Take a photo of a barcode or cover
alexbrhms 's review for:
An Unkindness of Ghosts
by Rivers Solomon
“I am a boy and a girl and a witch all wrapped into one very strange, flimsy, indecisive body. Do you think my body couldn't decide what it wanted to be?”
This book is SO GOOD!!! An incredibly enjoyable science fiction book about Aster, a black, autistic, queer scientist living as a low-deck passenger on a spaceship organised like the antebellum south, carrying the remainder of humanity to a mythical Promised Land.
MASSIVE content warning because this book has a lot of racist and queerphobic language and violence, but it contributes to the overall worldbuilding.
Speaking of which, the worldbuilding in this book is absolutely fantastic. Each deck on the ship has their own culture, their own language, and their own understanding of things such as gender, science and medicine. The world of the HSS Matilda is very clearly modelled on the antebellum south, while also being its own thing entirely.
The low-deck passengers are forced to work in the field decks, and treated with violence and brutality by the white upper-deck passengers. Solomon doesn't shy away from how the low-deck passengers are treated under slavery, and the effect this has on all of them.
The way this book explores the intersection between gender, sexuality, and race is incredibly impactful. On some decks, the norm is for everyone to use they/them pronouns, and on Aster's deck the norm is for everyone to use she/her, but the white upper-deckers live in a very heteronormative, cisnormative society, which is often projected onto the low-deck passengers, sort of mirroring how a lot of cultures had western cisheteronormativity forced onto them during colonialism.
Aster is a delightfully autistic character, and the way her autism impacts how she sees the world and navigates it is incredibly authentic and realistic.
I listened to the audiobook and the narration is absolutely spectacular. Each character has an incredibly distinct and recognisable voice, and it makes for an incredible experience.
The reason I haven't rated this five stars is because I felt that the ending sort of fell flat. There wasn't really much resolution and the ending felt very abrupt.
Overall, it was great though, and I would 100% recommend to any fans of sci fi!
This book is SO GOOD!!! An incredibly enjoyable science fiction book about Aster, a black, autistic, queer scientist living as a low-deck passenger on a spaceship organised like the antebellum south, carrying the remainder of humanity to a mythical Promised Land.
MASSIVE content warning because this book has a lot of racist and queerphobic language and violence, but it contributes to the overall worldbuilding.
Speaking of which, the worldbuilding in this book is absolutely fantastic. Each deck on the ship has their own culture, their own language, and their own understanding of things such as gender, science and medicine. The world of the HSS Matilda is very clearly modelled on the antebellum south, while also being its own thing entirely.
The low-deck passengers are forced to work in the field decks, and treated with violence and brutality by the white upper-deck passengers. Solomon doesn't shy away from how the low-deck passengers are treated under slavery, and the effect this has on all of them.
The way this book explores the intersection between gender, sexuality, and race is incredibly impactful. On some decks, the norm is for everyone to use they/them pronouns, and on Aster's deck the norm is for everyone to use she/her, but the white upper-deckers live in a very heteronormative, cisnormative society, which is often projected onto the low-deck passengers, sort of mirroring how a lot of cultures had western cisheteronormativity forced onto them during colonialism.
Aster is a delightfully autistic character, and the way her autism impacts how she sees the world and navigates it is incredibly authentic and realistic.
I listened to the audiobook and the narration is absolutely spectacular. Each character has an incredibly distinct and recognisable voice, and it makes for an incredible experience.
The reason I haven't rated this five stars is because I felt that the ending sort of fell flat. There wasn't really much resolution and the ending felt very abrupt.
Overall, it was great though, and I would 100% recommend to any fans of sci fi!