Psychology of the privileged? Yep!
Pepper Pace didn’t just write a sci‑fi about aliens she dropped us into a world where privilege struts around blind to everyone else’s reality. The Exchange ceremony? A glittering stage for the wealthy and white, while the poor and marginalized are locked out, erased, or reduced to stereotypes.
What makes this book sing is how seamlessly Pace threads racism, classism, and prejudice into the fabric of her futuristic world. It’s not just about humans vs. aliens it’s about who gets to belong, who gets erased, and how privilege speculates about lives it refuses to understand.
The writing is sharp, the undertones are rich, and the social commentary hits hard without ever slowing the story down. It’s artful, engaging, and thoughtful and yes, I’m already on to book 2