This book picks up right after The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet and follows Sidra (formerly Lovelace) as she adjusts to life in her new body kit, alongside Pepper’s heartbreaking backstory. The dual narratives are perfectly balanced and kept me hooked throughout. 

 

I adore the found family dynamic in these books. Sidra, Pepper, Owl, and Tak were fantastic characters, and their relationships felt so real and full of warmth. Sidra’s journey to define her identity and find her place was deeply relatable, and the ending tied everything together beautifully. 

 

I much preferred this to the first book; the smaller, more intimate scale made it far more impactful. It’s a touching, hopeful story about belonging and what it means to be human.