance that doesn’t really start until the very end felt sort of forced, especially with some of the events in the novel that led up to it and the things between the two characters.
So overall, I enjoyed it, though there were some things I had issues with. I haven’t read anything by Jarrod Shusterman, but I have read the Arc of a Scythe trilogy by Neal Shusterman, which I really enjoyed, and didn’t find Dry to be as good as that. 6.5/10...more
This was solid and I enjoyed myself. Whilst I didn’t like Callie as a person, I still enjoyed the way her character was written. Millie was really greThis was solid and I enjoyed myself. Whilst I didn’t like Callie as a person, I still enjoyed the way her character was written. Millie was really great. It was slightly predictable, especially the ending and it didn’t end up feeling that special but it was a nice fun read....more
I don’t like, read autobiographies/biographies and the only reason I read this is that I didn’t realise it was one until I actually started the book. I don’t like, read autobiographies/biographies and the only reason I read this is that I didn’t realise it was one until I actually started the book. Because who actually reads the synopsis am I right? (just as a note, I normally do read synopses of books, this is just quarantine me continuing to be, I suppose, mega dumb). I suppose the reason as to why I have like read maybe one autobiography about 4 years ago, is that I generally read as a way of escapism because the real world is pretty damn miserable, which naturally means I need to read about world’s where things are even worse. Either way though, I didn’t mind this book and despite it being pretty short and almost sort of choppy, with the prose being pretty basic, I had a decent time.
It is told from Adeline Yen Mah’s perspective in first person and it tells the story of her childhood from I think 5 to 14. It was written way later and I do wonder as to how accurate this is, especially on the finer details and dialogue and what bits had to be filled in slightly. What I did like was that as a reader, you sort of are in her head and going through what Adeline was going through at the time with all of the trauma and I personally really felt for her. It is a pretty tragic novel and there lots of scenes that are traumatic and mentally damaging. I’m not that knowledgeable on trigger warnings, but some of them are family abuse, neglectful parents, child abuse, arranged/forced marriage, and animal abuse. The novel can become almost dark at times, and as it is set both during World War 2, the subsequent civil war and the early days of the Maoist regime, it does also touch base lightly on some of those topics. As it is told from a child’s perspective, it is not something that was really a focus of the novel and rather passed in the background.
Speaking on another topic for a brief moment, I’ve seen reviews, and in fact one of the top reviews on this novel on Goodreads is that they found the character to be whiny and was much better off compared to many people in China during those times. To those people, where is your empathy? Can you not feel sorry for Adeline telling her story through the lens of when she was a child? Is being abused and sidelined in her family not a serious matter? The lack of empathy seriously drives me insane. It’s also interesting seeing lots of people complaining tell at how their parents or grandparents at it worse, so that means, you had it just fine, so why would be it right for you to judge the experiences of a child going through so much abuse and trauma? I understand the sentiment that from certain aspects, she was better off, her parents had enough money and were wealthy enough to send her to school and that she didn’t have to fight others for food for the most part. If all you can get out of a novel that tells the story young girl whose tale can be compared to that of Cinderella and your sole reaction is that she’s whiny because she wasn’t continuously starving, honestly, get a grip. Can you imagine with that mindset going into every novel? Oh look, Sansa Stark was a lady and had food to eat so who cares at the way she was treated, or that Katniss Everdeen was so lucky because she didn’t die and wasn’t brutally murdered.
Ok, look, one can acknowledge the fact that in some ways, such as receiving an education and having food to eat, she was better off than hundreds of millions of Chinese people during that era. However, one can also acknowledge and learn from this book about a young girl who went through her entire childhood knowing nothing but neglect from her parents, leading her into depression alongside other mental issues. The point of the book was just for Adeline to tell her story for goodness sake, not for her to complain about her life. It wasn’t written that way and it didn’t feel that way as I was reading it and I think that if some people can be more empathetic and kind towards other people, regardless of monetary status, or background and understand that this is their story, whether you like it or not is another matter in its entirety.
Anyway, moving on that rant. I, for the most part, while I didn’t love it, I still managed to find it interesting and there were some fairly interesting moments. I would note that I do think some parts of the story could probably have been told better instead of being glossed over, especially as they clearly were important for Adeline. Her writing style is ok, I suppose would be the best way to put it. It’s not bad, but I didn’t find it to be amazing.
