Jasmine Goodger’s Reviews > Orbital > Status Update

I read a review earlier today that said Harvey barrages the reader with lists, and now, I cannot think of anything else whilst reading, because it’s the truth: she adores a list. To me, it just feels like TMI. I like the dialogue, when it is present. Speech is easier to digest and the story develops when we get to touch base, fleetingly, with the characters.

Harvey writes with intellect and passion. The language she uses is, for the most part, beautiful and picturesque, however, the more I read on, the more her writing feels distractingly like ‘purple prose’. There seems to be little in the way of actual STORY and more fluff that poses as philosophical commentary. I hope it improves, because it’s starting to feel pretentious, and I’m losing the will to read more.

This book makes for relatively easy reading so far but I am worried that by the end, the subject may be exhausted. I am enjoying it so far, and there have been some beautiful sentences that I have underlined. I think that the book may be an allegory for the environmental crisis the world is experiencing, as it suggests the futility of nature from the view of the astronauts who look down upon the Earth’s surface.