23 ratings (4.39 avg)
1 review

Mara S.

Add friend

Mara’s Bookshelves

to-read‎ (5)

currently-reading‎ (2)

read‎ (63)

Stats | More…

Mara is Currently Reading

Mara S. is currently reading

Borne (Borne, #1)

by Jeff Vandermeer (Goodreads Author)

bookshelves: currently-reading

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Jun 27, 2024 11:19AM

Mara S. is currently reading

The Deep Sky

by Yume Kitasei (Goodreads Author)

bookshelves: currently-reading

Reading for the 2nd time

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Mara S. said: " I feel bad for feeling the need to write this review. I gave it 2 stars out of generosity, and I must be honest, I DNFed upon reaching chapter 8. So is it possible that this book becomes amazing after that? Maybe. I must state early that the authors I feel bad for feeling the need to write this review. I gave it 2 stars out of generosity, and I must be honest, I DNFed upon reaching chapter 8. So is it possible that this book becomes amazing after that? Maybe. I must state early that the authors writing style and prose is very enjoyable. Certain parts were almost lyrical, however it was wasted here.

The characters are what absolutely launched me out of the story, because this group of what should supposedly be highly trained and intelligent adults living and working on a space mission behave like unsupervised teenagers.

Minor spoilers, maybe, again for just the first few chapters because I couldn’t stand much more than that.

So anyway it starts with 2 characters doing a space walk to take a look at a weird thing on the outside of the ship. This needs to be an human mission because the bots couldn’t get a good enough look at it. Why? Who knows. One of the characters is the stereotypical reckless/abrasive yet possibly loveable rogue-type character. And she immediately takes off running, heading to the weird thing and not using her safety clips because she wants to get there first. Personality aside, you’re telling me that someone who has made it through a space mission selection process and subsequent months to years of training is going out on an EVA and NOT using their safety clips? Really? I’m supposed to believe that? The other character (the main character) is supposed to be in charge on the walk but unfortunately has a wet noodle for a backbone and instead eggs her on and at one point unclips her own safety line.

So of course disaster strikes, the untethered crew member is killed and the remaining member is injured and eventually brought back into the ship. So naturally not a single adult has any idea what to do. Were there no safety drills? No disaster prep? No protocols set in place to follow in the event of an emergency or catastrophic event? Even the AI on board doesn’t seem to know what the hell to do. I absolutely cannot believe that a space ship with an advanced AI would ask an obviously injured person “you seem upset, would you like to talk about it?” instead of instructing the other crew members to get her to a damn med bay. An AI should know that that talk therapy does not come before checking to see if she has mass internal injuries.

On to the other members, they literally just stand around trying to ask an injured and visibly traumatized person questions. Occasionally someone will weakly say “give her some space” but other than that it takes what feels like ages for someone to suggest taking her to seek medical attention. They just start taking off her suit and undressing her before even making sure that her god damn neck isn’t broken.

So they then find out that the captain has also been killed in what is assumed to be an explosion, and again, nobody knows what to do. The second in command, who was selected as the second in command since the beginning of the mission, is visibly out of her element and entirely unprepared. Again. No drills? No preparation of what happens if the captain dies? I understand being in shock, but they’re not acting like adults in shock they’re acting like teenagers who are waiting for an adult to come by and tell them what they’re supposed to do. Who selected this person to be second in command because it is flat out stated that she absolutely did not want that and was not prepared. Oh yeah and she’s pregnant.

In fact about half of them are pregnant! Yes, the premise is that 80 people from varying countries were selected to go on a space mission to populate another planet and save humanity. But why are they getting pregnant NOW? It’s not accidental it’s all IVF. They can’t wait to get to their destination to be sure that it’s actually safe? And they’re all absolutely itching for their turn to try getting pregnant. It makes absolutely no sense to me that they couldn’t have the breeding population stay on ice and wait until they reach the destination, and have a designated crew that is fine not having children stay awake and run the ship. It’s not like they need a huge crew because they have an AI to monitor things and none of these people seem to know what’s going on anyway.

So yeah, that’s my harsh review of the first 7 chapters. Again, I enjoy the authors writing style and the “feel” of her writing. I wish I could have put up with the insufferable characters to read more but I just wasn’t having it and the mood struck to say something about it. ✌️ ...more "

Jun 11, 2024 09:53AM · see review