Don’t really know how to review autobiographies to be honest, I don’t think I’ve actually written a review for an autobiography before, but I would imagine just going down the track, I will read more autobiographies for sure, though they probably will be spaced far apart and I can’t say if I’ll be reading any soon. 6.5/10...more
It’s sort of occurred to me that in this current time where most of us are facing lots of uncertainty, I sort of either want to read a book that bringIt’s sort of occurred to me that in this current time where most of us are facing lots of uncertainty, I sort of either want to read a book that brings and feels a sense of normalcy, or read super depressing and horrible to make myself feel better that our world isn’t that bad yet. I picked up this book before I guess I was looking for something that would be fairly light-hearted and fun, which it definitely was, and I really enjoyed it. It was fun and there lots of cute moments and fairly interesting characters. There wasn’t really any plot, but it’s a contemporary romance so I wasn’t really expecting any and I’m sure most people don’t read a romance for the plot.
I actually found that this book perfectly highlighted the fact that unfortunately, or fortunately, that nothing lasts forever, and everything is frankly subject to change. You may have planned out your life for the next decade but small thing could derail that completely and that happens a fair lot in this book and I was glad that it wasn’t entirely smooth and there lots of good that happened to our main character, Natalie, but also some things that she was not expecting. I mean, this book begins with her parents announcing their divorce. I found that the title fit quite well with the events in the novel as Natalie had planned things out and everything was going to work, and it sounded great in her head, but then reality happens, and things change, and people change, and the world changes.
It’s actually really good for me to be reading books by Australian authors as for once, I actually where the characters are, and it’s just really nice for some reason. This novel takes place in my home city of Melbourne and some of the language used and abbreviations of things are what we Melburnians use so everything made a lot of sense and I didn’t have to look up any of the locations that the characters go to.
I really for Natalie as a character, who deals with low self-esteem and anxiety as well as body image problems for things that people around her have said about her acne. I thought that it was represented well and there’s only a little bit of development in terms of coming to terms with certain things, but since most of this novel only takes the place of just a few weeks, it is very understandable as to why there’s isn’t a lot of change. It also raises the point that we need to learn to be polite and not make fun or talk about how others look as it could potentially scar them for life and make them feel uncomfortable with their body.
The best way for me to describe the romance is cute. It’s not super serious or romantic or anything, but it’s cute and nice and I liked it. There’s the whole sharing the bed trope which was pretty amusing, ngl, and it sort of just feels like a teenage relationship. Thankfully there were no blatant declarations of love, and they pair of them(Natalie and Alex in this case) had their fair shares of ups and downs and, and arguments, but also time where their relationship really consolidated into something more meaningful. The book leaves it pretty open as to what direction it is headed in and that was fine by me. It wasn’t overly developed, but it did a decent job considering it is quite a short book. I liked both Lucy and Zack as characters and what they represented to Natalie, but as the book was so heavily centred on Natalie, Lucy and Zack’s relationship was a bit underdeveloped and we never really see much of it.
I liked the ending, it was sort of bittersweet and it wasn’t overly joyful, but it heralds for an interesting, but also sort of uncertain life ahead, where things have completely changed to what Natalie was planning just a few weeks prior. It does show the characters are still moving on with life and aren’t letting things stop them from reaching their dreams in life.
It’s probably not going to be very memorable to be honest, but I liked it while I was reading it, it was fun, and it was cute and it was what I needed in the moment. 7.5/10...more
Oohoohoo, look at my emotions go on a rollercoaster. I mean, I don’t tear up very often reading books, maybe it’s because I haven’t gotten to the realOohoohoo, look at my emotions go on a rollercoaster. I mean, I don’t tear up very often reading books, maybe it’s because I haven’t gotten to the really depressing part of literature yet. Like, when I read this, I had some tears in my eyes, especially at this one scene near the end, but it wasn’t like full on sobbing, so I don’t know if I should be glad that a book has yet to destroy me like that, yet(I mean I know it’s coming eventually). What I’m getting at is, is that not a lot of books can make me feel this way, which clearly meant that this book did something right for me to care this much.
