I think I felt similarly to this one as I did the first one, where I enjoyed it at the level of 2ish stars but objectively find it to be 4 stars for the depth and topics it covers and demands its readers to think about, making it very important literature.

I read this quickly as I had a busy week of work that I could pop on an audiobook for. I'm glad I did. The trauma and triggers and intensity of this book was even heavier and harder to get through than the first one and I feel like I would have come to dread it if it had been dragged out too much. So please be wary of content and trigger warnings. If you struggled a lot with the first book, this one may be too much and I found it to be too much myself a lot... I ended up playing Stardew Valley while listening to this to try to balance out how heavy it made me feel. 🫣

Things I docked points off my rating: I yet again did not feel I related to heavily to the characters, but definitely got sad when some died, so there is some variation in that. Things wrapped up way to quickly in the end. There were some parts I was really confused about and things felt rushed in other parts. Also the way in which some characters kept thinking about how hot their family member was constantly really gave me the ick. I don't know why there was such a focus on that, especially with such a traumatized and abused character. 🥴

Butler has some scary accuracy for her predictions in this dystopian war. Some of her predictions have come true, some are well on their way. If you read to take a break from the realities of our crumbling world, this is likely not the book for you... but it is a great teacher of where things go wrong and things to come and ways to survive! They are amazing books, it teaches quite a bit, and I think everyone should read them if they have the stomach for them. They'll likely be a one and done read for me, because they are so hard for some of my particular triggers, but I'm glad I got through them and I can't wait to read more Butler in the future.... but I need a bit of a break first 😉

What. A. Rollercoaster. I really dragged through the beginning of this. If epic fantasy is hard for you to follow in the beginning, be prepared for it to be doubly so for this book as it has a very unique style that doesn't give a whole lot of slack while also being convoluted as to what the hell is actually going on. It can be confusing. I'm STILL confused about quite a few things.

But there is nothing out there quite like it! Every single character has some big flaws and the author somehow manages to make you a fan of way more of them than you'd think. Seriously. I've never read a book where I held such fondness for so many characters I loathe. It's ridiculous and impressive.

The world is dark and gritty and hilarious and epic and fantastical and unexpectedly modern at times. I loved it. I love weird shit and this one has a lot of fun stuff for the weirdos while also grounding itself enough for other readers.

By far my biggest gripe is the villain twist. Not even the twist itself but by how quickly the reveal to resolution was? I thought they'd be around for future books so I'm a little confusion about what's going to happen next. Other than that and the rough start, this was pretty damn great with many unforgettable characters. I can't wait to see what insanity Muir takes us through next!

DNF at 23%/after chapter 7.

TW: not only does a dog probably die (not reading more to find out), but you have a narrator/MC constantly thinking down on her best friend for "seeing a pet as a child", "wanting to postpone work duties because of her dog" who is basically an ESA may be dead, and getting angry because she feels grief over a pet shouldn't get people down like losing a child... Etc. Just really triggering, irritating thinking that it honestly makes me think less of the author for including such unempathetic and selfish, cruel commentary. 

Wtf was that ending 😭😭😭 Now I have to wait for December?! 😐

Also I'm fervently Team Areka, fuck Tuya.

This book was confusing for me to rate... I would say when it comes to personal enjoyment, I'd rate it a 2 or 3? It was hard. Not only because of how graphic the violence of the world is, but because I found it hard to connect to the characters as well. I thought the characters were good characters, but I personally didn't connect with them. I'm also pretty anti-established religions and not religious in general (although pretty spiritual), so I found it hard to connect to Earthseed and the idea of a new established religion in this world that has so many other issues. For the first 50-75 percent of the book, I wasn't sure where this was going. I'm still decently unsatisfied with how it ended. It seems to need more before reaching the end (I know there's another book, but I also know that book centers around a new character, I believe). Everything wrapped up so quickly in the end and I think Lauren deserved more before shifting the focus to another character. But who knows, maybe the sequel will make me think differently. 

So why am I rating this 4 stars? I docked a star for the ending, because I feel like that's definitely an issue that I feel is objective. Other than that, my grievances were more personal preference.

What this book does accomplish is a very real and unsettling dystopian sci-fi future that feels very close to our current reality, just a bit more grim. The way in which Butler predicted so much is wild. The 2024-elected president was DONNER for pete's sake. The trauma of this sliver of California we see is the reality for a lot of places. And given the cuts and systemic fractures T***p is causing today, the agricultural and societal nightmare we see in this book is not unrealistic for the very near future. It's scary how close she got everything. It's objectively brilliant and impressive. And she provides ideas on how to prepare for such a grim future in this book that I'll unfortunately be considering taking into my preparation plans for the future.

It's a wonderfully horrifying book, just not one I personally enjoyed tremendously for reasons above. Will I be reading the second book? Absolutely. This is important literature. Just mentally prepare yourself for being unsettled and PLEASE check the trigger warnings!

This is both a dense read while being very broad. It may not be the best jumping off point for Abolition Feminism tactics and ideologies, but does a good job and covering history and how those areas and movements can't to fruition. If you're looking for a "How To," this will likely help very little. But the history is important, the ethos is undeniable. If you're looking for that history and testament of credibility in a movement, this is a great book for that!

what in the actual fuck 😭

Suri is the most beautifully cruel and poetically brutal writer ever. My heart is hanging by a thread in the most lovely and masochistic way. 

Now onto the next torturous masterpiece of this series. 

🫠🫠🫠

This was great! I definitely can relate to the complaints that the 17-year-old characters acted a lot younger, closer to elementary-aged characters and it was hard to relate to their age more that way. This didn't bother me too much, but it's definitely noticable and odd. Otherwise, this world is so grand and alive, the representation is amazing, and the characters wholesome 🥰

A cozy little novella. The narrator did a great job! Made me think of the dragon as Gandalf in dragon form. My only real complaint was that the pace was a little too quick at times and I would have liked the characters to have more time tob have deeper talks, because those were my favorite parts.

I sincerely needed this book. As a disabled, queer person, I've been feeling so fatalistic about the world. I do feel that way still in a lot of ways, at it's a big bucket of shit we're currently in, but this book had provided me with new tools, skills, and (most important) hope. I look forward to putting them into action!