This book is definitely one of my favorite reads for January and there are many reasons why.
Firstly I loved the characters. Aster is a young autistic and trans prodigy, who is only able to leave the lower-decks that Aster was born on due to an incredible intellect. But just like any other person living in the lower-decks Aster faces the wrath and hatred of the upper-deckers. The only upper-decker Aster can trust is Surgeon Theo, a young disabled surgeon, who despite being born on the upper-decks faces familial and peer rejection, only gaining acceptance through great medicinal prowess. Combining these two outsiders made for a really fascinating read.
I loved Solomon portrays mental and physical disability, trauma and prejudice based on sex, sexuality, gender, dis/ability, class and race. Be aware that this is a story that explores slavery set in space. It is a dystopia that takes the worst humankind has to offer and transposes it into space and that sometimes can hit very close to home. And yet, despite all this and the incredible amounts of pain and suffering Aster experiences, I found myself deeply intruiged by this book, mostly because of how much I adored Aster and the other characters. Of course it is easy to root for the oppressed underdog, but what particularly intruiged me with Aster was Aster' experience as an austistic person with ptsd and the ways Aster found to handle it while still existing in an oppressive society where Aster couldn't simply fall apart. I also adored how much time we got to spend in Aster's head and see things through Aster's eyes. I also found it very interesting and important that psychotic characters played such a big role in this novel and that they were treated with compassion by their environment (or at least the good guys we were supposed to root for). Finally I also found the romance between Aster and Theo sweet and I enjoyed how both of them were dealing with and figuring out their genders as the plot progressed.
Most importantly is that despite all the pain in this narrative I felt there was also always hope and love, particularly for those downtrodden by society and prejudice.

TWs for csa, graphic depictions of physical and sexual abuse, slavery, misgendering, self harm, murder, social inequality and child abuse.