I was sort of debating on whether to give it four or five stars, and normally if I have to think about giving a book a four or five, I generally go with a four. For like the first eighty percent or so, I was feeling around a four star, and it wasn’t the last twenty percent or so that I did get a bit emotional and that last bit was a solid five stars. That being said, it is a very high four stars, and who, knows I may change my mind in the future.
There were so many aspects of this that I enjoyed, if not loved. Darius is an absolute solid character that was straight up well written, and I could really feel for him. He also has to deal with depression and constant bullying, and many of the statements made against him are incredibly racist. Reading this sort of stuff is eye opening and also makes me grateful that despite being an Asian living in a Western country, that I haven’t had any serious racial attacks made on me. I liked Darius’ character development and you could really see him grapple with certain things that occurred during the book and he ends up being a much stronger person than he was at the start of the novel.
I originally actually thought that this was going to be centred around a gay romance and that it was m/m, simply because I had heard that it was queer. It certainly appeared to be a queer novel and Darius is a queer character, even though it isn’t explicitly stated in the text. What was really great however was that the book actually focussed on this friendship between Darius and Sohrab, which was wonderful. It largely felt really realistic, considering the things the characters have to go through and what their past experience with friends has been like. It was genuinely just such a beautiful friendship and I’m so glad that is was just a friendship instead of a romance as we really need more friendships in novels and normalise that there isn’t a romance. There were some aspects that weren’t entirely developed or explained, but for the most part, I really liked the friendship between the two of them.
Another really great aspect of this novel was the family dynamics between Darius and his Mamou, Babou, who he is meeting for the first time, and also his relationship between his parents and his sister. There were some really great moments and at how Darius gets to properly know his family in Iran and see the things he has missed out on previously. There’s also the relationship with his Dad, with is often tenuous at best and to see it develop and have their bond become strong again and to learn the truth of the matter, which was just so sweet. Laleh, being only eight, didn’t exactly get a lot of character development, but Darius is able to learn to many things about himself and his family through her and to really help find himself.
It’s great that this is an own voices novel, as it follows Persian character who has depression, much like the author, as I feel many things are much more authentic, especially dealing with things like depression and what they can mean culturally. It also helped me learn, or at least understand some basic aspects of Persian culture and what it is sort of like and really shows how contrasting and different it is to other cultures. It was great exploring a bit about another culture that I didn’t know a whole lot about and then I can go on and do more research about certain things that I have been introduced to.
Also being an Australian, I actually though that Darius was seventeen, when he is actually liked fifteen because I got the names of the high school years wrong, but once I made that realisation I was able to even sort of realise and become aware of how important certain things were for Darius. 8.5/10...more
So, this was my third Jane Austen book, and with my limited experience in classics, I will say that I’m liking her stuff so far. Before reading this, So, this was my third Jane Austen book, and with my limited experience in classics, I will say that I’m liking her stuff so far. Before reading this, I had heard a fair bit on how Emma was such a bad person and such an unlikeable character. I will say that this is definitely true, but it didn’t actually stop me from enjoying the book necessarily. There were moments when I am like, eh, that’s a pretty bad move, and you shouldn’t treat your friend like a tool to play with, not to mention that she is quite the manipulative and controlling person. Despite this, I found it interesting to be reading about a character who was like this and acted like this, as it is sort of different to what you often find in literature. Characters can often be whiny, frustrating or annoying to read about, but Emma wasn’t that, as rather, she more of just a bad person, which I didn’t mind as it was intriguing to see how she worked.
There wasn’t actually any real plot to this, and it really was more focussed on these characters(which there a fair number of) and how they interact with each other. The only really plot points are when characters go off and get married, as beyond that, most of it is just characters talking and gossiping about each other. It’s also very British and written in a very different sort of era to ours and looking at how some of the language has sort of changed since then. Like, even though much of the book is about romances and people getting married it’s very different to the kind of romance we see in novels now. It was also interesting for me as an Australian with everyone going ‘much obliged’ and whenever I saw something like that, I couldn’t help but think in my head in a British accent, which was sort of amusing for no one by myself.
