Avi Silver

Have you ever put off reading a book because you were scared of how good it was going to be? That was my experience with this one. I read the first lines months ago but only got to it now.

If you are looking for your traditional sci-fi, filled with cool technology you'll probably be disappointed. That's not to say you can't enjoy it - that is just not what this book is. Instead, this is mostly a book about gender, putting the pain and confusion that those of us who don't fit into the box that show more was checked at our birth experience into beautiful words. Although the author may have a different gender identity to my own, I still felt so incredibly seen and understood. I feel like this is more a book of emotions and sensations than plot. While this may not be to everyone's taste, I ended up enjoying it and seeing someone else experience the very deeply and often forcefully gendered world we live in, an experience I'm sure most (if not all) other non-cis people relate strongly to.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. As always, all opinions are my own. show less

I have screamed about this book so loud and so long across every social media space that I exisst on that I was fully shocked to realize that I hadn't yet written a full review.

This book was a DELIGHT from start to finish, and by start I mean from when I first started hearing rumors and blurbs and cover reveals online to the after, when I was just joyously losing my mind in all-caps raves on BlueSky and in Instagram captions. This was both familiar yet felt surprising and experimental. show more There was angst and real sparkling joy. Self-discovery & supportive communities and soul-crushing mall jobs.

There are two storylines that seem separate at first only to interweave later — a near-future suburban blahscape with extra gender proscriptiveness, and then a fantastical sci-fi space opera with princes and starships and alien species. Both have characters learning to break free from identities that do not serve them.

READ IF YOU WANT TRANS/NON-BINARY SELF-DISCOVERY & AFFIRMING SEX & PRINCES/ROGUES & THE BOTS WHO LOVE THEM & YOUR HEART TO EXPLODE WITH PURPLE GLITTER.

I don't know, still not ready for an analytical review, but this book makes me joy vomit, isn't that review enough for you? show less

I generally read everything. And that means I sometimes read genres that are out of my comfort zone. What's uncomfortable, tho? Fantasy YA romance-ish stuff. :) I don't mind gender fluidity, and for some readers, this is a very big bonus.

So good news! If you like mysterious cataclysms, a return to a pre-technological cave-dwelling existence, and you want sleestacks... oh, wait, these aren't sleestacks, but they are definitely an interesting reptilian race, then you'll find a lot of show more interesting things going on here. :)

Sohmeng, living high in the mountain, develops as a character and goes through an adulthood rite, but an accident sends her tumbling down to Earth where she must learn to survive against her own inclinations, prejudices, and even find an unlikely love in what ought to be the wrong place... but isn't.

I particularly like the worldbuilding. The moon phases and their meanings hint at much more to come, but I'm very fond of the primitive setup and the subtle extra meaning to the height. :)

Quite an easy and charming read. Definitely primed for the YA audiences who need that ease into appropriate identification while dealing with the judgment. show less

Beautifully written, made me laugh and gave me feelings, and the themes put stars in my eyes.