I’m largely a YA and fantasy reader and reading a classic like this is always interesting as everyone is so much slower and everything almost feels quite casual. It’s about friends meeting up and chatting with family or going to a ball with friends and there’s no real high stakes like we often think of. Even in terms of character development, as now, in contemporary novels where there may not be a lot of plot, readers often expect a good amount of character development and chemistry between certain characters, and here, while there is certainly some character development and different relationships between characters evolve through the novel, everyone is also so formal towards each other. It’s constantly Mrs that, Mr that, Miss that, and the sort of banter usually expected in something more modern isn’t present. So, while the plot sort of just trudges along casually in whatever direction it feels like, the characters are always so polite and calm, or at the very least I got that impression. Yes, sometimes the characters say something like oh! or ah! like they are surprised, but it is nowhere near to the extent seen today.
Anyways, that was just a little ramble on things have changed in my view. I’m giving it four stars as I really enjoyed it, even though the pacing was slow and there wasn’t lots of payoff or character development as I’ve sort of come to not expect that from a classic. I will say that I really do enjoy Austen’s writing style, which to me, feels more modern compared to another classical author like Dickens(probably because his novels are even slower). 7.5/10...more
So, I really liked how this handled a lot of things and both liked and disliked that it was more it was an alternative history take. Essentially, thisSo, I really liked how this handled a lot of things and both liked and disliked that it was more it was an alternative history take. Essentially, this novel is all about getting off the planet as quickly as possible as a meteorite has caused the start of an extinction event which causes space technology to develop much faster than it did in reality. I really liked the sound of this, and it was such a cool concept.
The book actually went beyond just that, and as it is set in the 1950’s, dealt with a lot of other problems, like sexism and racism and at how programs were, and even still are dominated by white people. A lot of the book’s attention was on increasing equality between everyone and to make that the space program took in only the most talented of people. A fair portion of the novel was on Elma, our main character trying to also get women astronauts up into space. So, beyond just being a sci-fi novel, it heavily dealt with social issues that we are still grappling with today. It also has anxiety representation, which was really nice to see and that the image that is being presented to the world may hardly reflect reality. Now, talking about racism, the main character herself is in fact slightly prejudiced and especially at the start of the novel seeks out help solely from white people and not POC. Her mindset does change, and the author likes to make it very clear that it had, as inequality is not only something white women face.
The novel also highlighted that even in the face of an extinction event, lots of people simply like to believe conspiracy theories or that it is not real, which really shows how sad humanity can be, that even in the face of extinction, they would rather blow something up or profit, as if it isn’t everyone’s lives at stake here. And that was interesting, but it also made the novel feel more real, as now, people still fall into conspiracy theories and lies, despite what the experts are saying, and frankly, it’s sad, but also shows that the education system has failed lots of people if they believe that climate change is a hoax, or that the Earth is flat.
I liked at how strong Elma’s voice and character came through this really well and you can really see her drive and determination to make this work and to save all of humankind. Her husband, Nathaniel was the sweetest and calmest guy ever, and Elma really needed that. I have seen people questioning how realistic that someone in the 50’s would act like that, or any guy even, but I would like to think that even back then, we(men that is) were not entirely hopeless and that there are some decent people. Talking about their marriage, it’s not often that at the start of the story that the two characters are already married and in love and have already developed a wonderful relationship with chemistry between each other, so that was interesting. I liked it though, as the novel made it clear that they are very much besotted with each other, and that the novel didn’t need to spend time building a relationship between these two characters as it was already established. They also had some really nice moments like this quote here.
“Thank you.’ “For?” “I can’t yell when I go out on the floor. I want to. I want to scream and gnash my teeth. So thank you for giving me a place where I can be awful, and find my way back again.”
Not all the characters are likeable, especially Parker, who I wanted to slap, largely for being so sexist and prejudiced against women and I understand that was reflective of men at the time and I’m in part glad that the author wrote this novel to be as realistic as possible. The novel as a whole felt well researched, like I’m not a science guru, so I don’t know how authentic all the technical stuff was, but at least believable enough.
My biggest complaint of this novel was that I wanted a bit more urgency from it, like the world is ending people. It really goes quite slowly and either would have liked time to have passed a bit quicker, or that the actual technology developed faster, as for a novel based around getting off Earth and colonising other places, that actually happens really slowly. So while, I liked the characters and appreciated that it dealt with social issues to make it feel more realistic, I did want a bit more payoff from it as the ending was honestly pretty anticlimactic and by the end I was like, huh, that’s it?
So, I mean overall, it was a solid book, liked the characters, liked the concept, would have liked a bit more plot progression. 7.5/10...more
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